Camp John Gay Hay - Baguio

Ok, so this is the 2nd part of our whistle-stop tour of Luzon. Our first overnight stop was on Baguio. A mountainous area known for it's cool climate and strawberries. We had booked into the most well known hotel there called Camp John Hay. We had been Calling it Camp John Gay all the way to Baguio as they seemed a bit incompetent when we had booked with them. They had forgotten bookings etc. When we arrived we were very happy to find out that they had successfully booked us in and the hotel was beautiful. The first thing we noticed was the cool temperature. We had been sweating our asses off in 35 degree heat in Manila for months and when we arrived in Baguio it was cool. The rooms didn't need AC and we even wore hoodies in the evening. In the hotel they even had a fire in the Piano Bar in the lobby. I was so excited to see a fire in the Philippines.

This is the awesome fire. It was behind glass.

The hotel itself was lovely, it looked very alpine ski lodge in design and was well kept. what was very bizarre was the grounds it was set it. They definitely need updating. It is set in acres of beautiful woodland but the non-woodland leisure areas are not very well kept.

This is the hotel.

Rachel has a sad face because there isn't any swings on the swing set in the rubbish playground

This is Andrew showcasing another rubbish part of the grounds.

Back to the nice part. They decorated the trees with eggs for Easter.

The next morning we went for a hike in the hotel's eco-trail. Liz was feeling much more energetic than I was and jogged part of the way!

She even managed some yoga at the top!

With the grounds of Camp John Hay there was a really weird feature called the Cemetery of Negativism. The stone marker at the entrance says:

“Negativism is man’s greatest self-imposed infliction, his most limiting factor, his heaviest burden,”

“No more, for here is buried the world’s negativism for all time,”
“Those who rest here have died not in vain -- but for you a stern reminder
-- as you leave this hill, remember that the rest of your life be more positive”.
“Have a good day -- treat today like it’s your last, though it’s the first day of the rest.”

The cemetery itself is supposed to lay to rest negative thoughts and actions. I was bizarre as it had little headstones with animal characters on them.

The stone marker.

Weird headstone.

More weird headstones.

Finally a mini Statue of Liberty!

We didn't explore the rest of Baguio as we were leaving the next day to go to Banaue. But all in all I enjoyed our trip to Camp John Gay Hay as the food and service was very good.