On a normal day I would be displeased dragging my body out of bed at 4 am especially after sleeping soundly in the Manor at Camp John Hay. Not this particular morning though. The reason being the destination we’re going would give me an opportunity to literally and figuratively pause and smell the flowers. Being able to travel for the first time since the March 2020 lockdown, the trip to Northern Blossom Farm in Atok, Benguet opens a door to rekindling my love affair with traveling — with precious moments of introspection to boot — in the company of the great outdoors.

Our land journey from Baguio City took more than an hour and a half and we arrive in perfect time just as the skies starts to glow from the early rays of the rising sun. As we alight from our respective vans, we were met by the farm’s owner Mrs. Ganayan who briefed us about the developments in their property.

“During the height of the pandemic, we briefly stopped planting flowers because market demand became less and less. We just started replanting a month ago so now we’re just seeing the first set of blooms. Ordinarily, before the pandemic, at this time of the year, you’d see more variety of blooming flowers”, she told us in Tagalog.

As travel restrictions starts to ease up, Mrs. Ganayan hope to welcome back visitors who have made Northern Blossom Farm a popular tourist stop in Benguet by serving as a side trip destination of those traveling to Baguio.

Northern Blossom Farm spreads over a 3-hectare hilltop land overlooking the scenic mountainside of Atok, Benguet. Being here, one can’t help but regale at the sweeping scenery of colorful flowers that bloom all year-round.

Different variety of flowers such as matthiola, rice flower, larkspurs, snapdragons, cabbage roses and more, are harvested here and reaches the many flower shops in Metro Manila to as far away as Mindanao. A few homestays are now accepting guests while a small café located within the farm offers sweeping view of the mountain ranges of Cordillera—you can even see the peaks of Mt. Pulag and Mt. Timbak on a clear day.

Wasting no time, we hurried down a few steps into the view deck that leads to the wide flower fields and the magical scenery of the mountain ranges of Cordillera. As I alight out in the open coming from one of the greenhouses, I breathe thick fog and wide-eyed stared into the beautiful scenery unfolding. Slowly, I see the vivid colors of the different flowers blending with the seeping sunlight begins to glow.

I inch closer to a few ones and edge my nose behind to smell the flowers’ perfume-like scent — while evading a couple of bees in the process. After a moment of sentimentality at finally having the chance to be in the company of wonderful nature, I joined the rest of our group to feast on a hearty breakfast served by our hosts.

Fried fish, sautéed and steamed vegetables that feels so fresh as if it was just picked that morning, filled my plate along with a cup of brewed coffee made from beans harvested in Benguet fueled me that morning.

After several months of being holed up at home only going out to buy essential items, this return trip of mine to the Cordillera region and at Northern Blossom Flower farm, has given me the required break I badly needed.

While it remains to be seen how long we must battle this Covid-19 pandemic, this day that I finally got to pause and smell the flowers (despite being reminded of that sad scene from The Walking Dead), has given me hope that the end of the pandemic is just around the bend.

Home to a magnificent set of picturesque highland countryside, the region of the Cordillera features an abundance of wonders. From its cool weather all year long to its majestic set of nature, fascinating culture and mouth-watering local cuisine, an all too familiar feature of the region is gaining much needed attention today. These are the fruit and vegetable farms of Benguet and Mountain Province.

Spread across the intertwining mountains of the two provinces, are colorful fields of blooming flowers, lush green vegetables and seasonal fruits best typifying the ingenuity and hard work of the farmers of the Cordillera.

As the growing movement of choosing healthier food options such as farm-to-table expands, visiting these farms will also give us an opportunity to show gratitude to our farmers by including their source of livelihood as a vital element of the tourism industry.

To help you plan your farm-hopping trip to Benguet and the Mountain Province, here are some farming communities you can visit.

Northern Blossom Flower Farm in Atok, Benguet

This 3-hectare farm that spreads over the scenic mountainside of Atok, Benguet, is where one can regale at the sweeping scenery of colorful flowers that bloom all year-round.

Different variety of flowers such as matthiola, rice flower, larkspurs, snapdragons, cabbage roses and more, are harvested here and reaches the many flower shops of Metro Manila to as far away as Mindanao. Owned by Mrs. Melany Ganayan and her husband, Northern Blossom Flower Farm has embraced its ‘rock star of all flower farms’ status by welcoming visitors who wanted to stop by to snap some photographs as well as to pluck and buy some flowers.

A few homestays are now operating near the farm while a small café located within the farm offering a sweeping view of the farm and the mountain ranges of Cordillera—you can even see the peaks of Mt. Pulag and Mt. Timbak on a clear day—is set to open soon.

Buguias, Benguet

The town of Buguias is said to be among the top vegetable producers in the country and where 80% of the town’s more than 40,000 population are farmers. Farms spanning throughout the mountains and plains of the town are covered with lush vegetation consisting of almost every vegetable you can name. From chopsuey ingredients (potatoes, carrots, broccolis, lettuce, pechay etc.) to beans, eggplants, okra, sayote, and even strawberries, one can visit the vegetable farms here and easily fill up a truck of fresh produce.

Other interesting places to visit in Buguias are the Veteran Memorial Marker which marks the liberation of the town from the Japanese Imperial Army on July 27, 1945 and the World War II 66th Infantry Shrine along Halsema Highway. The town of Buguias is also the site of a 12th century burial site that includes the mummified remains of Apo Anno—who was believed to have been originally buried in the 16th century.

Paoay, Benguet

Another easy to access farm—by Benguet standards—are the vegetable farms in the town of Paoay, Benguet. Aside from buying fresh produce and various succulent and snake plants from the farmers here, you can proceed on foot to nearby Bosleng Lourdes Grotto found sheltered under a huge boulder on stony peak surrounded by vegetable plantations.

A few steps from the grotto, you can find a protruding rock that offer magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and on a good day, a sea of clouds.

Bauko, Mountain Province

Benguet's neighboring province Mountain Province is also dotted with lush vegetable and fruit farms. With an elevation rising above 4,100 feet above sea level, the topography of the mountain range on this part of the Cordilleras is perfect for planting and harvesting fresh yield.

In the town of Bauko, one can visit one farm after the other from potato farms to lettuce farms to strawberry, kale, pepper just to name a few. This is also an idyllic place to learn more agriculture from the local farmers themselves, as they are very friendly and accommodating in answering all your questions regarding their own farming techniques. Plus, you can always buy a few kilos of freshly harvested farm goods from them afterward.

Tadian, Mountain Province

Half an hour from Bauko, in the town of Tadian, one can find another lush farm but this time laden with turmeric and ginger plants which the farmers—comprising mostly of local mothers—harvest to produce ginger and turmeric tea. With the help of a social enterprise called the Local Goodness PH, the farmers here are now planting and harvesting an increased production of turmeric and ginger because they are now able to market it directly to consumers in Metro Manila.

"Today, after the Local Goodness started taking orders for is, it motivated us to keep planting turmeric and ginger. Turmeric farming isn't easy because it takes almost a year to cultivate it. With the help of the Local Goodness we cannot stop now" said one of the mother farmers Theresa Farnican.

Waking up to a rainy and foggy morning had me entertaining the idea of staying in until lunch curled up on my bed. Appealing the thought may be, the chance to see another UNESCO World Heritage Site reigned over and proved to be enough of a motivation to make me stand up, stretch my hands and face the window announcing to myself “Good Morning Vietnam”

After loading up for breakfast with omelet, Bahn-mi sandwich and Pho noodles, I waited for the tour bus—which the staff from the travel agency told me the day before “No need to go here, bus come to you and take you to My Son”

I originally planned to go to My Son on a DIY thinking it would be cheaper, but guess what? After passing by a few travel agencies located near the ancient city of Hoi-An, I realized it is much cheaper to avail of a tour package. I paid 500,000 VND ($20.00) for a guided day-tour of My Son that includes a bus ride going to My Son, the entrance fee, a bottled water, lunch and a ferry ride going back to Hoi-An.

It was raining hard when our bus reached the My Son complex. Not wanting to risk my camera, I settled with using my mobile phone to photograph the place. Each of us were given a plastic raincoat by our guide so exploring the compound never became much of a hassle—other than the muddy trail.

The Mỹ Sơn temple complex is regarded as one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and the only heritage site of this nature in Vietnam. It is often compared with other cluster of historical temples in Southeast Asia, such as Borobudur of Java in Indonesia, Angkor Wat of Cambodia, Bagan of Myanmar and Ayutthaya of Thailand. As of 1999, My Son has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. At its 23rd meeting, UNESCO accorded Mỹ Sơn this recognition “pursuant to its criterion C (II), as an example of evolution and change in culture, and pursuant to its criterion C (III), as evidence of an Asian civilization which is now extinct”.

My Son Sanctuary is believed to date back to the 4th century until the 14th century. It was built by the kingdom of Champa (yes, earlier than the Khmer Empire's Angkor Wat) as a sanctuary for the Hindi faithful and was constructed to honor the God Shiva, also known as Bhadreshvara.

The My Son Complex is a whole lot smaller than Angkor Wat, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and other ancient temple ruins in Southeast Asia. If you have been to some, do not compare otherwise you will be disappointed. The history of of this place though—as told by our local guide—is as fascinating as the other UNESCO sites I visited.

My Son is situated in the village of Duy Phu and a little more than an hour from Hoi An, in the Quang Nam Province in Central Vietnam. The temples here are scattered covering an area of two kilometers wide sandwiched by two mountain ranges.

It was also the location of several religious ceremonies for the rulers of the Champa dynasties—as well as the burial sites for Cham royal leaders and heroes. During the height of the Cham presence in My Son, the collection of temples and other historical structures here, reached more than 70.

Even though much of the remaining structures have survived all the elements of nature the last 1,300 years (the original bricks and stones have outlasted the ones added through conservation works), much of the ruins rediscovered in the late 19th century—unfortunately—barely escaped the wrath of the US carpet bombing during the Vietnam War. Two main temples were totally reduced to a pile of rubble while countless ones were heavily destroyed.

Even before the Vietnam War, My Son was also ransacked during the French Occupation. A head of an important God statue was believed to have been taken by the French and is now displayed at the Louvre Museum. "We wanted to have it back, but the French always gives us an answer of no" narrates our guide.

We took a different route on the way back to Hoi-An by ditching the bus in favor of a small ferry, to savor the tranquil waters of Thu Bon River. The ride lasted an hour and along the way, I regale at the sight of fishing village life bursting with simplicity from the banks of the river. That moment, I realized why the Cham dynasty settled and thrived in My Son, as robust waterways always plays a crucial role in the survival of any civilization.

As the weather cleared up to reveal a bright sky, I walked to the back of the boat and stared at the calm and murky waters, wondering the sheer amount of history that ebbed and flowed along its torrent.