What? There's a Coldest Place in the Philippines?
Oh yes I kid you not. For those who are only aware of our beautiful beaches and colorful festivals, there is something else you will learn today! Haha. Our country is a tropical one but is there indeed a really cold place in the Philippines? Well now you will know the answer!
Actually I saw this question in Quora but before I post my answer there I will share it here. Hehe. Why answer it? Well it's considered as summer now in the Philippines so I'd like to talk about something cold. 😆
Oh wait, I just found a newspaper social media post. It stated our country's weather agency said we DON'T have summer, we have warm or dry season instead. Haha. I stand corrected!!! (The other season we have is the wet or rainy one.)
Why not write about it when everywhere online you can see Filipinos complaining about the heat since March. 😂 That month is the start of the hot dry season. So let me tell you about some of the coldest places in the Philippines just to be different. It gets quite cold especially during the cool dry season. (December to February)
Actually I only knew about 2 or 3 particular places before writing this. After doing quite a bit of online research I finally know more about my motherland!
For those who don't like the warmer side of our tropical climate, this is for you. I'll share the two coldest areas people can visit while it's still hot everywhere else!
Can you guess which ones I will mention? 😆 You might already have an idea if you're very familiar with our archipelago. If not then lezgowwww!
❄️ 1st Place: Say Hello to the frosty municipality of Atok in Benguet!
Yes folks, this is considered the coldest location in our country. It is about 2 hours away from the famous Baguio City.
Why is it the coldest? Because it has even gone below zero degrees Celsius at one point! Oh my!!! 😱 Check out this social media news post.
February 16, 2017. source
Those wishing to experience snow should visit the place first to see if they can tolerate the temperature. I for one would never go there, you'll know why below.
Actually I've never heard of this area before but apparently it was viral back in 2017. Lol I was probably too busy working that's why I only learned about this now.
Did you know, Japan actually donated cherry blossom trees to this municipality? Awesome right? So if you wanna see those flowers without going to the Land of the Rising Sun then just visit Atok.
source
Or if you like hiking then check out the Osocan Spanish trail which was constructed sometime during the Spanish occupation. There are also several flower and vegetable farms in the municipality as that is their primary source of income. You can tour some of those too!
🌲 Runner Up as the Coldest Place in the Philippines: Baguio City!
Officially this is still what most people know as the coldest area in the country. (Like I did!) It is also in the mountainous region in the north. This is known as the "summer capital" of the nation. Why? Well it's a highly urbanized city with a lot of history. Of course it involves Americans establishing it as such.
Anyway, how cold is it? The temperature can get as low as 9 to 12°C based on previous temperature reports I checked. (All from our local weather agency: Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA). Historically, it has gone lower than that several times.
source
Yesterday, since we're still in the hot dry season, the coldest was around 19°C.
Baguio City is the capital of Benguet province which is within the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Actually it's already a chartered city. Don't know much about that but still if you wanna get away from the heat then stay in Baguio the whole dry season until the end of May! Or maybe until early June. Haha.
For sure you will never get bored if you roam around the city. Some of the most popular tourist destinations are Burnham Park and Camp John Hay. You can do a lot of activities here in the "City of Pines". Some of them are recreational boating, horseback riding, strawberry picking, shopping for food, clothes and more!
View of Baguio City as seen from Mt. Cabuyao. Photo by Cabajar.
I think it's been more than a decade since the last time I went there. Oh I'm not a fan of cold places you know. We don't have winter but my gosh I cannot take a bath when it's really cold! One always needs to heat water before even taking a shower in that city. 😆
Just a Tip:
Of course this means the nearby areas around Baguio are also quite cold. For example, at times La Trinidad (which is also in Benguet) is colder.
Another popular place worth mentioning is Sagada which is in Mountain Province (just beside Benguet; both are in CAR). It's also known to have cold weather. So you see, better not restrict yourself to just one city/municipality. Same goes with the other chilly destinations that I will share with you.
Now of course I don't want to make this too long so I will have to write a part 2! Can you guess what other places in the country have a lower temperature? Feel free to share your thoughts and stay tuned!
XOXO,
@artgirl
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