Atok, Benguet—Nestled in the heartland of the Cordillera Mountain range is the Floral Gardens in this town, a flourishing farm tourism destination providing stunning sunrise views, awesome panoramas and terraced, colorful blooms.
The town has become a bucket-list destination for local and foreign tourists, as its farming industry—Atok is already a major highland vegetable and cut flower-producing municipality—has branched into the tourism sector.
The Northern Blossoms and Haight’s Place in Barangay Poblacion and Brgy Paoay, respectively, are fast becoming favored destinations that will eventually decongest Baguio City and broaden attention to other places of interest in the Cordillera.
Baguio and La Trinidad, also in Benguet, experienced a heavy tourist turnout during the past Yuletide season that quickly turned nightmarish with traffic, garbage, and a lack of places to stay for arriving tourists.
Atok, meanwhile, is 50 kilometers from Baguio, about an hour’s drive away along scenic Halsema Highway.
The best time to depart towards Atok is early in the morning, to be able to witness the wonderful sunrise along the terraced floral farms of Northern Blossoms.
The visit is capped ideally by a sunbathing and trekking experience along the plateau of Haight’s Place and a good cup of coffee with pancakes at the Coffee Shop. A five-minute trek along the mossy forest is perfect to end the morning.
For the foodies, watercress plants grow in abundance along the irrigation canals that can be harvested for a small fee of around P20 a kilo. Nasturtium flowerettes, which are edible, also grow wild along the mountain slopes of Atok, for those who have adventurous palates.
Northern Blossoms and Haight’s Place also offer rooms to stay the night and enjoy the cold highland weather. A glamping and bonfire place is also offered in Haight’s Place.
On Friday, visitors who ventured around Brgy. Paoay saw Atok covered in a thin sheet of frost, locally called “andap,” which is a natural occurence in the area due to its elevation of around 7,000 feet above sea level. Frost usually occurs in the months of January to early February due to the prevailing Siberian Cold Winds.