August 21, 2008

Mines View Park

I guess it really used to be a park, but when you go to Mines View Park in Baguio City now, all you'll see from the street are stalls selling souvenirs and food. If you brave the crowds and go to the viewing deck on the edge of a very steep hill, you will see the site of old copper and gold mines. The mines have long since closed in this particular area—long enough for grass and trees to cover the valley and hillsides again, though you can still see bald spots and trails here and there. Long enough, too, for houses to be built on the old mine site. On a clear day, you can also see the breadth of the Cordillera mountain range. Just our luck to get there on a cloudy day.

view from Mines View Park in Baguio City
The Cordillera region is the ancestral domain of the Igorot, which is made up of six ethnic groups. At the back of the viewing deck, I saw three little old women making a living out of renting Igorot costumes—vests, skirts, headresses, beads, spears and wooden shields—to tourists.

dressing up in Igorot costumes at the Mines View Park in Baguio City
And here is the tour group in all their glorious Igorot finery! BAGUIO CITY SERIES #4

tourists in Igorot costume

19 comments:

Saretta said...

Very nice outfits! Love all that color!

Lisa Wilson said...

Great pictures! The one of the mountains is beautiful.

Olivier said...

waouhhh....la vue est magnifique et j'adore ces costumes, superbe.
waouhhh .... the view is magnificent and I love these costumes, beautiful.

Pepe Alcaide said...

Una vestimenta preciosa, incluida la de los turistas.

Knoxville Girl said...

Hilda, the view is breathtaking even with the clouds. And the tourists - I'm speechless.

marley said...

Magnificent view and colourful costumes.

The photoshoping (?) in my photo was just that I enhanced the colours and sharpened up the abbey. I'm not into messing with photos so they become something else completley! Glad that you help your husband with computer crisis'. We man are pretty useless!

Layrayski said...

wow! I like the costumes! how much is the rent for one set?

Debbie Courson Smith said...

Wow wow wow - that is finery!

Hilda said...

Lyra:
Only 10 pesos per person! :)

Laurie Allee said...

Those costumes are fabulous!!!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Wondeferfully colourful costumes and the views just have that wow factor.

Louis la Vache said...

Interesting history. Cloudy or not, that was still a nice view of the mountains!

Harry Makertia said...

I'm not very surprised when I noticed that Igorot traditional costume is pretty similar with some of Indonesian ethnic clothes, such as Timor and Lombok. Interesting..

melanie said...

Très beau reportage ! Ces femmes sont bien belles.

Bill said...

We were in Silverton last week, and they have old time photo studios where you dress up in old west clothing, and get pictures taken in the Sepia color that was used 100 years ago. We did that as a family a few years back, and it was fun.

Sally said...

Ooh, I hope the houses are safe from any cave-ins. Thanks for visiting me in Sydney!Sydney Daily Photo

Unknown said...

Fantastic view! Wish I was there!
The costumes are beautiful though they definatelly look better on local people... just like sombreros do on mexicans or saris on indian ladies... you know! :-)

M. CHRISTOPHE said...

I like your third picture where we can see details of this beautiful costumes.

JaamZIN said...

I like these traditional clothes a lot:)