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.
