Hello, beautiful people of Hive! I hope you're doing well today. I'll be sharing with you our travel experience to the Igorot Stone Kingdom in Baguio City.
As we continued exploring the tourist attractions in Baguio City, our driver brought us to our next destination, which is the Igorot Stone Kingdom. At first, I was thinking about what it looked like. I thought it's like an old village of the tribe where they were living in a cave. But when we asked our driver what we were going to see there, he told us that it's a structure made by an Igorot named Pio Velasco. It will show how great their skills are in constructing a site using stones.
How do we enter the Igorot Stone Kingdom?
We need to pay 100 pesos for us to enter the Igorot Stone Kingdom. For kids four years old and older, we need to pay 80 pesos, while it's free for toddlers. My wife lined up for our tickets. After paying, we went to the entrance and showed the ticket to the attendant, who, I think, was already distressed as she responded to the guests. I was really expecting something that could showcase the culture of the tribe. But due to the huge crowd inside, I was not in the mood to explore the place. I only stayed in the middle part of the area and took a short video and some photos.
How did Pio Velasco come up with the idea of creating the Igorot Stone Kingdom?
I saw signage with a symbol of the head of a white carabao. It says that on March 1, 2020, a white carabao appeared before Pio Velasco, giving him the sign to start building the kingdom. It has also been his vision since childhood. So he started constructing the Igorot Stone Kingdom, which has now become one of the tourist attractions in Baguio City.
What can you expect inside the Kingdom?
You can see how good the Igorot people are when it comes to riprap or the construction of the kingdom using stones and rocks. I know that it's not an easy job doing the riprap. I once worked in construction during my college summer job at CTU-Danao. We can also see giant Igorot statues that showcase their traditional clothing. There is also an area that offers rentals of the attire if you wish to experience wearing it. You can also have the opportunity to ride the horse for pictorial purposes. You can go to the highest area using the stairs, which I did not try because I was feeling so tired at the time, and the place was also full of tourists.
What's the purpose of the white carabao's apparition?
It was then a fine day as we visited the place. But one thing that questions my mind is the purpose of the white carabao's apparition: to build the kingdom. I hope one day, if I could go back to Baguio City, this will be answered. I had no chance of asking it when we were there since we were also in a hurry trying to get to a new destination.
I admire how these indigenous people of the Philippines contribute to the rich culture and tradition of the country. Their works are worthy of being acknowledged and valuable.
This ends my blog today. I thank you for your support. Till next time. 🫶
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Video was edited using CapCut
All photos are mine unless stated otherwise.
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