A Trip to Kapangan

A Trip to Kapangan

Before I got to the place, I knew Kapangan to be a home of beauty – beautiful and lovely people according to the song Montanosa and of course beautiful landscape according to my i-Kapangan classmates back in college.  I had the chance to see the place myself when we were hosted by Asao Shimura, a Kapangan-based artist, to a workshop on making miniature books in his home and studio in sitio Poking, barangay Labueg.

A crew fixes the canvas to shield the top load from possible rain at the stopover in Shilan La Trinidad.  

The weather has been bad on the day prior to the scheduled trip on September 22 because of tropical storm Odette passing through Northern Philippines but each one in our group we call Ubbog Cordillera decided to push through rain or shine.  My companions who are coming from Baguio City boarded the first jeep that departed around 6:30 in the morning.  The jeepney that served the first trip is nicknamed Texas Rose bound for Longboy and Poking.  I was supposed to board the jeep when it would pass La Trinidad town central but I was not able to notice it so I was texted by my companions in Shilan where it would be stopping over at an eatery/bakery.  More”late” passengers caught up and minutes later it was a blooming flower going through the winding road to Kapangan.

Beautiful landscapes fascinates the eye along the road to Kapangan.  This one is along the Daclan-Ambongdolan barangays of the town of Tublay.  Kapangan town central is around 33 kilometers from Baguio City passing through the towns La Trinidad and Tublay, all towns of Benguet province.

It was drizzling along the way but the weather was already fine as we reached Kapangan town central.  According to my companions, we have three more buddies who rode another jeep that is bound to another barrio.  If they can be able to catch up while we are at the town central, we will be together in this jeep going up to Labueg.  But they has not yet arrived as the jeep started to climb the road.  They would then ride a tricycle in coming up.

Our three other companions caught up with us from town central of Kapangan with this tricycle.  It costed them P 120 or P40 per passenger from town central to Labueg.  Jeepney fare from Baguio City to Labueg is P 55.

From the main road, there was some ten-minute walk to the studio.  In time, we were there and Mr. Asao Shimura was happy to meet us.  Workshop started immediately as he taught us to bind a miniature book, Japanese style.  We worked for our own copy of his mini-book Mountain Tea Hunting.  Everyone was excited coming up with his/her own bind.  Later in the afternoon, we bounded our own mini-book and everyone was more animated and motivated coming up with an own mini-book.

Mr. Asao Shimura's Mountain Tea Hunting and the materials for the mini-book making.  Each one went home with a signed copy of the book.

Mr. Shimura's book that I bound and my own work, a memoir of my daughter.

Lunch prepared by our hostand mentor of the day.

While waiting for the print of the mini-book we prepared ourselves for the workshop, our host made us try our hands on paper making from the fibers of plants available in the locality such as bananas and barks of trees.

A finished product made by previous attendees of Mr. Shimura's workshops

Our host Mr. Asao Shimura showing an artwork from a woodblock.  The print is from natural ink solution from several powders including soot and gin.  The gin, according to him, as compared to water dissolves easily fine powder like soot.

Folds of waterproof paper dresses with matching hat designed by Mr. Shimura.  He said they were used in a local beauty contest here in Labueg.

After the bookmaking, the group made a walk to a natural park.  A signboard at the main road leading to it says it was the Anthurium Forest.  The hike to the park involved very steep descent.  The experience with the nature, however, gives the hassle its worthiness.  There is a view of rice terraces,  vegetable gardens, and distant mountains along the way.  And in the so-called Anthurium Forest, flowers were obviously growing with very minimal human intervention.  

Even anthuriums grow on mossy trees in these natural park at Labueg

The grandchild of our host who also served as guide insisted that we go farther to other gardens but we deferred it for next time.  Besides the pathway being too muddy because of previous days’ rains, we were catching up for our trip back to Baguio.  The last trip is around 3:30 PM, the same Texas Rose jeep that brought us to Labueg.  

A view of Kapangan central from sitio Longboy, baranngay Labueg.