Mt.Jambo/Mt.Jumbo/Mt.Yangbew, La Trinidad Benguet

La Trinidad in Benguet, one of the neighboring towns of Baguio City, is much known for its strawberry and vegetable plantations. With this, the town is titled as the “Strawberry Capital of the Philippines”.  But aside from that, the city is also very rich on beautiful mountain peaks. One of it is the Mt. Jambo or Mt. Yangbew, overlooking 360 views of La Trinidad valley and nearby Baguio City as you reach the summit.

Mt. Jambo/Mt.Jumbo/Mt.Yangbew is located at Barangay Tawang in La Trinidad Benguet which is just about 2 kilometers away from Baguio City. According to the locals, it was called ‘Jambo’, because during the American era, this place was used for the National Scout Jamboree. This is an event or gathering of thousands of members of the Boy Scouts of America.

How to get there?

At Cubao bus terminal, ride a bus bound for Baguio City. You can ride Victory Liner bus for Php500 but be sure to reserve a ticket. This bus is always fully booked. There’s also Genesis bus bound for Baguio for Php445 only if you’re on a tight budget. They have buses every 30 minutes. You just need to line up and wait. The travel time is about 5-6 hours.

Then from Baguio City, ride a jeepney bound for Tomay, La Trinidad. Then just ask the driver to drop you off at the intersection going to Barangay Tawang. From there, just walk and you should see the start of the trail near Tawang Elementary School.

Alternatively, there are lots of taxis you can ride going to La Trinidad. Just tell the driver you’re going to La Trinidad in Barangay Tawang. Most of them are not familiar with the Barangay, so just be sure you have your GPS ready ;). It’s about 2 kilometers away only from Baguio City. So travel time is just about 30 minutes.

We arrived 5:30 in the morning. It was still dark (beware: there are lot of dogs. And they are really big ones. So just be careful) and we were not sure where the jump off point is. There were no signs along the road. Good thing there were locals passing by at that time. And thank you to the runner who directed us to the right path.

The jump off point is near Tawang Elementary school. It is a cemented uphill. You’re on the right start of the trail if you will find this sign. 

We hurried up as we climb because we wanted to catch the sunrise in the summit. So even though it was still dark, foggy, and freakin’ cold. We didn’t stop. It was an uphill climb throughout but it’s not that hard.  Because it was really short. We just took around 30 minutes to reach the summit.

I didn’t appreciate it at first when we reached the summit. It was fun because it was really foggy (I really loved the fog! hehe). But we won't see the sunrise or the stunning views we've been wanting to see.

Fog is love!

But after a while, in just a tick of a second, the sun just showed up, blue sky and clouds appeared. It was very beautiful! So happy to saw such a perfect scene! J

that's me watching the beautiful sunrise :)

When everything got clearer, we saw breath taking 360 views. Every corner gave such an amazing view. 

view of La Trinidad city from the summit

The whole summit is huge. You can run and play around, and there are lots of camping areas.

These are the people we met at the summit. They are locals who were visiting and just making worthy of their time on a weekend by having fun. And they were really very nice to share their food with us. Actually most of the locals there are very nice and friendly.

Because of its huge space, you can actually try horseback riding in the whole area. There are lots of locals offering a ride.  It’s only Php300 per hour or Php150 for half an hour. And you can choose whatever horse you like.

That is ‘Colonel’. He’s really a big horse. According to the locals, he’s a champion horse. Oh that’s why he's that big :)

And that is ‘Smokey’. That was my horse for that day. And she’s kind of old I think: p. But I had fun; it was my first time riding a horse while on top of a mountain. It was a very cool experience :)

And the one I really loved here is that you can also experience sea of clouds. That's why this place is sometimes referred also to as little Pulag.

sea of clouds

We stayed at the summit almost the whole morning. It was too sunny because the area is a pure grassland. But I didn’t mind much of it because of the gentle wind and breath-taking views I’m experiencing on that moment. If only I’m just near by the area, I would love to go back there every now and then and would surely include it as my hang out place with my friends, family, or even time alone.

And from the whole experience, I can say that Mt.Jambo/Mt.Jumbo/Mt.Yangbew is a mountain you will surely enjoy in La Trinidad experiencing only a short hike but will surprise you with a wonderful view upon reaching the top. A perfect place to watch beautiful sunrise or sunset while just having fun around with your group of friends. 



ITINERARY
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Day 00
11:00 PM ETD to Baguio City

Day 01
05:00 AM ETA Baguio City
05:20 AM ETA Bgy.Tawang, La Trinidad/Jump off point (By Taxi)
05:30 AM Start Trek
06:00 AM ETA Summit
06:20 AM Sunrise watching/Pictorial/Snacks
07:30 AM Horseback riding around the summit
08:00 AM Descend
08:30 AM ETA Jump off/ Wash up
09:30 AM Side trip Tour - Strawberry Farm (Read click here -> Strawberry Farm), Baguio City Tour, etc.
02: 00 PM ETD to Manila
08:00 PM ETA Manila


BREAKDOWN EXPENSES
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Genesis Bus (Manila to Baguio City/vice versa) - Php 445
Taxi (Baguio City to Jump off) - Php  250 (contract w/ driver)
Registration Fee - Php 30
Horseback riding - Php 150
Taxi (La Trinidad to Baguio City) - Php 160
Food - ....