La Presa is familiar to you if you watch the daily telenovela Forevernore. The TV program which become a hit not only in Philippines but even to Pinoys abroad. La Presa is the name of the sitio where the main character Agnes lives with her family.
The sitio is located outside Baguio City, real name of the the place is Sitio Pungayan, Cabuyao, Tuba Benguet. The location where the show is being filmed is near Mt Cabuyao where the famous "Mickey Mouse" (radars) is located.
Tourists flock to Baguio City to enjoy the cold weather and visit the famous sitio and Manor Hotel or better known as Grande Hotel in Camp John Hay. Since I studied in Baguio City and my churchmate also lived in the city before, we decided to visit only the new tourist spots like Ben Cabrera's farm/musuem in Asin Road and Sitio La Presa.
Let me give you quick guide how to reach La Presa via public transport. Jeepneys directly bound for Sitio Pungayan are very few. You are lucky if you can get a direct ride to the place since it will costs you only less than 30 pesos per person The alternate option is to ride a jeepney bound for Green Valley and get off at Police Outpost. There are van or FX for hire waiting at the Outpost. One travel will costs you 150 pesos. We happened to overhear two make up artists looking for a ride directly to the sitio so I talked to these people to join me and my friend and split the cost of 150 pesos. ;)
Thinking it was late afternoon already and we might not get a ride back to Baguio City proper, we asked the driver to wait for us and advised him he could get more passengers so we can split the costs again.
I have never set foot in Mt Cabuyao or the radars. It was only when I got to Sitio Pungayan that I saw the radars nearer. It was really cold in that area. I was shivering and had to wear a sweater with hood to keep myself warm.
At the entrance of the sitio there are stalls selling sweet goodies and vegetables. It is a proof that shooting the telenovela in that place created tourism/business for locals.
From the main road, you have to walk a little or more than 250 meters. Agnes' house is located a little downhill. The crowd that you see in the background are all tourists. I was a little bit dismayed because I was expecting strawberry fields in the area but what they have are fields of potatoes.
The slope is a bit steep and we were panting on our way up.
The signboard is always busy, hard to get an opportunity to have this marker alone for photo op. My friend has to squeeze in the crowd to get our chance. :) We never had the chance, the tourist (we asked a favor to take our pics) was mindful enough to angle the camera without taking the other people in the picture.
This is the house of Agnes. Well, even the bench is busy.
This is the kitchen.
