Philippines: Baguio

Let me introduce to you one of my favorite places of the Philippines - the beautiful mountains of Baguio! Why do I love it so much - it's simple, really. The air. The cool breeze. The weather there is like fall in New York, not too cold, not too warm. I am not a summer-weather girl by any means, so a break from the tropical weather was so lovely.

The only negative thing I have to say about my experience there - and will be the negative aspect of ANY place that I visited or will visit in the future - is their exploitation of animals for tourism purposes. In Minesview Park, they had small horses working till they looked so obviously tired, having person after person ride them and pose for pictures. They even dyed their beautiful manes crazy colors. They also had dogs posing with people, and one dog looked so tired he sat down on the chair where people were supposed to sit. Seeing this made me so upset, I wanted to leave the park immediately.

Even though Philippines is the place of my ancestors, I will not be silent on or accept their treatment of animals.