Balatoc Mines Tour
January 2, 2009 by lisa
Filed under attractions & landmarks, benguet
We Were Hungry!
Our tour took longer than expected probably because we had so many questions and our tour guide answered them most patiently, and it was way past lunch time when we got out. So much for our plans to picnic at Crosby Park — Nico said we probably could buy food along the way but we did not see a grocery store or very many sari-sari stores for that matter — we were famished after taking the Balatoc Mines Tour.
And since we were miners for a day, we decided to eat where they eat. Nenette’s Store was located right outside the BMC Compund and Ms. Nenette fell all over herself serving us pretty delicious grilled bangus (milkfish), pork adobo and menudo. My three companions were content to share a large bottle of Coke, while I had one to myself (yes, I am a Coke addict).
I must say her food was pretty tasty and reasonably priced. We had double orders of everything, plus extra fish, and two huge bowls of rice, and it all added up to just Php280.00!
Balatoc Mines Tour Summary
The Balatoc Mines Tour costs just Php250.00 per person, is very well organized, very informative, totally unique, lasts 1.5 -2 hours, gives visitors great value for money and comes highly recommended for both tourists and residents.
It is an ideal activity for whole families, office outings, the “barkada,” or even school excursions, and I can truly say it was worth the trip and, in my opinion, pretty cheap. It is a wonderful thing that Benguet Mining Corporation has been offering since 1997, an inside look into the world of mining. The underground mine tour is open daily from 7:00 a.m. and the cut-off for the last tour is 2:00 p.m.
Balatoc Mines is located just 30 minutes away from Baguio City and is accessible via public transportation, although it would be better to go via private transport because you might want to visit the Philippine Military Academy along the way, or explore other places of interest nearby, such as Crosby Park or Balatoc Lake.
If you are planning to have a picnic lunch at Crosby Park, I suggest you bring your own food, as there are no eateries or food supply stores nearby. Actually, this is the only downside to the whole Balatoc Mines Tour experience that I can think of for those who do not want to risk dining in a carinderia (Filipino eatery) food while on vacation. There are no gourmet restaurants in the mining village or anywhere nearby, ok?
If you are not bringing a car, it is advised that you rent a taxi or jeepney (if yours is a large group) for the day. Of course you can also find vans for hire in our local trade papers or in the Baguio Directory.
On the way back to Baguio City, we did pass by Crosby Park and drove around the area some more looking for Balatoc Lake, but that’s a whole new story altogether.
We just...
Hi Lisa.As usual another very informative guide from you! Always been reading your comments,be it on where to dine,places to go,recently the shorter route to Baguio,and even local politics,haha.Thank you very much,and hope to hear another great adventure from you in the near future.When I was a kid,all I did was horseback riding and biking(at Burnham),now another new agenda when I bring my family there.
Thanks Eugene,
There are many things to discover about Baguio City, and many more reasons to visit. Even I have not explored all the nooks and crannies. And come on, for the kids, just the horseback riding, boating and biking already takes up all the vacation time!
Now the local politics part, that was never in the plan for this site, but it became necessary with all the mismanagement going on.
Honestly,the local politics thing is also important and very informative.I am a regular visitor of Baguio and I like being aware of what’s going on there.Though I’m not a resident of Baguio,I do care about the place.My hat’s off to your site,nothing like it
Thanks Eugene,
Baguio belongs to the Philippines, with us residents as mere caretakers. The issues plaguing the city cannot be localized or isolated. This is the best medium I can use right now. Thank you for understanding and caring.
Hi, I’m planning to organize a camp in Crosby Park. Do you know the contact details of the park? can I have a cellphone number of one who runs the park. Thanks!
No phone in the park. But you can call the Balatoc Mines Tour folks. Contact info available at http://www.gobaguio.com/balatoc-mines.html or check out http://www.benguetcorp.com. hope this helps
Dear lisa,
i am very glad for posting about balatoc mines.we will be leaving tomorrow for baguio to attend the pma alumni on sat. it is now included in our itinerary to visit this exciting place. i am positively sure that we all gonna like and enjoy it. thank you for this informative guide.
Hiya Nova,
Yup, you can take in the Balatoc Mines Tour especially because it is near PMA. Take note of the cut-off time though. You must be there by 2:00 p.m. Say hi to Ms. Vicky for me
Me and my wife have been treasure hunting, and we come across some items this lady has found in a cave, I need to find a gold buyer and I have some american currency of 1934 from a WQ.f. box
hi ms lisa, do you know where is Plaza-Balatoc-Acupan line?where can we find that?we are planning to go there this july and i wnat to go there. hope you can help me. do you have any miner or anyone contact number that can help me?thanks.
WELL…IM FROM ACUPAN CAMP 3,THE TURNING POINT OF THE JEEP….AND WE DONT HAVE PARK IN ACUPAN,WE ONLY HAVE CROSBY PARK BUT NOT NEAR TO THE ACUPAN…IT IS LOCATED AT THE SECOND GATE,IN THIS ALSO YOU CAN FIND THE THE STATEU THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED THE MAN WHO IS HOLDING A “MASO”…AND IF YOU PLANN TO GO TO ACUPAN WELLL……FROM NOW IT JUST ALI’L BIT DANGEROUS BECUASE OF THE LAND SLIDE…WELLLLLL JUST COME TO ACUPAN AND YOU WILL A EXPERIENCE HOW TO BE IN ACUPAN..K SEE YAH
We went to Baguio for the nth time but it was the first for my 10 year old boy and the second for my four other children. The Balatoc Mine Tour was the best! We had a blast (literally)! We enjoyed the tour. We had chapas and our certificates as important mementos. Our tour guide (ALMA) was very good. She patiently answered our questions. We loved the ANACONDA. I thought we have seen everything but this was the best Baguio experience by far. The P250 and P150 (student fee
I brought my kids to the Strawberry Farm and it was a letdown. If you pick strawberries, you pay P350/kg as against P200/kg if you buy them. I hope this tour becomes organized where a guide will talk to you about how strawberries are planted. How wine is made out of them with wine tasting or how it is preserved, etc. Travelling to Trinidad Valley was not worth the time and effort.
The Butterfly sanctuary at Camp John Hay was also a letdown. The butterflies were not active at all because of the cold weather. It was just good for photo ops. Skip this. We had fun though at the zip line and repelling at the eco trail of Camp John Hay.
Hi Bob,
The Balatoc Mines Tour is really great.
As for strawberries, I agree that it’s not so great. But I have to explain that the rationale for strawberries being more expensive at the farms is because so much is wasted when they are picked by non-farmers. Also folks are charged per kilo not per person. so if five of you went, it’s 70/person for the experience and photo opps.
Thanks for sharing your most recent Baguio experiences. I am sure other readers will appreciate the information!
Happy New Year!