A sign beside the road at Atok declares that this is the highest point on the Philippine highway system, and the air agrees. At about 2,250 metres the Halsema Highway is cold and often shrouded in cloud, a surprise to anyone who flew in from the sweating lowlands, and the vegetable terraces that cover the slopes here look more like Switzerland than South-East Asia. Cabbages, carrots, potatoes, flowers and strawberries grow on slopes that appear almost vertical, and farmers carry loads up and down on their backs. Atok is a small municipality, with Baguio far to the south and Abatan and Sagada to the north.
The highway itself was laid across the Cordillera in the 1930s, linking Baguio with Bontoc, and it carries the name of an American engineer who worked on the project. It is a long, narrow, winding mountain road, now mostly paved but with sections where the surface breaks away after typhoon rains. Landslides are not rare, and in some places half the carriageway has slipped into the valley, so keep your speed down and watch for debris. The scenery is superb: pine ridges, rice terraces further north, gorges full of mist and, on a clear morning, a sea of cloud below you.
Rain and fog are the main hazards, and the road can change from dry to treacherous within a kilometre. Go in the dry season, from November to April, when the air is crisp and views carry for miles. Trucks loaded with vegetables thunder down toward the city, often overloaded and sometimes overtaking on blind bends, so give them space and hold your line. The people of the Cordillera, the Kankanaey and Ibaloi among them, are friendly, and if you stop at a roadside stall for strawberries or a hot coffee you are likely to be offered a chat.
There is little fuel in the high villages, so fill the tank in Baguio or at Abatan before you ride. The nights are cold and the temperature can drop below ten degrees even in the tropics, so bring a warm layer. For a meal, the small eateries beside the road serve rice, vegetables, grilled meat and strong coffee from local beans. This is a long day on a hard road, but few rides in Asia are as memorable.