Halsema Highway does not shout about its summit. There is a sign, a small pull-off and a few stalls selling strawberries, fresh vegetables and woolly hats, and that is the highest point on the whole Philippine highway network, around 2,255 metres above the sea. It sits close to Atok, in Benguet, and the road goes on north toward Bontoc and Sagada as if nothing special had happened. For a country associated with beaches, a pine-scented ridge where you need a jacket is a pleasant shock.
Getting here is the reward. From Baguio the road climbs and descends through the Cordillera, clinging to hillsides carved into rice terraces and vegetable terraces so steep they look like green staircases. The highway is named after an American engineer called Halsema, who worked on the route in the early twentieth century, and many people still call it the Mountain Province road. It is mostly paved but narrow, with cliffs on one side, blind bends, trucks hauling cabbages and potatoes, and landslides that can shut sections in the typhoon months. Check conditions before setting out, because rain and fog turn the scenery into a grey wall.
Up at the top the air is thin and cool, the pines smell of resin, and the vegetable farms of Atok, Buguias and Kabayan spread across the slopes around you. This is where much of Manila's salad comes from. If you can, stop at one of the roadside stands for fresh strawberries, which are sweet and cheap, and sip a hot coffee from the local shacks. The fog usually rolls up by midday, so mornings give the best views of the terraces falling into the valleys.
Fuel needs planning. Baculongan and Atok have shops and some pumps, but remote stretches farther north do not, so fill up in Baguio or at a larger town before the climb and carry a little extra if you can. Daylight is precious on this road: driving it after dark in fog is a stressful business, and the locals will tell you honestly that you should be at your night stop before the light goes.
The ridge is also close to the country of the Igorot people, whose highland culture, weaving and rice terraces shape this region. Greet people warmly, drive slowly through villages, and you will be met with the same.