Tam-awan Village

Tam-awan was set up in the late 1990s by the painter Ben Cabrera and a group of Baguio artists, who bought traditional Ifugao and Kalinga houses from villages across the Cordillera, dismantled them, carried them out and reassembled them on a wooded slope at the edge of the city. The result is a cluster of huts on posts with pyramidal thatch roofs, linked by stepped paths through pine and bamboo, with a gallery of Cordillera and contemporary art, a café serving Benguet coffee, and workshops in weaving, carving and painting. Some of the huts can be slept in, which is the closest most visitors get to the experience without going to Ifugao. The name means vantage point, and the top of the site gives a view toward the sea on clear days. It is a curated presentation rather than a living village, which the founders have never claimed otherwise.

What you actually see

• The relocated huts - Ifugao and Kalinga houses rebuilt on the slope.
• The gallery - Cordillera and contemporary work on show.
• The workshops - weaving, carving and painting sessions.
• The vantage point - the view from the top of the site.

When to go

November to May for dry paths; Baguio is cool year-round. Weekday mornings are quiet - the village fills at weekends and in the tourist peak of March to May.

Honest expectations

It is a curated artists' village, not a living Cordillera settlement. Paths are steep and stepped. Workshops and overnight stays cost extra and should be booked ahead.

Nearby

Baguio's centre, Burnham Park and the BenCab Museum on the Asin road are all close.