[The Town of Mariquina] Soon afterwards, the town of Mariquina is reached. It is a typical Filipino community. Proximity to the Philippine metropolis does not seem to have altered its appearance in the least. It has a rural air and atmosphere and the people evidently belong to the hard-plodding farmer-class. An excellent road makes driving a pleasure through the Mariquina Valley. The combination of colors and light, tropical vegetation and houses, the undulating mountain divides, the brilliant green of the palms and bamboo, contrasted with the intense verdure of the rice fields, present a vista that can be expressed adequately only by painting. [The Payatas Estate] After Mariquina comes the town of San Mateo, centrally situated in the Mariquina Valley. It was here that tenants of the vast Payatas Estate in the vicinity combined and bought the property from the Japanese owners three years ago. The enterprise was the first cooperative agricultural Filipino effort on a large scale and has proved to be a success. The purchase price was $775,000, and all of this amount but $100,000 has been paid up. [At the Dam] Then the dam is reached. It is in the town of Montalban, 35 kilometers from Manila. The road winds in and out along the banks of the river, the banks of the river themselves become steeper and steeper, and soon the towering white limestone sides of the Mariquina gorge loom up several hundred feet, and the reservoir inclosure is reached. Those who desire to go as far as the dam must be sure to obtain permits from the Metropolitan Water District before leaving Manila, otherwise the trip will have to end at the head of the deep gorge at the gate of the reservoir. With such a permit the visitor is allowed to enter the reservoir gate and he proceeds up the shaded walk to the dam and reservoir. The walk to the reservoir is only a few minutes, up a well-kept path lined with shrubs, trees, and flowers with the rushing water of the river below to the left. The reservoir, surrounded by the green mountain sides, makes a pretty picture reminding the visitor of some of the descriptions of lakes in the Scottish Islands, as depicted by Sir Walter Scott in some of his works. [Different Return Route] The return to Manila may be made by way of Pasig, the capital of the Province of Rizal, after leaving Mariquina where the roads branch. On this way back, Fort Wm. McKinley is worth visiting. It is said to be the largest army post under the American flag and one of the best administered. It cannot fail to impress the visitor because of its fine buildings, spacious parade grounds and attractive officers' quarters. VIII. OTHER CITIES BAGUIO [Baguio] Baguio, which is often called the Simla of the Philippines, is classed with even more famous mountain resorts by its admirers. By automobile it is about eight hours' ride from Manila. By train and passenger trucks combined, it is about eleven hours.