The Mangili Tindaan Historical Nature Park (M4 Sherman Tank Museum) — Attraction in Nueva Vizcaya

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to go camping in Baguio City before it turned into a bustling Metropolis?

Well a trip to Malico, Nueva Vizcaya is definitely going to make you feel like you just hopped into a time machine and traveled back to a time when Baguio City was just a vast expanse of mountains and pine trees where you can fill your lungs with nothing but cool, clean pine-scented mountain air.

The climate at Malico is akin to Baguio City as well. Crisp cool weather that can get rather chilly at night. You’d be well advised to bring some warm clothes if you plan to camp here.

We keep drawing parallels between Malico and Baguio City of old which is admittedly unfair. Malico definitely deserves to be described by its own merits. We do so only for lack of a better way to describe the place.

The Mangili Tindaan Heritage Park Campsite

✅ Rudimentary his/her Toilets. ✅ There is a “Sari-sari” store within the campgrounds. ✅ Bring lots of drinking water as there is no potable water source. The sari-sari store with the campground sells bottled water but at a premium (understandably so.) ✅ You are allowed to start a campfire but be sure to inform the camp warden before you do. Firewood is available for a fee or you can pick fallen branches off the forest floor. ✅ There is a small makeshift mini-museum within the campgrounds where you can read up on the history of the place. On display are a few artifacts and munitions from the 2nd World War. Probably the most notable piece on display is the mostly intact remains of an American M4 Sherman Tank. At the tail end of World War II, the US Army 2nd Division known as the Red Arrow Division fought its way through the heavily entrenched Japanese Forces stationed in the area. It is during this time the tank met its faithful end where it remains to this day as a ghastly reminder of the...

Although the scenery & historical aspect of the park was amazing, the “owner” or the woman looking after the park was straight up rude.

My family went to have a picnic on a Sunday in one of the many benches provided, not knowing if you had to rent the seats, we sat down & had lunch. After having our lunch, one of my uncles went for a smoke, not knowing that there was a non-smoking policy inside as the signs were unclear, he was immediately hounded by the owner for doing such a thing inside the park. Instead of telling us politely to not smoke inside the park, she made a whole scene that every person in the park could hear her shouting. She then insisted that we pay her 2000 pesos as a penalty, which we didn’t hesitate to give her as she looked like she was only after the money. But what’s worse was she kept on insulting us after handing her the money, telling to make our own park like she was belittling us & showing off her family’s money.

What’s more ironic is there is a “bonfire camp” inside the park which causes more risk of a fire spreading. Unwilling to retaliate, we immediately left the park leaving a sour taste in the mouth. We spoke to some of the workers in the place before we left & they all said the same thing, that the “owner” is disrespectful towards them, showing her superiority complex.

How do you expect tourist to come to this place when you have this kind of dictatorship rule hanging over the park. I’ve been to many historical places around the world, the pyramid of Giza, the colosseum in Rome to name a few and all of them don’t enforce rules as stricter than this place.

If you want to keep the park clean, make it a...

It's a short drive from Nueva Vizcaya via the town of Sta. Fe. This serves as an alternate route going to Pangasinan from Nueva Vizcaya. The place is called Malico because of how the road was constructed to conform to the shape of the mountains, "maraming liku-liko". The temperature went down to 12°C when I reached the highest point of the road network and visibility was really bad. I bet it's colder during November to January. Along the way is an old WW2 Sherman tank inside a private property where visiting tourists are allowed to take pictures or have a family picnic.

Malico Viewpoint offers tourists a backdraft of Pangasinan's...