BENGUET | Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Baguio City

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Mt. Cloud Bookshop From the Mezzanine

There’s really nothing better than curling up in bed on cold dreary mornings; covered in warm blanket and with a good book on hand. Baguio City, it seems, always has this perfect climate for reading books. I guess it’d be but natural that the city and bookshops go well together. Unfortunately, I haven’t really seen any good bookstores in Baguio besides those found in the mall.

A Curious Book at Mt. Cloud BookshopThat is until I stumbled upon a poster at Tam-Awan Village about a new bookstore somewhere along the upper side of Session Road. Mt Cloud it says, and piqued my curiosity, it did.


A chance to visit this bookshop presented itself right after our jaunt through Camp John Hay. It was late in the afternoon, too early for dinner but too late for another cup of coffee. We decided to browse thru some books instead.

Having no idea where the bookstore was located, we just asked our cab driver to cruise along Upper Session Road. We almost went past it, its signboard literally just a small board propped on stilts.

The bookstore shares house with a spa, and to get there weBrowsing at Mt Cloud Bookshop passed a dark corridor lined with candles, quite a mysterious entrada for a bookstore.

I was hoping for a dark library-type full of heavy and dusty leather bound books, laddered ceiling-high wooden shelves, comfy leather cushioned seats arranged over a medieval looking fireplace, and maybe some gargoyles standing guard over colorful stained glass windows.

But Mt. Cloud is nothing of the sort. It does resemble a library, only brighter than what I had in mind. Stacks of books abound through shelves. High up, a mezzanine with more books. At the ground, sofas filled with books on its back and sides, clean white walls, unvarnished wooden floors, and scattered about, Japanese inspired paper lamps. A bit cramped but not bad at all.

Their book selection consists of almost everything; popular novels, unpopular novels, children’s books, local books, cookbooks, fiction, non-fiction and their specialty, Cordillera books. That last one’s about the region and books written by its dwellers.

One thing that differentiates this bookstore from all the others I’ve been to is their purchasing system. You can actually buy a book from them, read it, and then sell it back to them afterwards (at a lower price). They also buy used books from their patrons and those, are of course, resold at a much affordable prices. Neat, eh?

Beer or Coffee at Mt. Cloud BookshopAnd oh before I forget, you can also read their books inside the bookstore while having beer, or coffee if you prefer. How cool is that?

I did get a chance to have a quick chat with its owner after asking for a copy of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (which I have been looking for for the longest time).
 
I asked her about the concept of Mt. Cloud. Well, there’s really no concept she says, we just like books, especially local and Asian ones. She’s quite nice and we talked a bit more. When I finally asked her for Jack Kerouac’s book, she said they were out of stock but she does have a copy, (alrighty!) unfortunately she’s unwilling to part with it, haha.

Oh well, I guess I’ll stack it as another good excuse to revisit the city beyond clouds next time.

Mt Cloud Bookstore in Baguio City Mt. Cloud Bookshop Mezzanine
Mt Cloud Bookshop's Mezzanine

 

Click to view location on Google Maps

Mt. Cloud Bookshop
Address: Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City
Contact Number: (074) 424-4437 | Email: queries@mtcloudbookshop.com
Website: http://mtcloudbookshop.com/ | Open Hours: Everyday 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Baguio 2011 Series

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13 comments

  1. nice find sir! :) puntahan din namin ito pag bumalik kami ng baguio..

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  2. nice find indeed. i hope you get to visit friend's coffee shop there. name is He-brews.

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  3. great find Christian. I miss Baguio a lot. parang gusto ko mag-weekend trip dun nxt month, and thank you sa post na itey mukhang meron akong bagong tatambayan! :)

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  4. Tripper10
    Nice place nga and pwede pa uminom ng beer sa loob haha

    MarLiesTravels


    Finally a specialty bookstore in Baguio right? =)

    Dong Ho
    Haha kulit naman ng pangalan, will surely check that out on our next Baguio visit =)

    Gael
    Tambay ka pala ng Baguio ha, di ko pa nasubukan mag one day trip lang dun, subukan ko dun sa hotel na nirecommend mo =P

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  5. yes sir! ang dami na naming pupuntahan sa baguio next time dahil sa mga posts nyo.. :) keep them coming.. ;p

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  6. Marlie
    No problem, pero medyo patapos na Baguio series ko, I think 2 posts to go na lang hehe

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  7. ok lang sir! we're always looking forward sa mga posts nyo.. thank you for inspiring us! :)

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  8. wow! ang dami mung nalibot sa Baguio ah :D

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  9. Marlie
    Welcome! =]

    Tina
    Ang dami rin kasi pwede puntahan dun. There's still a lot actually na di ko pa nagawan ng write ups dito, next time na lang siguro ang haba na ng Baguio series ko nagrereklamo na mga officemates ko eh haha

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  10. Wow... uminom ng beer? PWEDE!!! hahaha.... :)

    Dami kunang balak mapuntahan dahil sa mga post mo...
    Mapuntahan ko sana lahat... hahahaha...

    Thanks Christian.. :)

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  11. Tripper10
    Haha yes pwede uminom ng beer sa loob, provided sa kanila ka bibili =P

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  12. Ah yun naman eh... sa kanila pala dapat bumili... pero okay lang... basta pwede... hehehe...
    Thanks... :)

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