We all went our separate ways on Saturday morning, Leon left for the USA, the Singapore girls for fun in the sun on Boracay island, Joan and Cassandra left for an adventure in Palawan, and George, Steve, Christy and I headed north with our driver Joey for an exploration of Northern Luzon.
The drive took about 10 hours, and we were much more comfortable than we would have been if we took the lone redeye bus that runs from Manila to Banaue. It was a great trip up, the first part was all freeway, but after about 2 hours it became a 2 lane road for the next 8. We went through fields of rice farms, main streets of small towns, and then began to climb up the windy mountain roads.
Rice drying on the side of the road.
Collapsed bridge on the way, yikes!
We arrived at the Banaue Hotel in time to catch sunset, and booked a suite with a spectacular view of the Banaue terraces and mountains beyond. I asked Joey to drive me to the peak, right at the entrance to Banaue so I could catch sunset on both sides of the mountain, and it was great.
Dinner time in the valley. Fires are burning.
George is called up to dance with the Ifugao natives. He pretty much rocked it.
Sunset view from our suite
Good morning Banaue
The next morning Christy and I got up early for sunrise and watched it for a little while from our room, then took a walk through town. It was quite a sight to see, the houses and hotels cantilevered over the side of the mountain. The air was much cooler than Manila, but the sun was hot. We walked up for a while but came back to meet up with George and Steve to begin our real day.
Wouldn't want to be caught in this bad boy.
Not bad for a backyard
We picked up the Jeepney at our hotel, and Darwin, our guide along with driver Noah took us to the Batad terraces. We heard that these were the best ones and that if we had only one thing to see, that was it. I of course saw the roof and saw an adventure awaiting me, and how much fun it was! The roads were super rocky, and our minivan would never have made it, 4 wheel drive only!
Reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom bridge.
Darwin teaching us about the terraces
The rice terraces are all privately owned. The rice needs a lot of water to grow, so the terraces have to be flat. The green patches are nursery plots of rice that will be replanted when the rice matures. In may the terraces will all be green and verdant... And then he fields turn golden in august around harvest time. All of the rice is planted by hand, and actually isn't enough to feed all of the people in the Ifugao region!
Stairs from terrace to terrace
You can see the landslide that wiped out some terraces on the left side a few years ago. Hopefully these can be rebuilt soon, but more awareness needs to be raised.
Only the strong survive
The tiny hut in the middle is where we started hiking from.
The hike back up the mountain.
I was surprised at how few American tourists go here, mostly European and Australian. But it was truly a sight to be seen. It was a little scary to see remnants of landslides everywhere, but we survived :) the hike it was basically all downhill, and it was a very long way back up... There is no vehicular access to these areas at all, and many villages don't have electricity either. Sometimes trekkers do a multi-day trek from village to village. Next time for sure
That line down the middle is a stairway connecting all these terraces.
We ended the wonderful day with a trip to the bar with Darwin and Noah... Which was awesome. There was live music and they took requests... But everyone there loves country music. Darwin requested John Denver, and they played 2 Denver greats in a row :). Bars there close at 9 though, so it ended up being an early night, despite many bottles of Red Horse becoming bottles of dead horse!
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