After hearing the stories of several others who had ventured north to see the famed rice terraces we left last Wednesday to do the same. The rice terraces are in the highland area of Luzon known as the Cordillera - we would be visiting the Ifugao terraces which amazingly were built about 2,000 years ago and are now Unesco World Heritage-listed. Our plan was to go to Banaue but to get there we first had to get a bus to Baguio so our first two days were spent sitting on buses for 7-8 hours at a time. Once into the mountainous areas travel was 
fairly slow over the roads which wound around the valleys to climb higher and higher. The bus drivers had obviously done this before and we were impressed with their careful driving around hairpin bends and roads with steep drop-offs on the low side!!
fairly slow over the roads which wound around the valleys to climb higher and higher. The bus drivers had obviously done this before and we were impressed with their careful driving around hairpin bends and roads with steep drop-offs on the low side!!This section of the road had a concrete 'tunnel' built over it to protect it from falling rocks!
We arrived in Baguio late in the day and basically only had time to find the bus which went to Banaue, find some accommodation, find somewhere to eat dinner and then get some sleep before our early start the next day. At this stage we intended to return to Baguio on the way back. Baguio's population is over 300,000 and this number includes at least 250,000 college students. The place was bombed by the Japanese in 1942 which began WWII in the Philippines. It was again bombed by the Yanks to drive out the already-departed Japanese and then in 1990 it was flattened by an earthquake. Would she-who-worries-about-everything be able to sleep soundly with this knowledge?
Banaue didn't look that far on the map but the first part of the ride took us back the way we came for a fair distance before once more turning north and into those rugged hills. We finally arrived about 4:00 p.m., booked our return bus trip - we had now decided it would be easier to go straight to Manila by overnight bus and then back to Subic Bay - found accommodation, somewhere to eat, and then off to bed for the next day's early start to Batad.
Hazy view of Banaue
Batad is a small village of just over 1,000 people and like most of the villages and towns, the houses and huts are built into the sides of the valleys - these people must be masters at footings and foundations - building those rice terraces obviously helps. Some of them look quite flimsy while others have substantial concrete footings and supports. As well, there are still quite a few of the original native-style huts - a square pyramid-shaped thatched roof sitting atop four wooden posts supporting a platform with a room above for sleeping and rice storage. Some of the more modern ones have corrugated iron roofs.
To get to Batad we had to hire a jeepney to travel 12 km along a rocky road, which is now being replaced in sections by concrete, then up a rougher road to the 'saddle'. From the saddle we had to walk for about an hour down, down, down to the village itself. This was the hardest part of the walk - down steep, high steps to the Batad Pension where we would stay for the night. Our room overlooked the rice terraces but we would not be spending much time there apart from sleeping. Below us was the dining/common room with fabulous views across the valley and the terraces. Unfortunately, at this time of the year there is a lot of burning off - they burn the rice stalks from the harvest and the smoke cuts the viz quite considerably which means the pictures never turn out how you would like them to.
No rest for the wicked so after lunch it was off across the terrace dykes to a platform from where another steep track leads to the 30-m high Tappia Waterfall. Along the way we spoke to an old Ifugao man in his 80s who was building a platform so that people just like us could take his photo and make a donation. Well, it worked for us so I imagine he will do quite well. Jon did the walk down to the falls but Pam decided to miss them as the walk down to Batad had played up with her knees quite badly - going up would be OK, but not down. Despite the drought the falls were quite spectacular and the water icy cold.The drought has affected rice production here as well as everywhere else. There are about 1,000 people living in this valley but as they all eat rice three times a day even normal production is not enough to last for a whole year. This means that commercial rice has to be brought in and this means carried in, just like everything else that is needed - bottled water, food, beer, building materials, like concrete and timber, etc. The track is pretty busy with people coming and going all the time carrying things on their shoulders or in baskets on poles. Those attending high school in Banaue have to board in town for the week and then walk the track to go home for the weekends. They must all have strong hearts and legs with all the exercise they get.
We had a quiet evening and night - we were the only guests as the current election campaign, as well as the volcanic ash cloud in Europe (they get a lot of French and other Europeans visiting here), is keeping people away. After breakfast we walked back out up the track to the 'saddle' and we managed this in less time than the walk in! Then a jeepney back to Banaue where we spent the rest of the day visiting the excellent museum, browsing the souvenir shops and eating. Our bus left at 8:00 p.m. and we travelled back down the winding road and on to Manila, arriving at about 5:00 a.m. We managed some sleep but it was a long night. We were then fortunate to connect with a bus to Subic - we just had enough time for a 'comfort' stop, buy some water and board for the 2 and a half hour ride back and home to Tweed.The 'saddle' at the top of the track
See photo album link down side bar for more photos
