Blogs from Banaue, Philippines, Asia

Before leaving NZ we’d found a driver to take us on a 5 day loop trip into the mountains. Being short on time we’d quickly realised we wouldn’t be able to fit in as much as we wanted if we went by public transport. Our first destination was Banaue in the heart of the region that is home to the Philippines infamous rice terraces. Its a 9-10 hour drive, so our driver had asked if we would be ok to leave at 4am to miss Manila’s traffic gridlock. Thankfully our bodies are still partly on NZ time and while we hadn’t got to bed any near as early as we should getting up at 3:30am didn’t feel too bad. We were surprised at how much life there was when we left, Manila clearly doesn’t sleep. Even ... read more

As we intended to spend some extended time in the Philippines we decided to explore the north luzon area before we got to the islands so we could get a better feel for the country. We also like to work for our beach time; theres no pleasure without pain. Plus we figured 1 week of strenuous mainland activity equates to several weeks of beach time right? When we were told by other backpackers that the rice terraces in north luzon were truly beautiful although we were in no doubt about it, we could not start to picture or imagine what these terraces were like for ourselves. Looking at pictures gave us a general idea but this alone was not even close to the actual experience. The experience was far better. Being there with these terraces in ... read more

After leaving Indonesia we headed to Manila the capital of Indonesia. This city was not nice. It was exceptionally walm and we only had a fan room that didn't help. The poverty was awful again and on our first experience of street food a young boy came over and asked for money. When we said no he asked for some of our food. It was heartbreaking. After 3 nights we were definitely ready to leave Manila. Our first stop was Banaue an 8 hour overnight bus journey. The bus left on time and it even had free WiFi. By the time I fell asleep at 1am we had just stopped in some traffic. I awoke at 6am and we had not moved - its no wonder I slept so well. We had been stuck in the ... read more

Banaue is a town on the Cordillera mountain range in the north of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. It is mainly visited for its stunning rice terraces, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Viewpoint. On the road to Bontoc, there is a lot of viewpoints with beautiful panoramas on the rice terraces. Walking from Banaue up to to main view point will take 1 to 2 hours, depending how often you stop to enjoy the superb view. Try to go as far as possible from Banaue: the higher you will go, the more beautiful it will be! Count P100 by tricycle from Banaue. From there it's possible to go down by foot to Banaue through the rice terraces (2-3 hours) but the way is quite difficult and you may need a guide for ... read more

Established in the 16th century, Vigan is considered the finest surviving example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia, with a unique European atmosphere… said the narrative. The logic: The Philippines was colonized by Spaniards centuries ago, these buildings are old, and Spain is in Europe. A ‘European atmosphere’ we weren’t to find, though there is no doubting Vigan is a quirky anomaly that doesn’t conform to an easily definable Asian cliché. Dig a little deeper and you'll discover that the town’s original Chinese name "Bee Gan" became Vigan due to the Spanish penchant for mixing their B's and V's. Many of those old colonial buildings were constructed in an apparent Chinese/Mexican architectural mezcla by elite Chinese Creole families who adopted Hispanic family names, and live on to this day. Tourists visiting Vigan ... read more