Banaue and Batad by bike!

I set off towards Banaue from Bontoc early in the morning and as with most roads in the Mountain Province it simply descended into rock and mud and water after a few kilometres. The road was awful! Rocks everywhere, deep mud, huge deep puddles stretching right across the “road”, crazy!! Very quickly the road ascended right up into the cloud layer and was very cold! But by now I was getting used to this! I spent about 4 hours up in the cloud layer, then suddenly the road actually became a proper concrete road and I descended out of the cloud layer and into Banaue. The views from the lookouts north of the village were stunning. Wow, finally in Banaue! Checked into the Fairview Hotel which had a balcony with views over the whole village and I just sat there amazed at it all. Totally beautiful place! The next day I set off early on the bike to Batad Junction about an hour East of Banaue. I took the bike right to the summit of the peak overlooking Batad, and I think it was the toughest ride yet! Big, sharp rocks everywhere. How I made it to the summit without getting a puncture or two just amazed me! Then it was an hours strenuous walk down into Batad village. I think the beauty of Batad is that you simply cant see any Rice Terraces until you get right into the village. Then you turn a corner and wow, you are confronted with an overwhelming view! Rice Terraces covering every face of the surrounding hills. Simply awesome.

The journey back to Angeles was punctuated with an overnight stop in the small provincial town of Solano. It was so good to get back onto proper roads that actually had a surface, and were straight! And a Jolibee! After a week not seeing one! Civilisation at last!! The only problem on the return journey was getting stopped at a small town police roadblock. They complained that I was speeding, true, that I was not wearing a crash helmet, true, and not having a Pilipino driving License, true! But then neither did any other bike rider, I could see them speeding past with no crash helmet on!! Obviously I was an easy target for them. They threatened me with impounding the bike until I produced a proper Pilipino Driving Licence!! Maybe it will take 5 days to get! They insisted. Nothing for it but a bit of bribery, and it worked a treat!! On reflection the whole journey through Baguio, Sagada, Bontoc, Banaue and Batad was probably the best experience I have had in the Philippines! Mainly because of the freedom of having the motorbike, allowing you to stop anywhere and admire the views, and go anywhere when you want. I think I will be doing something similar very soon!! Loved it!! Total distance, 840 km, few scary moments, but the experience and the memories…priceless!!

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