Banaue-Just hangin around 'town'

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Today was our day to explore the town of Banaue and its surroundings. We started our morning by looking for some tape to tape up our souvenir, and a recycled rice bag like material bag with a zipper to carry our Philippine souvenir. We ended up finding both so we came back to wrap and pack. We unpacked our Indonesia souvenir and sadly parts have broken off. We will have to super glue some of the wood back together when we get home. We rewrapped it as well.

After lunch we took a tricycle to Tam –An Village. Tam-an is a typical Ifugao village located about 240 steps from the Banaue hotel. People here still live the lifestyle of their long gone ancestors. When we got there it started pouring rain so we hid under someone’s house till it slowed down. A local girl from the village came out and asked if we’d like to be shown around. She took us inside her 70 year old grandmother’s home. The home was up on stilts and the size of a small bedroom. To get in you have to climb a ladder. Inside there was a wood stove that keeps the place warm, and a single bed. Grandma was keeping the fire lit and mixing betel nut to chew. Afterward she walked us around the rice terraces to show us the other side of the village. It was very wet and slippery. Next she brought us to her home. Her name is Valentina and she is 23 years old with 2 children. Her home is made out of wood, and quite large. Inside she had a tv and 2 bedrooms. She really wanted us to take photographs of her baby and her so we can mail them to her. She gave us her mailing address. The baby we got to see is only a month old. A village tradition is to preserve the bones of forefathers. They wrap the bones of the deceased in colorful hand-woven blankets. We were interested, but the guy wanted to charge us $4 to bring them out so we decided against it.

Tomorrow its off to Sagada!

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