Adventures

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After I exited the Visayas, I bused to Baguio for a day. The city is often praise by Filipinos for being a place to excape the heat. It's elevation and lower temperature made it feel like home, and it's dirty old buildings made it feel like Winnipeg. But many people also say thhe city is a victim of a bad city planning, and it too congested. As a pedestrian of the city, you don't really notice to much. You can just walk in between the cars anyway. Anyway, Filipinos here like country music and often dress like cowboys. My bus driver from Baguio to my next location, Banaue, was definitely trying to be a little Western. I met some guys at a store that only sold country music cassettes (seriously!) when asking for directions, who were pretty talkative and helpful in my short Baguio experience.

Leaving some weighted crap in my backpack at the guesthouse in Baguio, I went North to Banaue. This is the popular place for people to go see rice terraces -- apparently the worlds nicest rice terrace. I could probably agree if the hoards of hotels and touristy shops weren't everywhere? Like, I try to have a conversation with a local, and they're really friendly for a few minutes, and then they try to sell me their tricycle ride to a place I haven't heard of, much less want to go. It's not all like that, but I found out that being your friend is a good way for people to ensure you go to their family's guesthouse, and that you pay him for a tricycle ride. I stayed at the guesthouse because it was in fact very cheap, and he told me there were no jeepneys to my next destination, which was a lie, so I told him I didn't want a tricycle ride (for 3 times the price). Anyway, I went up the View Hotel, which did have a nice view (minus the still present tin roofs littering the organic steps of the terraces). There were terrace-like steps going down to the highway beneath, which I dangerously jumped down. People were looking at me like they thought I was gonna die, but I was just fine. Have you ever lowered a bag of fragile things down a cliffside using vine-like tree roots? I have.

From Banaue I took the jeepney to Batad junction. I could have taken it to the "saddle", which is the peak of a mountain at which you have to hike down into Batad in a valley, but I opted to walk to the saddle from the junction. A Filipino guy on the jeepney who was backpacking San Miguel beer from Banaue into Batad told me there was a shortcut to the saddle -- a climbing hike, to be specific. We took that and actually got to the top half a minute before the jeepney did. Then we took a one hour hike down toward the centre of the town. Batad is surrounding by amazing rice terraces. While the ones in Banaue are often praise for being one of the few locations for mud-walled terraces, I'd have to say that I prefer the stone-walled terraces more. And this place is still relatively undeveloped for it's tourism. Another Canadian I met it Alona Beach had recommended this as an alternative tothe over-hyped Banaue terraces. I took a dip and wash in a 30-meter high waterfall about 30 minute hike away, and the water temperature compares to what I experienced in British Columbia.

After staying a night, I took a 3-hour alternate hike to get back to the main road. I walked most of it barefoot, because it's less slippery. I had to ask local villagers several times for directions, and even when they didn't understand Tagalog or English, they were able to help me back on the right path. And I have to thank the waterfalls for consistently filling my small waterbottle with good water. From there, I walked to Bangaan, another terrace town, grabbed a jeepney heading back to Banaue, caught a mini-bus to Bontoc, and then a jeepney to Sagada. This was my busiest transportation day yet.

I had also come to Sagada by recommendation. My plan was to go there and see some of the tribal burial caves with coffins inside, perhaps even hike to some nearby villages. Etc, etc. But I ended up only staying for the evening and first half of the next day, because my ankles and feet were not enjoying the idea of more hiking. Even as I write this, the tendon in my left ankle feels wierd when I move it.

I took a bus back to Baguio to pick up my weighty belongings from the guesthouse, then grabbed a bus back to Manila.

Next entry, Manila.

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