Blogs from Banaue, Ifugao, Philippines, Asia

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Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue September 1st 2013

Pour ne pas changer les bonnes habitudes commençons simplement par un petit « Salut tout le monde ! » Au programme cette semaine, le nord des Philippines ! Après une première semaine beaucoup plus longue que prévue sur Manila, mais pas pour autant pleine de folie, j'ai enfin réussi à m'enfuir ! Direction la province d'« Ifugao ». Une sympathique petite région réputée pour ces magnifiques rizières en terrasses mais aussi et surtout pour ces tribus « coupeur de tête » ! Vous pouvez soufflez, si je vous écris tout ça c'est que j'ai toujours la mienne ! Un petit peu d'histoire s'impose rapidement : dans l'ancien temps, il y a 70 ans, lorsqu'un membre d'une tribu s'aventurait sur le territoire d'une autre tribu, bah ça déclenchait une petite guéguerre, ou l'on ramenait la tête de ... read more
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Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue April 12th 2013

When we last left the Philippines after a fantastic 3 weeks in February, we vowed we would be back soon, as there is just so much to see and the 21 day visa does not give enough time for everything. Less than 8 weeks later, we find ourselves back in this amazing country, excited to visit new places and experience new things. The rice terraces of Ifugao are claimed to be the 8th Wonder of the World, and as we hadn't visited them last time around, they were high on our list for this time around. First though, we had to get here... It started with a short flight to Kuala Lumpur from Kuching, where we arrived close to midnight so chose to save some money and catch a few hours sleep at the airport, as ... read more
Spectacular rice terraces
Enjoying the hike
Colourful jeepney

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue November 3rd 2012

Days 53-54 (Mon 29th Oct – Tues 30thOct) I arrived in Manila on the Monday morning around half 10 and after getting some Peso’s out of the cash point headed for the taxi rank and got a taxi to the area my hostel is in. The driver couldn’t actually find it but I knew from the street names and that I’d looked on google maps we were close so I paid and got out and walked around for 5 minutes or so until I found said hostel. As the Philippines is spread out over 7107 islands and I planned on visiting at least a few of the larger ones and some more of the smaller ones I decided to use my first couple of days in Manila to get things sorted out. As I’m travelling I ... read more
Batad
Batad
Batad

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue August 3rd 2012

A friend referred me to a travel group in their office who's planning to hike in Batad/Banaue Rice Terraces. I've been wanting to go there since the rice terraces seem so pretty in pictures. Because of the beautiful pictures that I saw and my yearning to do a little hiking again.. I decided to join them. Initially, I thought that the hike will just be an easy one..so my plan was really to appreciate the scenic view of the mountains and just take a lot of pictures. It was early in the morning when we arrived in Batad, we checked in at a local transient inn near Batad and then off we go to our first adventure. The trail to the rice terraces on to Tappiya falls was easy at first but then it became really ... read more
Rice Terraces
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Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue March 13th 2012

Geo: 16.9136, 121.062Two years ago we were in the Philippines with every intention of visiting the very famous rice terraces in the north of the country. At the time, however, this part of the country was in the middle of a very severe drought and everything was either dead or dying. The normally stunning visuals would have been impacted but more importantly the hard working people of the area were suffering greatly and didn't need another overfed tourist wandering around complaining that his photo's were ruined because of the drought. As a result, the terraces were a top priority for this go around. Road transport is really the only option for getting to the north of Luzon and that used to be a real chore but Gloria Arroyo, a recent Philippino president, was somewhat committed to ... read more
Our Room At The Inn
Nearing Harvest Time
This Really Wasn't One Of Our Trip Highlights

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue December 18th 2010

After a day of hiking narrow trails, through mountain tribe villages, and dozens of rice and vegetable terraces of the central Cordillera mountains, we reached the UNESCO world heritage rice paddies of Batad village. These two thousand year old mud wall terraces were absolutely breath taking, naturally we sat for a long while taking it all in. Batad village, is a community of Ifugao peoples, one of the many mountain tribes living in the Cordillera mountain range. Here, the traditional belief of Animism is still very alive, that is the belief that animals, plants and rocks have souls, along with natural phenomena such as thunder and rivers, and other entities of the natural environment. Amanda and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to soak in Ifugao culture, staying a night at a homestay in ... read more
Audrey working her magic
A two day adventure through the rice terraces of the Banaue-Batad region
Batad rice fields

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue July 27th 2007

It took 2 uncomfortable jeepney rides to reach Banaue, with the 2nd one made more of a torture courtesy of an English guy sitting next to me who just wouldn't shut up, even when I closed my eyes to indicate I wanted a nap. He subsequently went up on the roof and was replaced by a young woman who chundered copiously after 10 minutes in the jeepney. I caught a faint spray of vomit on my neck. Banaue's claim to fame is that it's the main town in a region whose landscape contains large numbers of rice terraces constructed about 2,000 years ago. The nearby small village of Batad is supposedly home to some of the best of them, so we stayed the night in Banaue going to, and coming from, Batad (which is blogged separately). ... read more
Unwilling passenger
View from the hotel
Flowers

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue December 7th 2006

We are very happy to announce we now have the full complement of babies due during our time away from home. Jenny (Ed's sister) and Dave produced a little sister for Rebecca on Tuesday. Baby Lauren Sarah Powell you are formally welcomed to our blog. Hopefully we can post some pictures on here when we get some. We got this exciting news while on route from Manila to Banaue, it brightened up our otherwise dull journey. It was night so we missed all the scenery and it was cold. I think the bus companies are doing this for the good of the passengers, they turn the air-con on the mountain bound buses onto extra cold, in order to help you acclimatise to the temperature drop once you arrive at your destination. We had bought new sleeved ... read more
Keeping it in the family
Hard at work on the rice terraces
Me new Banaue hat

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue June 29th 2006

Thursday June 28th The roosters woke me up again this morning but I'm getting used to it. I had a lot of things planned for the day so I was happy to be up by 5:30. I quickly dressed up and went directly to Echo Valley to see the Hanging Coffins. I took the right turn this time and went in the cemetary and asked an old man for the right trail and he showed me. Once you found the trail , you just have to follow it. The way down is a bit tricky after rain (it rained most of the night) but nothing that can't be handled. It doesn't take that long, after about 30 minutes of walking you suddendly see the coffins hanging off the cliff. It's very bizarre to see coffins ... read more
Banaue 2
Banaue 3
On the way to Batad

Asia » Philippines » Ifugao » Banaue May 1st 2006




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