Blogs from Batad, Mountain Province, Philippines, Asia

We left Sagada on a jeepney early in the morning and arrived in Bontoc just before the museum opened. We had missed seeing the museum when we were in Bontoc before, since it was closed on New Years day. We were hoping to make it to Batad, so we only had about 45 minutes to spend in the museum before we needed to leave to catch a bus to Banaue, but we could have spent a bit more time there. The museum was full of ethnographic exhibits, including rice pots, dishes, statues, spears, gongs, models, a full scale mockup of a traditional village, and headhunting photographs. Let me tell you something about decapitated heads... they really do look creepy, as you might expect. I'm betting there aren't a ton of museums that display pictures like that ... read more

The village of Batad has no road access whatsoever, meaning that an approach on foot is the only option. We took a jeepney from Banaue to Batad Saddle, on the ridge overlooking the village. The 15km journey took 1.25 hours, with the final stretch up the hill from Batad Junction to Batad Saddle possibly the worst piece of "road" I've ever been on in public transport. It was bad enough for the human passengers but the chickens, trussed up and stuffed under the benches, must have been highly unamused. From the Saddle, we followed a path down into the valley, first stepped, then rough stone, and finally a dirt track. We could see a few rice terraces on the way down but the main ones only came into view once we were approaching the cluster of ... read more