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Published: April 9th 2013
Maligcong Rice Terraces
The stone-walled variety. Oh wow...It was another exhausting 6h ride, this time up and down the winding roads of the Cordilleras, before I arrived in Bontoc, a smallish town north of Baguio, and right at the crossroads of Banaue and Sagada, two other towns that I intend to visit. The ride up allowed me pocket glimpses of what I'd come all the way for, the famed Ifugao rice terraces.
I spent the first evening just recovering from the ride, which though shorter in duration than the Manila-Baguio leg, took much more of me, probably due to the poor roads, and condition of the rickety, old bus. Of course it was another one of those rides which was overloaded, and because I arrived late, I was initially relegated to a spot along the aisle sitting on my backpack (memories of the Nang Rong-Ubon journey in Thailand last year), before enough people alighted and seats became available. In any case, despite the discomforting combination of minor altitude and undulating terrain, the scenery and memories of my successful negotiation of similar circumstances in the highlands of Laos last year kept me going.
Apart from the Bontoc Museum, I wasn't quite sure what else I would see
here initially. Of course I was in North Luzon for the rice terraces, but I thought I would save them for when I got to Banaue. LP did mention a preview of the stone-walled variety of rice terraces in a nearby village called Maligcong, and it was quite incidental that I spoke to a nun (yes!) tending to the museum shop, and got directions on which jeepney to take there, my first experience with this iconic Filipino mode of public transportation.
It was another bumpy half hour ride upslope, but boy was I glad I went! Frankly, I was quite blown away at the first sight of the terraces, which are often described as forming an "amphitheatre". These were 2000-year old rice terraces created by Ifugao tribes without the use of steel tools, and most of them are still functional to this day. I was the only tourist around, and in the midst of locals gingerly navigating their way through the elaborate system of terraces. It's hard to describe the feeling, but it was almost overwhelming. I'll let the photos do the talking themselves. As I walked along the embankments of the 2000-year old terraces, some of which were
Favourite Filipino Past-time
Winding down with karaoke at the Cable Cafe. still being tended to by locals donning traditional dress, I couldn't help but feel that this had to be one of the highlights of my almost year-long Southeast Asian adventure so far, which must surely be saying something.
It's a tough act to follow, but my next stop will be Banaue, which is supposed to be rice terrace HQ. Could it possibly be even more spectacular than Maligcong?
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