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The famed rice terraces of Banaue are one of the top tourist destinations of the Philippines. They are a Unesco Heritage site and their likeness are on the 1000 peso bills. Often marketed as the 8th wonder of the world, I've always thought that claim was a bit dubious. Who comes up with these lists anyways?
We took the most direct route to Banaue from Manila, a most uncomfortable 11 hour overnight bus ride. We arrived bleary eyed in the town center at around 7:30am on the 1st. No sooner after setting foot, arriving travelers are met by touts offering their services as guides. After negotiating we decided to hire Cesar (with his sidekick Dennis), he included the price of transportation (2 tricycles) and his guiding expertise on the agreed price (about $90) for a day a half.
After settling in at our hotel Greenview lodge (basic, clean and has a view of the terraces from their dining area) we set off for an afternoon of exploring Banaue and Hapyao. The ride begun innocuously on paved roads and we stopped at several view points for the Banaue terraces. Growing up in the Philippines I thought these were the only
terraces. I thought wrong. These maybe the easiest to access and reportedly they are the oldest ,with some parts almost 2000 years old, but they are far from the most spectacular or largest. Nonetheless they are an awesome sight. The mud walls and the deep green fields gives it a softer/gentler look than those we would see later. The views are only marred by the corrugated roofing that most buildings nowadays use instead of the traditional grass roof.
From Banaue it is a 21 kilometer ride on very bumpy road to Hapyao which is another village famous for it's own terraces. I did not know the meaning of the words bone-jarring until this ride. It was literally a pain in the a*#! We were shaken every direction and had to readjust our position as the tricycle plodded through what seemed an unending series of rocky terrain. After over an hour we arrived in the village and what awaited was a wide expanse of golden green terraces spread from the valley floor up to the neighboring mountainsides. These terraces have stone walls and the rice here was ready for harvest. We saw farmers harvesting rice as we trekked through the fields
on the way to the hot springs. The hot springs were just okay, the main even for us was being the walk through the fields. It's quite tricky getting used to walking on top of the walls/ terraces. They are no wider than 15" and a fall to the wrong side means plunging 2-3 meters down. Unbeknownst to us this was nothing compared to what was in store for the next day. The ride back to town was through the same rocky road. We had an early dinner and rested up for Batad.
Since we only had one day to explore Batad we were up very early and left Banaue at 7:00am.Batad is famous for its "amphitheater" like terraces which Lonely Planet describes as the world's most striking. To get there was a 12 km (not as bumpy as the day before) tricycle ride to what they call the junction. Basically this is where the road gets worse and we had to continue on foot. From there it was another 3 kilometers hike up to the mountain ridge (called the saddle here). We took what is supposed to be the shorter route but it's also the more difficult. A narrow
path that was rocky and very uneven with the mountain wall on one side and a seriously steep/fatal drop on the other. After sweating it out for 45 minutes we reached the ridge where I thought it would be an easy downhill hike to the town. Wrong! Being pressed for time, our guide suggested we take the shorter route again. This entailed going down about 400 paved steps. Which doesn't sound too awful except they were slippery in parts, very steep and of varying grades. It was like being on the stair master to hell for 40 minutes. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that the view that awaits us would be heavenly.
By the time we got to Rita's guest house where we were to have lunch our clothes were drenched in sweat. The view from the restaurant was indeed striking and it was almost like our exhaustion lifted away as we admired it. Green mixed with golden yellow terraces of rice that reached up almost to the top of a full mountain side. There is a grandeur to them that is very different from the terraces in Banaue. Lunch was very basic. I had
rice with some fried meat loaf from a can while John and Brenda had the fried chicken. The view more than made up for the meal.
After a few minutes of digesting lunch, John and I together with our guide set off for the Tapia waterfalls. Brenda stayed behind to soak in the view from the restaurant. The hike involved decending into the little village on the valley and crossing through the rice terraces. This will become my favorite part of all the hikes we took here. Being sorrounded by the terraces, trying to take in the view while trying not to fall off the narrow rock wall was one of those travel experiences that I will never forget. It's one of those moments where you don't just remember the sight but you remember how you felt at that very moment you were there.
What I would like to forget is the hardest part of the hike to the waterfall, the almost 500 steep steps to get down to there. Again as with the descent from the ridge these were irregular, steep and slippery and there were more of them. The pay off was a 100 ft. cascade of water
into a large cool pool. We swam and the cool water felt great on my almost cramping legs.
By the time we got back to the restaurant,where Brenda was waiting, it was almost 3:30 pm and we began what we knew would be a tiring journey out of Batad. This time we took the long way out both to the ridge and to the junction. That plus a 45 minute tricycle ride (with again another brakedown) and it was almost 5:30 when we got back to our inn. We were all exhausted but at the same time exhillirated from the endorphin rush of so much activity and the almost sensory overload of the beauty of Batad.
We only had 2 days to explore the terraces, aside from Batad, Banaue and Hapyao there many more worth visiting. There are the "spider web terraces of Bucung and the remote village of Mayaoyao, but after seeing Batad we were sated.
Tomorrow we move on to Sagada which has the reputation of being the perfect idyllic mountain town and haven for backpackers.
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Lynn
non-member comment
amazing
I'm enjoying these chances to hear about your trip - the photos are amazing! I love your narration - I found myself laughing at the thought of climbing those paved steps. I can only imagine how that felt when you were done. I look forward to reading more... Happy 4th of July - I know you won't be seeing any fireworks tonight, but the sights you're seeing are much more spactacular.