Philippines: Banaue and Batad Rice Terraces

From Sagada we continued in the highlands to Banaue, home of UNESCO listed (1995) rice terraces.

We spent the first day walking in the rain to the various viewpoints in Banaue. The second day we took a tricycle (tuk-tuk)from Banaue to the village of Batad for more terraces, this time walking through/above the terraces to a viewpoint. Weather was misty and rainy, typical weather I have come to associate with rice terraces. While I still think Yuanyang (see photo below) terraces are more impressive; being a rice terrace junkie, I enjoyed our Banaue visit very much.



I gather that Filipinos are rather proud of the rice terraces, while the exact history of these rice terraces is still disputed, i.e. long held beliefs are not supported by archeological evidence. Filipinos seem to be particularly good at adhering to myths. I guess it's the "religion gene" at work again.

We arrived in Banaue to mist and rain on the CODA bus. Oh no. Will we be able to see anythingG


No worries. This is the view from our guesthouse balcony.


We found a decent rice plate meal at IFUGAO DELIGHT CAFE, about a 5 minutes walk from our guesthouse.




Night view down to the village from the guesthouse.


The next morning we check out the options for rice terrace transport and tour at the TI. Then set off walking uphill in a light rain to the UNESCO viewpoints.










Some All of the viewpoints have souvenir stands and Instagram props, not to mention older ladies in traditional costume.




This was one of our fav spots. You can see in the photos that the clouds are low and it's raining, but you can still see down and across to the terraces.




This viewpoint had several levels of viewing. We walked out to the end of the "brown" terrace and took a video (still raining). If the embedded video (2nd below) does not open, click here.








The uppermost viewpoint had a small parking lot and impressive signage. In the 1st photO below, see the ladies in costume. In the 2nd below, see water flowing into the terraces. And 3rd, a bonus jeepney pic. And more.








For dinner that night we found SMILE Cafe where they made us noodles with eggs to order. We'll be back!


The tricycle ride to the Batad viewpoint trailhead was almost an hour.


The trail to Batad was up and down and slippery. We forgot to bring our hiking poles, so I found SL a suitable but not ideal stick. Later the perfect stick was found.


Our first view of the Batad terraces, with the village of Batad below.




In some places the trail had railings, but we missed a turn and had to carefully walk on the terrace walls the final 500 meters to the viewpoint.

















The view from the bench at the viewpoint.




And it rained most of the way back to the trailhead, but by now SL had a perfect hiking stick.




Eggs, Eggs with Rice, and Fries for Dinner.

Philippines: Sagada

From Vigan, we had an Un-Amazing Race, or maybe a Mundane Marathon, consisting of the 6:00 AM bus to Bitalag, shared leaves-when-full van to Cervantes, shared van to Abatan, bus towards Bontoc getting off at Sagada Junction, jeepney up, up, into the mountains to finally arrive in Sagada at 6:00pm.

Note for fellow travelers: Even the locals could not believe the 4-hour wait for the "first trip" van to "leave-when-full" from Bitalag. From 8:00 am onward, the van driver kept saying we were waiting for 14 people total, but eventually left at noon with just 9 of us total. And he tried to get us tourists and a local woman who worked at a resort in Cervantes, to pay for the empty seats. Oh my.

Sagada 1472 m.a.s.l. is popular with Filipino tourists. While we enjoyed the cool weather, I disliked the town even more than I had expected. Everyone in town was there to gouge tourists without a trace of hospitality. Our guesthouse, while very clean, charged for drinking water, when all the other places we stayed in the Philippines provided all the water we could drink. The village tourism office charges a head tax, but to actually see/visit anything you'd have to hire a guide, maybe a car. Restaurants charge double-the-normal prices. Our bus ticket out of town was very inflated. None of these is a huge amount, but really left a bad taste. Sagada may just be my least favorite place to visit in PH.

So, we walked around on the roads by ourselves, not venturing near anything that's considered an attraction. A major draw for Sagada is the hanging coffins, a practice is also known to exist in China. We also came across rice gods and village granaries, though they looked to be reconstructed or possibly they were just "modern artistic " versions. There were also some rice terraces, even though Sagada is not really known for them.

The mighty, shiny, Partas Bus preparing to pull out of Vigan at 6:00 am sharp.


Sunrise Over the Cordillera


Selected moments from our 4-hour wait in Bitalag for the UVExpress van to fill up.




Up Into the Mountains on our way to Cervantes. See the curve in the road at lower left.


The van passes an Itinerant Plastic Basket(?) Seller (and family?)


Down into a mountain valley with rice paddies.






Our Bus Driver on the bus towards Bontoc - we will get off at Sagada Junction.




Waiting a Sagada Junction for the Jeepney. "Welcome to Sagada".


In the jeepney.




The view from Isablo Inn, our home in Sagada.


On our only full day in Sagada we walked south past the Hanging Coffins (2nd below) to Gaia Cafe, which has a rice terrace view, for lunch.












On the return home, we took a route through the nearby villages. Most of the houses had a big water tank and a small or large vegetable garden.










Grainary with Grainary God at left.




On our 2nd day we had a 2pm bus to catch but we were able to walk north in the morning to the Aguid Village Rice Terraces and back. There are many pine trees (3rd below) at the higher elevations.










As vegetarian food was hard to find in Sagada, we ate pancakes several times.


Tourist Map of Sagada