Room with a view
The Banaue Rice Terraces in northern Luzon are an easy trip from Manila. Buses for around $5 will get the traveler to the town of Banaue, but from there the real adventure starts. Although many refer to the rice terraces as the Banaue Rice Terraces, the really spectacular terraces are found a little farther north in the small remote village of Batad.
The best way to get to Batad is to either rent a cylco driver or jump on a jeepny (trucks with two long benches in the back). I actually did both. I got a cyclo on the way there and on the way back I hitched a ride on a jeepny that was rented out by a family from Manila. They refused my offer of any money. The father only wanted a picture of me with my equipment.
The cyclo or the jeepny will not go all the way to Batad, but it will come close. The road is impassable at a certain juncture and it is necessary to walk straight up and over a mountain ridge to reach Batad. This is no easy feat and the elevation gain is about 2,000 feet straight up. It is not necessary to carry everything in the backpack as there is food in Batad so all that is necessary is clothes and personal items for a few days in the village. Any hotel in Banaue will store items in order to make the backpack lighter for the journey.
Once attaining the pinnacle of the ridge the hard part is over and it is straight down to the little village of Batad. Young kids selling gatorade at the top prove the old adage that location is everything. The view looking down on Batad is amazing and improves as the hike continues.
Before reaching the actual village there are several choices of guesthouses on top of a ridge overlooking Batad and they all cost about $1 or $2 per night. There is no electricity or hot showers, but what the guesthouses lack in amenities they make up for in views.
Denard and his cyclo - my ride to Batad
Batad is situated right in the middle of a sea of rice terraces that are cut at steep angles into the mountain and descend downward. Each terrace is filled with lush green rice paddies and give the countryside a verdant dreamlike quality. It is possible to sit at a picnic table at these guesthouses and have a beer or cup of coffee and look right over these man made wonders. Even without the rice terraces the view would be amazing as the high tree top Cordillera Mountains dominate the scene and resemble the Great Smokey Mountains.
The exact date of the creation of the rice terraces is unknown, but estimates put them around 4,000 years ago. They lie in the Ilfugao province and the Ilfugao people currently harvest the rice.
I was lucky enough to meet a couple of Australian students at the guest house studying the farming practice of the locals and was invited into the hut of Romeo who was the head farmer of the village. We sipped home brewed rice wine while listening to Romeo talk about harvesting rice. The rice wine was sweet and delicious, which was a pleasant surprise since the rice whiskey I had in Thailand and Vietnam tasted like formaldehyde. Romeo informed me that he also made an alcohol out of coconuts. It amazes me when I think of how clever mankind is when it comes to being resourceful about finding a way to get drunk.
An interesting conversation ensued while the Australian girls named Rachel and Danielle and Romeo talked about some of the customs involved in growing the rice. Rachel is studying rats and that is why she is there. In the rice fields rats are a major problem. Rachel says that she has found in her research that many of the old tribal customs in the village were very effective in keeping rats out of the fields, but many people now eschew these customs and they are having more of a problem with these pests. Apparently the old tribal customs appear out of date and superstitious to many of the present rice growers, but actually there was a rhyme and reason to these practices. Although Romeo looked a little shaggy, he was very eloquent, and he discussed the making of the rice wine and also techniques for harvesting rice, which was very interesting.
Romeo - master farmer and master rice wine brewer of Batad
The great aspect about this village is there is no shortage of activities. The rice terraces can be explored, the surrounding Cordillera Mountains have many trails and other villages to visit and the villagers are very friendly and accommodating. Take a trip to the Batad Rice Terraces and enjoy the view and do not forget to sample the rice wine.
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Comments
Romeo looks like a hoot.
Super slide show and good story..the transportation modes were interesting.
Cheers..
Looks like they have perfected farming on a hillside.
What history! And, what a way to learn about the locals than to spend time with them like you did. Great article and stunning photography too!
There are so many ways of getting around places. I have always found the various modes of transportation to be one of the most entertaining parts of any trip.
Great photos! You are super cool Ted!
it looks beautiful but i have heard some not so great things about travel in the philippines.
Nance, there was an American woman murdered in the region a couple of years ago. This is rare though and one is likelier to get killed in the U.S. than in the Philippines. The Philippines also has a terrorist group the Abu Sayef in the south, but again we are all much more likely to be a victim of a terrorist attack in our own country than in the Philippines. For the most part Philippine people are very friendly and welcoming.
SOOOOO Beautiful!!!! I would love to do this.
Ted. If that's you in the middle, which one is Romeo? funny name for a woman. Seriously though, two of my kids are Filipino adoptees. Went there twice to get them and spent a week or so each time. Beautiful country and wonderful people. Poor unfortunately and Manila is so congested, but the mountains, beaches and turquoise waters more than make up for it.
Awesome! Amazing place. I want to go there and meet Romeo, and become a rice farmer. I also want to taste some of that wine, maybe more than just some of it. You really know how to live, my friend. We all can learn much from you and your adventure tales. Bravo!
Great article, Ted. The Philippines is the only Southeast Asian country that I have not visited yet, and the Banaue Rice Terraces are first on the list of things to see. Thanks much for the tip on Batad. I really enjoyed the rice terraces and the Black and Flower H'mong hill tribes of Northwestern Vietnam (around the towns of Sapa and Bac Ha) and look forward to similar experiences with the Ifugao people around Banaue.
I never ventured that far north in Vietnam and regret it as I heard that was maybe the best place in that country. You will love the Philippines. It is quite different from the rest of Asia. The Spanish and American influence is quite apparent and fascinating how it has influenced their culture.
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