Mountain Provinces Part 1: Ifugao, Home of the Rice Terraces

In conjunction with the National Heroes' Day in the Philippines, we have decided to go out of town into the mountain provinces on the island of Luzon. This time we would be travelling approximately 400 km North of Metro Manila, and the journey would take more than 8 hours in order to reach Ifugao, home of the world heritage rice terraces. 

Due to the long journey, our plan was to depart at 2 a.m. in the midnight and we targeted to reach destination by 11 a.m. Sounds like a good plan? Oh man, things did not go well that day. Firstly, the driver lost his way again and we wasted more than 1 hour to turn back and head to the correct direction after several checks with the locals. I was wondering why the Pinoy hired drivers were so clueless about the directions, same as what I faced during the Pinatubo trip. They were relying solely on the information given by personnel in toll booth, and the personnel had no clue as well! Secondly, once we were on the right track, next challenge came - the typhoon! Total visibility has reduced a lot and this made the driving much more difficult, and to make things worse, we were already on the ascending towards our destination, on the tight mountain road. The strong wind and the rain hit our car ferociously and our driver had to drive extremely slow & always alert and cautious, to ensure our safety.

The rain finally became smaller after lunch, and we were able to speed up towards the mountains of Ifugao.

Finally, we arrived at our destination at 4 p.m. What a terrifying 14 hours of journey! Quickly we checked in to our hotel, and third "great" news came by. There would be no electricity in the town, as the power cable was cut off by the typhoon! Restoration was in progress but the electricity recovery on that night was not ensured. Isn't that "great"? We had no choice but to enjoy the view and hoping that the electricity would recover by the time we head to bed. 

The view from the balcony of our hotel, the Banaue View Inn. Cited with one of the best view over the rice terraces of Banaue, we totally appreciate that scenic view. Located about 1500 meters from the sea level, the chilling weather gave plus points to the trip.

Despite the electricity blackout, we were able to feel the peacefulness of the small mountainous town when we were strolling around on the streets. The locals here were friendly, and even offered us a balut (fertilized duck egg, one of local delicacies of Philippines) to try on when we were discussing the eggs. 

Due to the typhoon and late arrival, we have to skip our planned trip to Batad, cited the best cluster of rice terraces in mountains of Ifugao. 

As the night fell, we had our candle light dinner at the restaurant nearby. This small town was so quiet in the night. Even the sound of the motorcycle passing by the town appeared to be right next to us when we were on the balcony sipping cool beer.

Waking up early in the morning next day to watch the sunrise. Watching the first light of the dawn, we hoped that our trip would be a fruitful one.

After having our breakfast, we drove around the Banaue area which consists of multiple viewpoints to have a glance at the rice terraces from different angle.

What makes Ifugao rice terraces unique is that these rice terraces have been around for more than 2000 years, and the natives from Ifugao carved the rice terraces out of mountain totally by hand and basic tools. How stunning is that? 

One of the most famous viewpoints, was the NFA-Aguian View Deck. We arrived here to witness what was exactly printed on the 1000 Pesos paper bill.

Don't believe it? Here it is!

Despite the nightmares along the journey coming to mountains of Ifugao, staying here for one night totally changed our mindset towards the trip. We enjoyed the cool weather & there was no more rain after we arrived in Banaue town, and we started to appreciate the calmness of the surrounding, and gratitude for the memories we had through this wonderful trip!

Part 2 is coming next!

Mount Pinatubo, Hiking the Active Volcano

Mount Pinatubo, an active stratovolcano located in the island of Luzon, Philippines. This was my next destination after spending one weekend in the Philippines travelling to Intramuros, Las Piñas & Tagaytay. There were sayings about this volcano, which the visitors would enjoy the ride, the hike, and the view. So I wanted to be there to witness it right before my eyes.

This was my first hiking trip, and I prepared nothing for it. In fact this was not really a difficult hike. With the level of fame of the volcano and the number of tourists flock here, the hiking packages were readily available and the hiking path was clear and highly visible too. The only challenge left was the stamina for hiking.

Mt. Pinatubo, located about 90 km from Metro Manila, the journey towards the volcano would take about 2 -3 hours, considering at that time of visit there was no direct highway connecting Manila to the nearby town of Mt. Pinatubo. With fellow colleagues, we were supposed to reach the tourist center of Mt. Pinatubo at 6 a.m. but as our driver lost his direction, we were late and arrived the tourist center only at 7:30 a.m.

Immediately we hopped on the our designated four-wheeled drive vehicle (4x4), and we disembarked from the tourist center. Visitors should expect a one-hour off-road ride, and another 2 hours of hiking in order to reach the top of the volcano which the spectacular view awaiting us. As the morning sun was just about to rise, the weather was chilling and the breeze blew towards my face, it was so enjoyable.

Not long into the off-road ride, the 4x4 started to cross streams and ride through extremely bumpy roads.

This location is part of military controlled area, and visitors would need to leave the names to the military in case of any evacuation needed during the eruption. As Mt. Pinatubo is still active till today, this is a very important. The last eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was in 1991, and it was the second largest terrestrial eruption of 20th century. The massive eruption killed more than 800 people and reduced the elevation from 1745 meter to 1486 meter above sea level.

Now what was left from the eruption, were bunch of "Toblerone hills" for the visitors along the off-road ride.

There were still villagers staying nearby, rearing buffaloes to help them drawing carriages of vegetation.

The area was so bare after the eruption, leaving behind only limited vegetation surrounding the area.

At one time during the off-road ride, my 4x4 was stuck in the river and the driver have to come down to sort the thing out before we could continue the journey.

Finally after approximately one hour of bumpy ride, we have reached the bottom of the volcano. It's time to hike buddies!

The hiking route was very rocky, and we also have to cross multiple streams of water along the way of hiking.

How small we are, when human vs. nature.

There are also streams filled with sulfur, making us sometimes hard to breathe.

After almost 2 hours of hiking, we make it to a point where it stated "Welcome to Mt. Pinatubo, Your Trek Starts Here". What the heck? If the trek starts here then what was happening for the past 2 hours before arriving here?

However, getting to see this signboard seemed to be a good sign. The much anticipated crater would not be far away! Since it stated for young age, only 15 minutes required to reach the peak.

Soon, we all found out that the signboard was not accurate at all! (At least for us). After the 2-hour hiking, we were already exhausted and in order to finish the final part of the hiking, we took more than 30 minutes to arrive the crater.

Finally, we were here!

The cool weather, the turquoise blue crater lake, the mountains surrounding the crater lake, such a breathtaking view!

Planking shot was very common at that time, and I did that too!

There was a small path leading to the crater lake, which visitors could swim in the crater.

As the sky was getting dark quickly and rain approaching very soon, we have to cut down the time spent at the crater lake area, in order to give us ample time to reach bottom safely. 

Turning back my head for a final glance of the crater before heading down, I knew this trip opened my mind and brought new impression towards crater lake. I will never forget how beautiful it was, the crater lake of Mt. Pinatubo!

Tagaytay, a Chilling Retreat

After visiting the Bamboo Organ in Las Piñas, I proceeded to Tagaytay, a city 55 km South of Metro Manila. Sitting on the plateau of 634 meters above sea level, Tagaytay is famous destination for a chilling retreat from the heat in Metro Manila. 

First, I came to this place Tierra de Maria, which we could see the 50-feet tall image of Virgin Mary, Mother of God standing in the middle of garden with well-trimmed shrubbery and flowers. 

This sacred place is run by Mama Mary's Movement Foundation Inc and it opens daily from 8 a.m till 6 p.m. This place also serves as the inner peace healing center, for the Catholics to pray and reflect.

There were also drawings of stories of Christianity next to the shrine of Mother Mary.

Next I headed to 1 of the main attractions of Tagaytay, which was the People's Park, or also known as Palace in the Sky. This place was intended to become the presidential guest house of former president Ferdinand Marcos, however the project did not complete and the structure of the mansion remained intact which turns the location into tourist attraction. 

Firstly, the visitors could ride on the jeepney to the top of the Mount Gonzales. The jeepney would take us through the long winding road to the top of the mountain which spectacular views await. Visitors may also choose to hike the Mount Gonzales.

Now this palace is open to the public as a viewpoint for the Taal Volcano, one of the most special volcanoes in Philippines.

The visitors were so crowded on the day I visited, as people came here not only for the view of Taal Volcano, but also to relax and to have picnic within the People's Park.

Another attraction within the People's Park would be the big statue of Jesus Christ, standing next to the chapel on the highest point of the Mount Gonzales, overlooking the city of Tagaytay. This image resembles the big Jesus statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but this is a much smaller scaled statue.

As the storm approaching, the People's Park got chiller by the cloud blowing through the park.

After visiting the People's Park, I had my lunch at Leslie's Restaurant which is famous for their sisig, a local dish of minced pork. This restaurant is also famous for the atmosphere and the view of Taal Volcano as it sits on the cliff side of the Tagaytay city.

From Leslie's Restaurant, we would be able to view the Taal Volcano at a much closer distance compared to the People's Park.

Last destination of the day was the Taal Lake. This was supposed to be a trip to the Taal Volcano, but due to the approaching storm, the boatmen were not willing to bring visitors across the volcano crater to Taal Volcano due to safety reason. This was such a waste, because the Taal Volcano hike was the main objective of the whole trip!

Regretfully, one of my main objectives to be here in Tagaytay was not achieved. Don't worry readers, I revisited this place, and the hiking trip of Taal Volcano will be covered next time!

Stay tuned for more exciting stories in Philippines!

Las Piñas, A Journey to Discover The Unique Musical Instrument

Visiting churches seems to be the usual practice when you are in Philippines. So after visiting the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, I came to read about a unique church not far from Metro Manila. Hiring the company driver, I went to this church to witness the unique feature of the church which made this small town being talked about.

Located only about 10 km from Metro Manila, I came to St. Joseph's Parish Church on a beautiful Sunday. This small fishing village was made famous by the bamboo organ housed within this church, and this was why I came here for!

The church was founded by Fray Diego Cera in 1795 after arriving in town a day after Christmas. He then built the church made of adobe stone in the Earthquake Baroque architecture style.

When the church was almost completed in 1816, being a organist, Fray Diego Cera began the construction of the bamboo organ in this church. This unique musical instrument was made of 1031 organ pipes, which 902 of them were made of bamboo and the rest were metal. Finally, the whole construction was completed in 1824.

I was lucky to be there on Sunday morning, when the locals were performing their Sunday prayer along with the bamboo organ being played. I'm not a music savvy but for sure the melody from the bamboo organ was really comfortable and would make you feel good.

I went up to the loft to check out the bamboo organ up close, and I was able to see the air pump behind the wall moving when the organ was being played. This was something new to me!

The bamboo organ had gone through multiple natural calamities, which at once it was no longer playable. It has undergone multiple repair processes, and finally in 1973 it was being dismantled and shipped to Germany to perform full restoration. 

On 18th February 1975, the bamboo organ was fully restored and showcased to the world. A one-hour concert was held in front of Philippines Embassy in Bonn, Germany during the showcase. After a month, the bamboo organ was sent home, back to Las Piñas.

Now, part of the church has become the museum for the bamboo organ, displaying some of the artifacts of the bamboo organ and church, as well as a small prototype of bamboo organ.

Ever since the restoration, the people celebrate this masterpiece through the International Bamboo Organ Festival every February.

It was a short trip, but having to know such a unique musical instrument, made the trip so cool!