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!