Batad, Ifugao Province
17 & 18 March 2012
We traveled more than 10 hours from Sampaloc in Manila to the heart of the Cordilleras in the province of Ifugao on board bus bound for Banaue.
Just like everyone else, I was so excited to see the locals of Ifugao province, taste their food, learn more of their culture and of course, see and walk along the stairs of the world renowned Rice Terraces.
We reached the town proper of Banaue past 8am and we took our breakfast at a nearby restaurant. While having breakfast, a friend photo enthusiasts Lito Ramos and I was enjoying the view from the window overlooking a winding road going to the municipality of Batad.
After an hour, we were all ready to travel to Batad. On-board a heavy duty jeep, we traveled to Batad for more than 2 hours passing through paved and rough winding roads. There are several on going road works along the way. By 11am, we were at the saddle point.
 |
| Residential Place near the Batad Rice Terraces |
Before trekking down to Batad, we regrouped. We started trekking down to Batad past 12noon. The trail going to Batad is well defined and maintained. There were several huts along the way selling refreshing drinks and several items for souvenirs. Trekking down to Batad is quiet easy and it took us at least 45 minutes to reach Batad.
We were all amazed looking at the Rice Terraces at Batad. According to the locals, the only thing that differentiates Batad Rice Terraces from all other Rice Terraces in Ifugao is that the walls of the Rice Terraces at Batad are made of stones.
Three things that saddened me though, first was the landslide from the upper portion of the mountain affecting the upper middle portion of the Rice Terraces. Second was the sad news that the new generations of the Ifugaos were abandoning the Rice Terraces and preferred to work at the city thus affecting the tradition of the Ifugaos that started thousands of years ago and third was the construction of modern houses right at the middle of the Rice Terraces amphitheater. I was suggesting to Manong Simon, owner of Simon's Inn, that the local government should have regulated the construction of houses near and within the Rice Terraces to preserve its original features. I would love to see the Rice Terraces again with only native houses built near or within it.
This portion of the Rice Terraces, I think was part of the area enlisted by the prestigious UNESCO as World Heritage Site.
One good news though is "Bachang". In filipino, it's Bayanihan. Bayanihan in restoring the landslide affected portion of the Rice Terraces. I've met few climbers saying that they have rendered free labor of helping the locals restore the damaged portion of the Rice Terraces. I also heard that few companies like Canon have visited the area and donated equipments that can be used in restoring the Rice Terraces.
 |
| House on a Cliff |
We were encamped at Simons Inn. The lunch was so good. Chicken Tinola and organic rice are my favorites.
After lunch, it was free time for all. Most of us played games and had socials, while I preferred to roam around and enjoy the places more, taking shots of anything that looks good to me.
 |
| Walking along the Rice Terraces |
By 5pm, we visited our guide's place. Our guide gave us a short lecture on the making of Ifugao local wine called "Rice Wine". I find it very educational and interesting. Our guide also explained why Ifugaos chew "Momma" which is made of four ingredients known as Gawed (green leaf), Bua (Bitter Nut), Apog (White Powder made from burnt snail shell) and Tabako (Tobacco). According to the Ifugaos, chewing "Momma" can prevent tooth decay and can warm up the body. The Apog gave the red color of the Momma.
After the short lecture and question and answer portion, we tasted a first class Rice Wine and chew a few piece of Momma. Everyone enjoyed the taste of the Rice Wine including myself.
 |
| Hut |
The dinner was served at about 7pm and something that caught my attention was the locally made "Pizza" made from bread, thin slices of tomatoes and cheese.
At night, I was so eager to take a few shots of the sky with few stars appearing. It was a cloudy night so I tried my best to take shots of the stars, though not so good but at least I got few shots.
The following day was the more exciting day. We trekked to the Tappiya Falls passing through the local village and walking through the stairs up the Rice Terraces.
 |
| Star Trail |
While we were at the village, we passed by a house of a native Ifugao dress weaver. We witnessed a short demo on how the locals weave their local "Baag" dress in colors of Red, Black and White. According to the weaver, the colorful Baags are for the rich or for those who belong to the higher class in the Ifugao society while the black ones are for the lower class people.
 |
| Ifugao Weaver |
We continued trekking to Tappiya Falls and walked through the Rice Terraces. It was so amazing.
 |
| Tappiya Falls |
We reached the Tappiya Falls past 11am. The water of the falls is crystal clear and cool. Most of us enjoyed swimming and taking pictures with many other travelers and foreign tourists as well.
A more challenging part of the entire trek was going up from Tappiya Falls back to Batad village as we had to climb up stairs of at least more than hundred steps of different elevations. We started trekking back to the saddle point after having lunch at about 2:45pm. We were back to Banaue past 4pm.
====================
====================
-----o0o-----
No comments:
Post a Comment