Oh well, it's really my dream to see the Banaue Rice Terraces since I was in grade school. Back then, whenever I passed by the bookstore I always checked the postcards and told myself, "someday, I'll get here".
And after gathering some info from googling over the net and insights from the bloggers, we had our vacation leaves approved by our bosses, bought our bus tickets two days in advance, packed our backpacks and travelled 9-hr bus ride overnight via Ohayami Bus Co. We left Manila Wednesday night as we knew that on weekends the place will be filled with tourist.
It's really a wonderful feeling to see this especially when you were groggy from lack of sleep and exhaustion.
Before we hop on to another ride, our guide took us to this pretty restaurant in town, I forgot the full name but it has Las Vegas something. The name is really foreign but it's interiors are really Ifugao. They served delicious hot chocolate and hot coffee that when you smell, it's aroma really captivates you. What a truly rewarding thing after the bus ride and a cold morning!
And so we started our day and rode a tricycle. Our tour guide and tric driver were nice enough to made several stops before going to Batad so we can take photos.
You can see a lot of rice terraces around Banaue and we were lucky to be able to catch the majestic rice terraces in it's glorious green before it turned gold. I love greens!
My favourite photo
Batad Rice Terraces
I researched before going here and I found out that Batad Rice Terraces is the most well-maintained rice paddies in Banaue. Trivia from our tour guide, the rice terraces in Batad are carved in stones by their ancestors that's why it's not easily eroded.
You can traverse going to Batad by foot and go around the villages following the trail. I'm not exercising on a regular basis but weeks before going here I did jog twice in a week.
No words for this amphitheater rice terraces. Indeed, a sight to behold!
View from the window of our hut
After we took our lunch, we decided to trek down the village and went to Tappiya Falls.
Trivia, you can see a lot of this around the villages as it serves resting place from a tiring trek and in someplace around there's a store that sells refreshments. The price, expensive. Why? It's not easy to take those in and out, up and down. You can tell when you experienced trekking around the villages.
You can see a lot of this around the paddies. This hut is a resting place because trekking rice terraces is definitely not an easy one.
Tappiya Falls
Going down the falls was more tiring than going to Batad. We trekked for almost 40-60 min.
Photo of me catching my breath and pulling myself together.
I almost gave up, my legs went numb already.
Our hard-working shoes
We were lucky that we were already in our hut before the rain drops.
My muscles were really used up and sore the entire time I was in here and I never sweat in my whole life like I was trekking to/from and around Batad and Tappiya Falls. But still, it's really fulfilling. The view indeed took my breath away!
The picturesque rice terraces in the morning
May forever. Hahahaha!
A refreshing drink after trekking for almost an hour and 30 minutes.
I talked to Joenel that I really wanted to ride on top of the jeepney. He told us the schedule of the public jeepneys bound for Banaue Town proper. I was really happy and giggling when I went up. On top, we will be seating on the railings so it's painful. What we did was we took out our blanket and jacket and seated on it, less painful. It's not comfortable up there during the entire travel time but if you will ask me if I will do it again, I will. Because the view up in the Cordillera region is worth the pain in my ass.
Another ticked off on my bucket list. Our topload ride.
We came here with a huge help in reading blogs of various bloggers all over the world so it's pay back time for me :)
How we travelled to Batad
1. Take a bus from Sampaloc Terminal of Ohayami Bus Trans. There are 2 schedules on Wednesday night. We took the 9PM schedule and the other will depart after an hour. It's a 9-hr bus ride.
2. From the Ohayami Bus Terminal in Banaue, our tour guide told us to ride a tricycle to Banaue Town proper for 10 minutes since we decided to take a public transportation than hiring a private van/jeep/tric which will take us to Batad to save on cost since we were only 2 pax travelling. Please note that a lot of the locals are offering travel services to various towns or to Sagada, be sure to haggle well.
3. At Banaue Town Proper, another tricycle ride and it took us 60 minutes to get to Saddle Point. Basically, the tric or jeep will stop at the Junction and you will trek down to Saddle for 30 minutes. But then, our guide was really nice to arrange with the driver to stop at the Saddle Point.
4. And then trekked downhill for 40-50 minutes. We arrived at the Batad proper to log our names and pay environmental fee.
5. After that, the trekking continues until we reached - Ramon Homestay. It's about 20-30 minutes trekking down.
When did we go to Batad
We travelled to Batad last week of May 2015. Most of the the rice paddies were still green but some were turning to yellow and gold. According to our guide, April and May are the best time to go due to weather conditions because it's still Summer and dry and you can see the rice paddies in green color. As I've mentioned earlier, climbing up and down around the Batad is not an easy one. So you can imagine, how slippery it would be if it's raining.
Where did we stay in Batad
We relied on to Tripadvisor, based on the tourists' reviews when we chose our accommodation in Batad. For us we stayed at Ramon Homestay and Restaurant. For authentic feel, I insisted in staying at Ifugao Hut. Since we arrived on a weekday we thought that we should just "walk-in". Our no-frills hut cost us Php 800 for an overnight stay. No electricity. No comfort room inside. No signal. But we really had a wonderful sleep at night. We never regret we opted to stay in a hut than in a regular room.
Our Itinerary and Travel Cost
Please click the image below to view in actual size. Thanks to the pretty template of Mac :)
Prices below in Philippine Peso and expenses of 2 pax travelling together.
Note: Sorry for the mixed-up the cost of environmental fee in Batad is Php 100, Php50 per pax. That makes Php 5,540 as the Total Expenses.
The one reflected in the image below is the environmental fee in Sagada.
We headed to Sagada after Banaue. Our itinerary was Banaue-Sagada-Baguio. We decided last minute when we were in Banaue.
Other related info
1. Ohayami Bus contact details - they do not have landlines just mobile numbers
0927-6493055/0917-5060817
2. Ramon Homestay - has FB page where you can contact them or at this number 0935-1302911
3. Tour Guide - it's okay if you opted not to get a tour guide especially if you are up for an adventure and find joy in exploring all by yourself but then hiring a tour guide will make your life at ease and at the same time you can also help in their livelihood.
We were lucky we had an honest, amiable and accommodating tour guide. If he can't made it he will send somebody to fetch/assist us.
Joenel Dumar - our tour guide. He may be reached at this number 0926-1646299
4. Tip - it's not customary to give tip but it's highly appreciated by those kind and hardworking locals.
5. Weather - year-round the climate up there is way cool compare to Manila. It's between 19L to 26H degrees Celsius, when we were there.
6. If you can carry bring a lot of water. As the bottled water/soda there is really expensive.
7. Bring dry-fit clothes as they are lightweight and easy to dry. I was so wrong to bring cotton clothes when I washed them (bec I got so sweaty) it didn't dry overnight as the rain kept on pouring at that time.
8. Pack light. It will save your back a lot as you will be needing a lot of energy traversing the trail.
9. Powerbanks took care of our mobile charging needs - so make sure you bring it. If you don't have one, you can go to Mang Ramon's Restaurant and charge your gadgets for a fee.
10. Bring cash as there's no ATM in Batad nor POS terminal to swipe your card.
That would be all and I must say we had an amazing trip. The pictures can never do justice on how the rice terraces are in real life. It's really beautiful! I'm in awe until now.
I never knew that this trip will be the start of my interest in outdoors! Oh yeah, OUTDOORS for a non-athletic, lazy bum like me! :)
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