Makati to Banaue, Ifugao
To have a refreshing break from work, my husband and I decided to have a long journey from Makati to Banaue, Ifugao. The distance of Banaue is 396 kilometers from our place in Makati.
It took us about 12 hrs because we had to rest whenever we needed to stretch or eat. There were also some challenging roads like zigzag or too sloppy and inclined, so we had to really take extra precautions.
We reached the municipal of Banaue almost midnight, and we were very exhausted but happy at the same time. We were fortunate that we had a reserved place to stay.
My husband told me it is difficult to see a hotel with private parking in the Banaue area. Good thing he arranged everything in advance.
Tam-An Village
We decided to view the Tam-an village because most of the locals informed us that it is nearby and we can see some relics of their past Ifugao village. Another reason is that going to the village will require hiking, which is a test of our stamina before going to Batad Rice Terraces.
We noticed that we are the only guest in the area so we thought the Tam-An Village is closed. We continued walking until we saw this sign, “This way to Tam-An Village” weaving, carving, souvenir shop. 5 minutes walk”.
This stair is the only path we saw to continue the journey. Based on researches, this stair consists of 100 steps and it is ok for newbies in hiking or trekking.
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We saw some Pinoy dogs (commonly called bantay) or in the area. At first, we thought they would bite us, but they turned out to be friendly.
We noticed that there is only one souvenir shop in the area, owned by an elder who can communicate so well in Tagalog. We tried the local dresses and bought some pasalubong.
The elder or lolo shared some stories about the place and how his family could continue the business despite having few locals and foreigners visiting the area. We were entertained by the stories shared with us, and all the items in the store have their tale. In the end, we got a bunch of souvenirs and some snapshots with lolo.
We saw some old houses and other artifacts which depict the traditional way of living.
However, the Tam-An village is no more living in their traditional or ancestral way, because when we reached the bottom part of the town, we noticed that most of the houses are now made of semi-concrete materials.
Las Vegas Lodge Restaurant
One of our favorite restaurants in Banaue is the Las Vegas Lodge. It offers not only a sumptuous meal, but it has a veranda where we usually pick our seats. It provides instant alfresco dining with a breathtaking natural view.
Town of Banaue
One way to support our local tourism industry is to buy their products. In the town of Banaue, we saw hundreds of carved, weaved, and embroidered products. We bought few items for our collection and some to be given as pasalubong to family and friends.
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Going to Batad
Before going to Batad, we paid 20 pesos environmental fee at the tourism office in Banaue town. We asked the locals how to go to Batad to crosscheck what we had researched online. Most locals informed us that we could go to Batad via jeepney or tricycle and discouraged us from going there via private car because there is no parking area there and the road is steep and small.
However, we are confident that we will drive up to Saddle point in Batad without any issue, so we did use our car to go there. We enjoyed the road trip even more because we could stop and look at the surroundings whenever we wanted. There are indeed tricky parts of the road, so we had to pay utmost attention.
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The saddle point at Batad is the last area where we can use our car. From this point, we have to walk and hike to Batad. First, we met our local tour guide and luckily we also met a lovely bantay who will be our lookout for our car while we are away. We took a photo of bantay as a remembrance of how dedicated and confident he was in his job!
I saw some tourists walking with sticks. I am a bit nervous that I might have difficulty with this trekking/hiking activity, so I asked for one stick and another for my husband.
After twenty minutes of hiking from the saddle point, we saw a great view of the Batad Rice Terraces from afar. Most Filipino knew Banaue rice terraces because it is commonly used to feature the Ifugao rice terraces, especially in school textbooks. The Batad Rice Terraces is most of the time left out in the discussion. But this site has its crown by being a UNESCO heritage site. Batad Rice Terraces is over 2000 years old and has an elevation of 1,100m.
Going from all the view decks at Batad rice terraces is a big no joke for a newbie like me. For experts in hiking and trekking, the overall duration takes about 3 hours to complete the activity. In our case, we finished in almost 7 hours because I had to stop from time to time to rest and take care not to fall, particularly in steep steps.
Overall, we enjoyed the amphitheater of rice terraces that Batad has offered. It is truly an incredible journey!
