Our next destination was Batad, a tiny village nestled
amongst the most beautiful of the Philippines’ famous rice terraces,
which were engineered by some very enterprising tribespeople (the Ifaguo) over
2000 years ago. Because of its remote location, our journey to Batad comprised
a few separate legs:
Step 1: an uneventful jeepney ride from Sagada to Bontoc.
Step 2: we arrived in Bontoc, basking in our good fortune to
have arrived 1.5 hours before the next jeepney to Banaue (gateway to Batad…all
these Bs…confusing I know). This meant we had just enough time to stroll
through the streets of this pleasant little town and visit the local and much
lauded museum, renowned as the best in North Luzon.
The kind attendant at the jeepney stand offered to keep an eye on our heavy
bags until we returned. The trip to the museum turned out to be sufficiently
grisly (photos of head hunters with their prizes, drums with human jaws as
handles – there are still head hunters living in remote areas of North Luzon! Haven’t met any yet), interactive (there was
an entertaining outdoor replica of an Ifaguo village – with a real pig in a
replica pigpen!) and overall well worth our while. Feeling refreshed and
cultured, we returned to the jeepney station at the designated hour…to find it
completely deserted, with our bags nowhere in sight. After wandering around
helplessly and trying a few bolted doors, I could feel the panic rising. Just
then, a jeepney pulled up and the friendly driver informed us that our bags had
been loaded on the last one (which left an hour ahead of schedule, while we
were busy taking lame photos in grass huts…yay)
and were currently on their way to Banaue without us. He told us
multiple times not to worry and that ‘his brother’ would have the bags ready
for us when we got there. I felt infinitely better until he said: “your bags
are yellow, yes?” “Um…no” “No problem – don’t worry, don’t worry.” There was
nothing left for us to do but not worry, so we just trusted him and hopped
aboard. About halfway through the trip we stopped for a spring roll break and
got an update on our adventurous bags – they had reached Banaue safely but were
now headed back for Bontoc, and we would meet them half way. Sure enough, we
passed a van on the narrow mountainous road and our bags were hurled from the
roof of one vehicle to the other – a sight of relief and a happy reunion!
Step 3: after a quiet night in Banaue (actually, our
quietest since being in the country, because our guest house was on the banks
of the river, which blocked out the sound of the millions of horrible roosters
which are EVERYWHERE here…each morning I wake up at 5 am and have unkind
fantasies about pitting them against one another in gory cockfights) we were
too cheap to hire a private jeepney to the ridge (locally referred to as ‘The
Saddle’) above Batad. Instead, we spent a lazy morning on the internet (notice
the timeliness of these blog entries!) and boarded the once-daily public
jeepney at about 3 pm. This was a fun (if a little bumpy) trip: we shared the vehicle
with a group of drunk men who insisted we sample their rice wine (actually not
bad) and kept repeating that their friend was the “drunken master” of Batad
and, disconcertingly, that while they were drunk we shouldn’t worry about our
safety because the driver was the “designated drinker.” Thanks guys!
Step 4: a pleasant 40 minute downhill hike to Chung Chung,
the strip of guesthouses overlooking extremely scenic Batad!
Our accommodation for our stay was very basic (suffice it to
say we felt like guinea pigs…but comfortable guinea pigs) but very pleasant
with amazing beer o’clock views of the ‘amphitheatre’ of rice terraces in the
valley below. We also met some nice like-minded people almost straight away:
two friends from the UK, an
English ex-pat diving instructor from the Visayas, and an engineer from the Netherlands.
During our full day in Batad we hiked as a group through the maze-like terraces
(one of the most amazing and beautiful experiences of the trip to date) to a
fairly decent waterfall - in comparison to most waterfalls in SE
Asia, which tend to be massive letdowns.
Our plan was to hike an alternative (and less stair-y) 2.5
hour route out of Batad, but the guides were rather pushy and insisted we would
get lost if we didn’t hire one of them to take us. Jack took this as a
challenge and we spent the afternoon navigating our path in preparation for the
next morning’s hike. Jack felt like he had found the way but I was convinced he
was merely leading me through a string of frightening obstacles (slippery rocks
on the edge of steep terraces, bridges comprising of flimsy sticks, mud, mud,
slippery rocks, mud). We quite easily found the right path and went to bed
feeling pleasantly tired and smug.
It rained in Batad last night which made me super excited
about all the fun obstacles I had struggled with whilst dry, however we got
through the trek with no incidents and arrived at the ‘highway’ feeling very
chipper (if slightly swamp-monsterish) to flag down a jeepney heading back to
Banaue. One sped along almost immediately, the convenience of the timing only
somewhat offset by the fact that approx 35 people (no exaggeration) were
crammed into and on top of it. They seemed a little surprised that we were
willing to haul ourselves onto the roof for the ride. Despite being seated
relatively comfortably on two sacks of rice I spent much of the trip fearing I
was going to somersault backwards into the mud. Jack, meanwhile, had bigger
fish to fry: his seat was on the side of the road closest to the steep precipice
into the valley and with the most pot holes. Once we got our brace positions
figured out it was a very scenic and enjoyable journey (minus the water, mud,
low power lines etc).
All in all we had a wonderful adventure in Batad – one might
even say it was not a ‘batad experience’ (by Jack) – but the magic of the place
is much better communicated in pictures – hope you enjoy! Tonight we catch a
night bus to Manila for our flight to the
beautiful tropical paradise of Palawan. We’re
unsure when we will next be at an internet café – stay tuned!
Much love,
Your happy muddy travelers,
T & J xoxox
