Our Many Moons of Honey: The Stairways to Heaven

Rice terraces of Batad

Before heading off to the many beaches in the Philippines we set off for the north of the main island Luzon to see the world renowned rice terraces. The first stop was Banaue which is about an eight hour trip up the mountains on a good day so we chose travel in the comfort of a deluxe AC bus. Were we ever wrong. While the bus itself was comfortable the AC made it feel like we were traveling in a meat freezer! Apparently the AC switch on a Filipino bus only has two settings: off or full blast. This also applies to the stereo systems. We should have guessed it was going to be that bad when there were men selling blankets outside the bus. Luckily we bought one but unfortunately we could have used four. Thank god for the best of George Michael keeping us company all through the night!

the so called road to the Batad junction

The rice terraces around Banaue were carved into the mountain side by the Ifaguo tribes people two thousand years ago using primitive tools; an achievement in engineering terms that could rank alongside the building of the pyramids. The Ifaguo people call these terraces the “stairways to heaven” and it is said that they would stretch 20,000 kilometres if laid out end to end. While there is not much to see or do in Banaue (and admittedly it’s a dump), it is a good starting point for visiting the terraces and the nearby village of Batad. Batad is a popular hiking destination and a peaceful place from which to view the rice terraces. There are two ways to get there: either take a jeepney for the first 12 km to the Batad junction and then walk the remaining 3 km fairly difficult trail to the village or take a cyclo to the end of the main road and walk an extra three kilometres to the junction before starting on the hike to Batad. We opted for the latter and were very happy we did as we beat all of the jeepneys to the junction as they kept getting stuck in the mud and potholes on the steep road! As a side note, the road from Banaue to the road to Batad was not much better and particularly uncomfortable in our tiny cyclo built for the average Filipino.

terraces from the Banaue lookout

The Stairways to heaven are by far the most amazing rice terraces we have ever seen. While we were there the rice had just been planted so the terraces were mostly brown but we’ve been told that the best time to go is in June or July just before harvest when all the terraces are a bright green. We can only imagine how amazing that sight must be as they were already quite magnificent brown. Another interesting aspect of Banaue and its surroundings is how all the buildings are built all along the mountain side so that front of the house sits on mountain while the back half is supported only by stilts! Quite something and an economical use of space :).

the hanging coffins

Last stop in the north was Sagada: a beautiful charming village famous for its caves and hanging coffins. We gotta say, the hanging coffins were a let down: you hike to the edge of a cliff and have to max out your camera’s zoom to see a few coffins hanging on the other side of the gorge. We heard the caves were fun to explore but we didn’t do them as we simply enjoyed hiking the many trails and just relaxing in this laid back village. There are plenty of cafes and guesthouse terraces from which to enjoy the peaceful surrounding limestone cliffs and rice terraces. We really liked Sagada and would highly recommend it to everyone: you can do nothing or keep yourself busy hiking, caving and visiting the nearby waterfalls. Oddly, an informal 9pm curfew is still posted and supposedly in effect from the Marcos era in the 1970’s, though we don’t think it’s heavily enforced.

Click HERE (password: heaven) for more photos of our rice terrace adventures. Enjoy,
S&M