Pinay on the road

Banaue Rice Terraces has been one of the popular places that the Philippines, is proud of. During my primary and secondary years, it has always been mentioned, hence my growing curiosity about the place never ceased, until I was able to visit the place last April 2, 2008 (after our trip from Sagada).

We stayed at the New Wonder Lodge for P200 per day. Though there were other hotels we could go to, but we chose it since it’s the cheapest and it’s relatively clean. The Poblacion was a small bustling place with accommodating people. We saw that there are a couple of foreigners as well, which I’m sure are going or have already gone to Batad- a place where they say rice terraces sight seeing is really magnificent.

So we chartered a rickshaw (P225 per head) from the Poblacion to Batad junction, which is usually the case of visitors wanting to go to Batad. From the junction, one has the option to hire a jeep going to Batad, which we didn’t take. Instead we took a 2.5 hour hike going to the place which was more rewarding than taking a jeep. Though it was humid but I enjoyed the tranquility I got from the hike as well as the therapeutic green scenery along the way.

It seemed like there’s something mystical about the community of Batad; it’s somehow isolated from the other communities and yet they happily live within the bounds of the mountains that enclosed them from the rest of the world. These mountains however are not just mountains. The beauty of these rice terraces transcends to the people living in the area, thus making Batad mystical to the tourists.

We did some explorations around the area, thus giving us good photos of farmers planting rice and even chatted with some.

I found it amazing that locals were so affable towards us, speaking fluently in English; hence I didn’t have difficulty translating for Dave to understand. (Well of course later did I know that the missionaries’ occupation in the area a long time ago was the reason for that; I couldn’t remember that part during my history lesson.. I probably dozed off…oh dear)

A trip which turned out to be unexpectedly fun! The hanging coffins were one of the things I really looked forward to even before the journey began. Though in the beginning, we were a bit frustrated with the way the local government extracts money from tourists. It is a means to sustain their main source of income aside from farming, yes understandable. But calling it worth the pay was not exactly in our minds when we were given a guide to take us to the hanging coffins. For P200, we were accompanied to this lookout point (around 500 feet apart from the hanging coffins). So what we did was to go back to the place (this time without the guide), and looked for the paths leading to the hanging coffins. It was not a difficult thing to do (though one just has to be careful, especially if they don’t know the place), and so a few minutes later, we were busy taking photos and enjoying the feeling of looking closely at this uncommon practice of Igorots.

But the fun hadn’t fully blasted until we went to Sumaguing cave. The cave in total was big. But it was nooks and crannies that we have to get into that made it challenging for us to get further. With a knowledgeable and strong guide, our spelunking was really an adventure. At some stage, we were asked to take off our shoes to prevent it from getting wet.. And I thought, why the heck. But I realized when I set foot on the cream-colored refined boulders; it was not slippery, and indeed it feels different to walk on it barefoot.

At last we made our way out, feeling accomplished, as if we did an amazing race type of adventure.

Outside, the rain started to pour and the fog started to close in on the surroundings making it look like a thrilling movie trailer which made me feel strangely excited.

We then went to our favorite restaurant, The Log Cabin for dinner. With P180, I had a very scrumptious meal consisting of a yummy pork steak, with a buttery vegetables and mashed potatoes with a cold beer. Hmmm, what a wonderful way to call it a day.

Yes, chaotic. Geographic location of streets, a bit messed up. Yet Manila’s charm still rules.

Recommended hostel:

Green Mango- Reasonable price rate. Clean. Friendly staff and helpful staff.

It was not expensive to travel from Green Mango to Manila center. As we just took Trysikad (bicycle with a side cart) from the hostel to the main road (Sucat road) then get a going-to-Baclaran jeep( then from Baclaran, one can take another jeep or bus going to the MRT station where you’re off to, and then vice versa. It’s not that difficult. It just requires a bit of a higher level of alertness, to be on your guard all the time.

Guards, Vendors and even mall sales people never fail to greet you (not that it’s their job to do it!). No matter how probinsyana one sounds, Manilenyos I guess have gotten used to assisting these local strangers without any prejudice (as what other probinsyanos/nas would probably still think, or as what I used to think).

This issue is a bit of a controversy in my mind, after my friend’s discovery (which I have experienced as well) that Cagayan de Oro, the place dubbed as the City of Golden Friendship has not even a golden greeting nor a smile to offer.

I’m actually referring to department store and malls. Went to 3 malls, and really, majority of the sales people especially sales ladies, don’t say thank you or sometimes greet anymore (though I think its still their supposedly SOP). These are the places where one can generally gauge the basic persona of an individual.

Yes it’s a shame to be in given anything but a raised eyebrow sneer-like reaction once you ask a number of queries. But well, you never know, it might just be their natural physical looks. Who knows, they might be the very best friend one would ever have wanted!