Philippines II: Wandering in the North

We managed to get a charter flight off of Palawan a little earlier than expected. It was actually a little earlier than we wanted, but figured maybe it was serendipitous because this way we would have enough time to make it to the ancient rice terraces of the north.
We flew back to the mainland with Japanese and Korean tourists who had just celebrated the New Year at one of the two very overpriced resorts near El Nido. We got a taste for the gouging they were subject to with the cost of our airfare...yikes...of course this is coming from someone who hasn't really paid anything for airfare over the last few years.
Anyway, the flight was phenomenal though a little dodgy. We flew on a prop plane taking off from a dirt runway. First, we got to watch it and its twin brother arrive and drop off two more groups of resort tourists. They were greeted by traditional music being played by locals on an ox cart. It made for a strange scene as cameras flashed and a Korean couple in identical outfits walked past. When we made if off the ground in that little plane seating about 25, we flew over the most breathtaking sea fading from azure to emerald as it met the rugged green coast of Palawan.
After arriving safe and sound back in Manila at the charter company’s hangar, we took our life in our hands and tried to walk to one of the main airport terminals hoping to find information for a bus to the north. Maybe I’m exaggerating but things didn’t feel quite right as we made our way along the darkened road despite the traffic and the fact that it was only about 6pm. Perhaps it was the dark shadows of squatting figures under the bridges of the canal next to our path, or the crowd of boys that pushed up against us asking our name with feverish energy, or maybe it was the other boys on their periphery sniffing glue, but something made us really want to get to the bright lights of the airport quick. When we got there we discovered there wasn’t much in the way of info, but eventually we found our way to a bus terminal on the other side of the city and an all night bus that would take us most of the way to Banaue.
After having to change transport at about 4am, we eventually made it to Banaue at just past dawn.



After stopping for some contemplation in Banaue, we elected to keep on moving to Sagada. After finding a place to stay, and fighting off the sleep that called us, we decided to make the most of the day. We went for a hike in Echo Valley. This place is well known for its hanging coffins. Instead of burying their dead, the locals took to hanging coffins from the rock face. The idea being that this way the spirits wouldn’t have as far to travel or so I believe. American missionaries suggested awhile back that they start burying their relatives in the church bone yard like normal folk and the practice has mostly died out. However, take a look at the blue and white coffin on the left in the photo below. It was placed there last August. Someone told us that if you live real long you’re put on the mountain like that…

During our hike we met up with some other hikers who were in the company of an unsolicited guide. We had seen him earlier looking for his cows near the church at the top of the valley. He said his herd grazed the valley and surrounding area. He insisted on showing us the way as we had already turned back due to the very muddy and treacherous paths. He assured us that it wasn’t that bad considering his cows wandered these parts. Not to be outdone by cows, we went with him and two American travelers. It turned out to be a lucky meeting as he led us all the way down the trail and added insight to what we were seeing. At the end, he pointed us to the road and was gone back in the bush to look after his cows.


The next day we made our way with a mostly silent guide past these remarkable scenes to go caving.


It was a unique experience climbing down and over the limestone ‘paths’ in the cave. We were in the deep dark save for a temperamental kerosene lantern. The way was slippery, but much better when we came to the spot where we could remove our shoes and go barefoot. At one point our silent guide had us use his body as a ladder. It was amazing that he could walk the treacherous way with one hand holding the kerosene lantern. I suspect he’d been in this cave thousands of times before with other travelers and with his friends playing as a child.
The water was icy cold as we waded in at points up to our waists. At the farthest point in we took a dip in a frigid pool to make the experience complete.
Unfortunately, we didn’t really get many good photos from the cave.


On our last night in Sagada we met some really cool travelers and went for a few drinks with them…

…and we met this guy! He was actually running the place. Suspect he was drinking well past the profits!!


The next day, after waking a tad later than planned, and enjoying a gorgeous breakfast (if only it could be like this in Japan…), we made the slow, bumpy, mountain drive back to Banaue. Funny how short distances on a map can take damn near a day!


After arriving in Banaue, we found a place to stay and arranged for a guide to take us to the rice terraces of Batad bright and early the next day.
The next morning we set of with Lawrence of Banuae to hike the mountains of Batad. We set of around 7am on Lawrence’s brother’s tricycle…that’s four people on a motorbike w/sidecar, good times!
We made our way along muddy mountain roads stopping a few times to take in the remarkable views.

The trip truly begun when we lost the tricycle and started hiking up the mountain on foot. We meandered our way up a wide path to the top of the ridge where we met parked jeepneys and soft drink vendors. We stomped past and kept hiking the path. After hiking for about 20-25 minutes we came upon these amazing scenes...