We've been to Batad Rice Terraces Viewing Deck and Tappiya Falls, now what?
Close encounter
On our way back to Highland Inn from Tappiya Falls, we took a different route. This time the route was closer to the rice terraces. Kuya Llamas told us that there used to be only a handful of houses in Batad but now you can see clusters of houses everywhere you look. Nonetheless, the view was spectacular and one of a kind.
Our new found friend, Bob of Backpacker Ball who now has over 1.6M followers in Facebook was nailing it! He had a creative eye and I could see it through the photos he took which he later showed us.
I was hungry by the time we got to the best spot to take photos but I was inspired so I took a few including the ones you've seen above.
The thing when you travel with "influencers" is that it's very likely you'd take more time; we made a few stops for him to take photos of this and that. But instead of minding it and focusing on my hunger, I continued enjoying Batad.
"You aren't coming here soon so savor it!" I told myself.
Aren't they just lovely? It's unimaginable that this massive rice terraces was manmade by my ancestors' bare hands. I can only think of the persistence and hardwork as they carved all these paddies by the hillside. Crazy piece of creativity and resourcefulness. 👏👏👏
So we arrived home and our food was waiting for us! Karen, the niece of Kuya Llamas took our order before we heading to Tappiya and here it was! Hot and oozing with aroma no hungry person can resist. If there's one thing I missed so much about Batad aside from the view, it's definitely Karen's fried rice. 😋
Tara, top load!
In most cases, when you visit Ifugao or other neighboring Provinces in Northern Luzon, there are two viable ways to get to most tourist destinations. Tour operators either use private air-conditioned vans or monster jeepney, which from its name is relatively bigger and stronger that the ones we see and ride in the city.
If you'll be given the chance to choose what vehicle you'll ride during your tour here, I suggest that you pick the monster jeepney. These places are miles away from civilization; there's no air pollution to worry about here, just fresh air and colder than the usual breeze early in the morning, late in the afternoon and most especially at nighttime. But that's just my suggestion.
In our case, Kuya Llamas use his monster jeepney. It was a fine day so he invited us to ride at the top of his jeepney. I didn't even have to think about it. It was my second top load experience for this Great Northern Luzon trip alone. Grace and I hurried to the top, found a safe spot and all we did the entire time we were traversing was enjoy the unobstructed view of the Cordillera mountain range. We sang a few songs, too! During the ride, I kept saying that it was the best time of my life but I'm not so sure if the same goes for Grace. HAHA 🤣😂
Before we knew it, we arrived at our first destination for that day. It was our second and sadly, last day in Ifugao. Bangaan Rice Terraces wasn't initially on our list but Kuya Llamas was kind enough to drop us off here for a quick sightseeing.
Bangaan Rice Terraces is the least popular of the three major rice terraces here in Banaue despite its accessible location. One reason I could think of is its size; it's smaller than Batad and Banaue Rice Terraces.
More photos in our quick escapade at Bangaan Rice Terraces.
Checkout the Banaue Rice Terraces
The next few hours were crucial since we had to catch the one and only bus that would take us to Baguio City. We descended to Banaue proper right away. It'd be a shame not to visit the original Banaue Rice Terraces. If I haven't mentioned it, Ifugao Rice Terraces, as they're collective called, have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are a few viewing decks in Banaue proper but we went to Aguian View Deck.
Banaue Rice Terraces is at the back portion of our twenty-peso bill.
If just like us, you'll visit Batad first then come here, you'll notice the glaring difference between the two rice terraces. Batad and Bangaan Rice Terraces looked cleaner, well-maintained and livelier than this one in Banaue proper. It's as if these had been abandoned and only exist for tourism purposes. Unlike Batad and Bangaan, they collect entrance fees here.
Ride a wooden bicycle
Right outside the viewing deck, small souvenir stores lined up. I spotted these wooden bicycles for rent and was adamant to try despite it's old and heavy look; you gotta have fun when fun presents itself. 🤣
So I rented one and tried maneuvering it before it kills me! Grace didn't dare to try it; she was better off taking photos of me! 🤣 But as its look says it all, it's too heavy for the relatively steep road ahead of me and for someone like me who haven't tried something like this since birth. I managed to move a few meters without getting any bruise so yup, I liked it! HAHA 😂
See you next time!
I hate to say this but that's the end of our breathtaking Ifugao trip. I hope you had an amazing time following my virtual tour of the Province of Ifugao, Philippines. What's next? We headed to Baguio City so yeah, you know what to expect next! I'll bring you to the Summer Capital of the Philippines soon.
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