Adventures in Asia: Batad, Philippines

Late this morning I did a little trip away from Banaue to the village of Batad.  There are rice terraces all around Banaue, but only certain clusters are included on the UNESCO world heritage list, including Batad.  The rice terraces were first built millennia ago, and continue to be worked by the Ifugao people today.

There is a road most of the way between Banaue and Batad, and I hired a tricycle to take me.

We stopped at what is called the saddle for a view of the valley before descending.

The road remains a work in progress, I gather.  My tricycle dropped me off where it ends for now.

From here, it is a short hike further down the trail to the village.

At the village tourists are to pay a small fee (50 pesos) and sign a guestbook.  I explored the village a little bit, and was most interested by the school.

But tourists do not come to Batad to see the village itself, of course; instead, it is the view and the surrounding valley that draw people, and the UNESCO designation.

My tricycle driver had told me that there was a trail up the mountain to the left in the picture below that tourists could hike, but had suggested it was difficult without a guide.  He offered to guide me for an additional fee, but I told him I would go on my own.

Actually, I did not really plan on hiking it, but I felt like being alone.  As it turned out, I found the trail easily enough and kept going along and seemed to be following some sort of path.  

It was a gorgeous morning, and the hike was physically invigorating and the views spectacular.  

The trail I ended up on was simply the path the rice farmers follow to get to their terraces, and it was very, very narrow in places!

Eventually I had clearly left the tourist route altogether (maybe I missed where to go) and ended up nearly at the top of where the rice terraces start.  

I climbed the ladder, although felt unsure about it--I am not a big white man, but by Ifugao standards I am huge, and I was not sure the ladder rungs would hold me.  Thankfully, they did.

I took a minute up here to relax from the climb, and enjoy the full valley view.

Descending proved more difficult than ascending had, and at one point I lost my footing and ended up shin deep in water!  I actually fell pretty hard and was momentarily worried I might have really hurt myself, but I took inventory and I was merely bruised and scraped.  Nobody was around, so my ego was mostly intact as well.

I took some video as I came down, hoping to capture the peaceful activity of some of the rice farmers.