The key phrase for this 5-part posting arc is “Plan B is for Batad”. It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to make it short: early February we made plans to climb Mt. Bulusan in Irosin, Sorsogon during the Holy Week, and we were able to sort everything out. The week before Holy Week, news about Typhoon Maysak wreaking havoc and doing a direct hit in that region made us scramble and look for a Plan B. So we rearranged the Mt. Bulusan details for Labor Day weekend, and proceeded up north, instead, to Batad, Ifugao.
I first had the pleasure of visiting Batad waaaaay back in 2007, when it was our office’s destination for our annual lakbay-aral. The memory stood out, primarily because of two things: the beauty of the place, and the body aches and pains that we had to experience right after leaving it. It was no joke. See, that time, I blame it on us relying much on the locals saying “that rice terraces and the waterfall is close! It’s just a short hike!” and so we made the descent and ascent all within a 5-hour span.
And it was paaaaaainful. When we got back to Banaue where we were billeted, my memory was hazy. All I could remember was downing painkillers (the local pharmacy made a killing that evening, selling lots of Alaxan), curling up in bed, and sleeping – dinner forsaken entirely.
Now, I know better, and I think I’m more prepared because I somehow had an idea what to expect.
There were seven of us who met up with 5 others who came all the way from Manila. We assembled at T. Alonzo Street in Baguio City, where we loaded up the van that our “leader”, Gerald, was able to hire for the trip. We set off at around 8am and stopped for late breakfast at a pit stop in Bokod at around half past 9 already. Then we stopped at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya for lunch at around 1pm.
When we arrived at the welcome arch of Banaue, Ifugao, we just had to stop and take photos.
The welcome arch had all sorts of things going on for it, with the sides landscaped just so, representing the key attractions of the area, such as the rice terraces, and the flora of the place. There were even good photo op spots. Naturally, we grabbed the “op”.
If I’m not mistaken, the phrase on this mini-arch pictured below translates to “Thank you for coming”.
Around 2pm, we arrived at Banaue, where we bought food supplies at their Public Market. From there, it was another 1+ hour(s) to Batad.
Our ride stopped at the area called “Saddle” and that’s where we got off. From there, we could spot our destination. See that tiny white-ish dot on the far right of this pic? That’s the specific part of Batad where we’re headed. It overlooks the amphitheater-type rice terraces of Batad.
Oh, and look who’s guarding the “gates” at Saddle! And how fascinated he is at that monkey on the phone that looks exactly like him!!
Normally, our ride could have brought us further down the road, but there was an ongoing road construction, so we opted to just walk the rest of the way. It was basically the same thing when I first visited years ago; we walked from the Saddle to Batad. That time, though, it was a dirt road we trudged through. This time around, the first half was already a concrete road, and the second half was a dirt road, followed by a trail.
It took us around 30 minutes, and along the way we met other tourists who were already coming back from Batad. I can already tell that foot traffic here is considerably thicker than way back in 2007.
It was already past 5 when we arrived in Batad, and I had a bit of a jolt when I saw how the place was already packed with houses. When I first visited, you can count the number of houses or structures with 2 hands. But that is no longer the case. The boost in tourism certainly convinced the locals to turn their homes into pension houses and to build more inns to accommodate tourists.
See that red-roofed structure? That’s a pit stop, and what I consider to be the jump-off point when you go down to the waterfalls (which I’ll post about next, don’t worry). The building was also there on my first visit. Good to know some things are still familiar.
We didn’t make any advanced reservations prior to going here, but we were simply directed to Simon’s where, it was said, they have a lot of room.
We wrapped up the evening with dinner that our companions cooked, and sat by a bonfire that the friendly staff of Simon’s set up for us.
The next day, we will be going into the heart of the rice terraces and down to Tappiah Falls. See you then!
(By the way, you will find more details of our trip over at OJ Coders in this post.)