Sometimes, you feel the need to escape the city just to get fresh air.
So that's what I did. Traveled 12 hours from Manila to Banaue solo.
In Banaue, shared a jeep with 2 Austrian brothers, whose names I can't pronounce, hence can't remember. They were my travel companions to Batad.
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| My Batad travel companions |
Along the way, we met Sir Rene, an architect who's helping with the rehabilitation of the Batad Rice Terraces. Rene tells us stories and helped us settle in Batad. We stayed at Rita's.
After a quick rest, the Austrian brothers and I hiked to Tappiya Falls passing through the rice terraces and other Batad villages. A very memorable pit stop is the village by the foot of the terraces. Here we witness an old Ifugao grandmother pounding rice for her family.
A few more kilometers of hiking, we reached Tappiya Falls. I was not physically conditioned for a hike, and strained my self. My legs cramped and had difficulty walking back. It rained as we were walking back, and reached the inn just before darkness came.
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| Tappiya Falls |
The next day, I woke up with aching legs, that I can't even walk without difficulty. With Josie, our guide, I walked (or limped) back to Saddle Point to catch a jeep back to Banaue. They said, jeepneys will leave by 9am. However, no jeepneys came and so I back ride on a motorcycle going back to town.
Back in the town, I was confronted with two choices-- go back to Manila, or go up to Sagada. I chose the latter, injured legs and all. So took another jeep to Sagada, befriended the other passengers, and continued the adventure.
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| Batad |
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