Banaue Rice Terraces



My DH and I admiring the scenic beauty of Banaue Rice Terraces at the view deck.



When we reached Banaue, we stayed in one of the hotels there who happens to be a relative of my friend. We were lucky to get a room near the terrace side because it gave us a good view of the whole place. We could also hear the roaring river just below the hotel and it was very soothing and calming. The next day, we dropped by to visit my friend's relatives on her father's side of the family which is in another part of Banaue. We followed the winding road until we reached the bottom of the Banaue Rice Terraces. Then we went through a narrow dirt road which was muddy that sometimes, it seemed that the car would get stuck in the middle but it did not. I do not know how we could have possibly moved aside to give way if there had been any car coming towards us. When we reached our destination, we found out that the place is has a breathtaking scenic beauty of its own. The only drawback in this place is the narrow and muddy dirt road that makes it difficult to reach the place. If they could only fix the pot holes and the muddy dirt road, more tourists will come to this place and it will bring in businesses.

Another scenic beauty in the hometown of my friend's father in Banaue

My friend Dora and I in her father's place in Banaue

There is actually one place there that admits transients and they could sleep in one of the nipa huts or the main house. The guy who manages the place is from Manila and his uncle was married to a lass from that place who happens to be a relative of my friend. Both the uncle and the aunt has passed away and this guy has made some good improvements on the place. He has a lodging house and a coffee shop/restaurant with a fantastic view of the rice terraces below. There are several small thatched roof huts across the street and these are below road level, he rents these huts to tourists as well. There is also a viewing deck around the area from across the restaurant. We ordered brewed coffee and enjoyed another breathtaking view of the mountains and the rice terraces before we left the place.

Mt. Polis Bayo Rice Terraces

The driver and my DH at the Bayo Rice Terraces

My best friend Dora and her husband Bino at Bayo Rice Terraces 

My DH at the view deck admiring the view of the Bayo Rice Terraces in Mt. Polis

Tired and haggard looking but the scenic view was worth it.

We left Sagada at 10 AM the next day and arrived in Bontoc around lunch time where we had lunch. We spent a few hours there because my friend's husband had to see one of his co-workers at the Municipal Hall and then we went back to the road again. Along the way, we passed by a road at the top of the mountain. This road leads to my father's hometown in Can-eo, a small barrio of Bontoc Mt. Province. The last time I visited Can-eo was several decades ago. It is a very remote place and there was no road leading to the village then. From a drop-off point at the foot of a mountain, we walked for one whole day climbing up and down over hills and mountains before we finally reached the village. I remember feeling sore all over specially my knees that my cousin and I had to spend the whole week resting in the house. We were not used to that because we were both raised in the city. This time, there are some improvements to the place now because there is a road that leads to this remote village and the thatched houses then were now changed into concreted. That's the effect of having a road into a remote place, it helps the lives of people simply by transporting their goods to and from the market.

We stopped along the way at the viewing point of Mt. Polis Bayo Rice Terraces where these pictures were taken. We were admiring the breathtaking scenic beauty of the place when another car pulled up. It's really a small world because when the couple got out of that car, it happened to be the daughter of one of our neighbors. Her husband who was with her is the cousin of one of my best friends. They're both employees of Baguio City Hall and they were on their way to visit their relatives in Sagada at that time. So anyway, we spent a few minutes chatting and admiring the view together and then it was time for us to move on so we said our goodbyes and went on our way. We were impressed with the good road condition along the way. The government has really put some money in improving the roads and concreting it. We passed by some people doing the road construction just before we reached Banaue. I am not aware of any other past presidents of this country who has ever made it this far to visit Sagada and Besao except for the Ex President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She is the only one that I know of who has helped improve the highland roads of the Cordilleras from dirt roads to concrete roads. Some of these roads were damaged during the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons and I hope that the government will help put things back together again.