Banaue & Batad

We went on yet another amazing trip this weekend. We headed toward the Rice Terraces up North. Some consider the rice terraces in the Banaue area to be the "8th wonder of the world". I might have to concur, it is incredible. We took an overnight bus from Manila to the town of Banaue (not a fun ride). We had great pineapple pancakes as we overlooked the city of Banaue. This city is situated in the middle of mountains. The houses are built on tall stilts, that barely look like they can support anything. The rice terraces are built into the sides of the mountains. It is so interesting and so beautiful. We met some french students at the bus station and decided to share our fun with each other for the weekend. We hired a jeepney and headed to the hills. The jeepney took us off road up high into the mountains. We sat on top of course and saw amazing landscape. When we reached the farthest point that cars can go, we started to hike. We hiked over an hour into the village of Batad. It was the steepest/craziest hike I have ever been on! The only way to get in and out of this village is by hiking in. The townspeople make the trek daily, bringing in goods they have purchased or guiding tourists. They also have to carry up whatever goods they hope to sell in Banaue. I could barely get myself through that hike! I was getting passed by locals carrying bags of coal, boxes of bottles, and bags of rice on top of their heads. Amazing!
The view as we walked into the village is unbelievable. There are miles of rice terraces, covering the sides of several mountains. The terraces are large too, the step looking things look small, but they are at least 6 feet high. These terraces were built hundreds of years ago by these people's ancestors. The terraces have been passed on from generation to generation.
Later that afternoon we thought it would be fun to hike to a nearby waterfall. Remember how I said our last hike was the steepest/craziest I'd ever been on? Yeah, change that, this one definitely wins. We hike up the side of a mountain, through the rice terraces, and then down the other side of a mountain. In many parts the trail is steps, these aren't your ordinary steps, most of them came higher than my knee, and they were one after another. The waterfall was beautiful though! We even went for a swim in the cool water. I floated on my back and looked up at the rushing water and the mountains on every side, and was just in awe.
That night we had fun just hanging out. There were the four of us, our friend from work, and the 5 french students. We ate some local food, made jokes, learned native songs, and STUFF. Our hotel was located just opposite the rice terraces and so we had the most amazing view.

The next morning we headed back to Banaue. It was pretty funny, all of us were so sore from our hikes the day before that we were dying as we hiked out of the village. Oh man! I'm still feeling the pain now. We spent the afternoon visiting other terraces and spending lots of money of souvenirs. Wood carving is very popular there. The men sit in the open shops of the street carving while the women sit outside staining the wood. That's it! That's our amazing trip! Of course there are a million more details, but I can't possibly share everything.