From Hanging Coffins …

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Today was another active day … that we spent exploring the vicinity of Sagada.

We kicked it off for an all day hike connecting the major attractions of tows. The first stop was at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin and from here on to the cemetery and then down into Echo Valley for an introduction to the local burial culture (though burial might not be the right word here).

Traditionally in Sagada coffins are not buried, but are in some way attached to the rock face, for instance at a cliff, but also in caves. The idea here is, to allow the deceased to be closer to heaven, while at the same time keep their remains away from the ground and away from any animals.

Bangaan Rice Terraces

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On our way back to Banaue we took a slight detour, to get a view of another village with its unique, this bowl-shapped, rice terraces.

The rice terraces of Bangaan are – as the ones in Batad – part of the UNESCO world heritage Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras.

From here it was back to Banaue – and back to civilization (including a hot shower), gin and some incredible magic with coke bottles 😉 .

Walk to Tappiya Falls

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Per the itinerary the walk to the falls should have happened yesterday afternoon. Though with the rain all afternoon we decided, to defer the walk to this morning.

We left the guesthouse after breakfast and – once more – made our way through the amphitheater criss-crossing the rice terraces, to then descent down towards the river (the same river, that we had a dip in two days back in Cambulo) and then following the path upstream, until we reached the waterfall. Overall a walk (one-way) of about 2km.

At the falls there was again an option for a quick dip / swim (I was in up to my knees) – followed by the walk back – this time up (about 200m of elevation gain overall).

After a quick lunch in the guesthouse we took our packs and left Batad and got onto the trail leading out of Batad, to cover a good km until we hit the road and changed back to our jeepney.

At Cambulo

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After our arrival to Cambulo we spent some time to settle in and rest – before heading out for a tour through the (admittedly small) village, to then get into our first little rice terrace encounter. We then continued down to the river, where we had the opportunity for a quick swim.

In the evening – after dinner (and over gin) – the local school was treating us with a show of traditional songs and dances, plus a bit of a Christmas-theme, as well as Mexican folklore.

Exploring Banaue

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Today we were heading out for our three day trek through the back country of Banaue – and into the world of villages and rice terraces.

We kicked it off with a tour through central Banaue, had a stop at the market (where we also stocked up on some vegetables, to go with dinner tonight), the town hall and the local fire station (also to see, who could have come to help the night before).

We then made our way down to the bridge crossing the river and got into a jeepney, to get to the starting point of our hike.

A buried Church

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The saliva flow had stopped by the time we had left Quezon City and were on the highway heading North. After about two hours of driving we left the highway in San Fernando and were heading for the town of Bacolor, to see San Guillermo Parish Church.

This church had originally been constructed by Augustinians all the way back in 1576. It however got destroyed by an earthquake and then rebuilt in 1886.

Nature hit the region again in 1991 during the big eruption of Mt.Pinatubo. As a consequence of the eruption rivers around the volcano were clogged with sediments and the region was seeing regular mud slides and flows (aka lahars)- one of which hit the church and vicinity in early September 1995. The church was buried to half its height in mud that day.

There was no way, to recover from the situation, so – while for instance the altar had been excavated from the mud – the church itself was reestablished at the new level – so everything is just six meters higher than before.

We spent some time, to visit the church and see for ourselves (and again – when you see the photos below – always consider, there is another half church below).

After church we had a quick check on the local vendors around the church – and got to try some local sweets – and nearly bought a new broom.

It was now back to the van and back to the highway. We ended up having a late lunch  in a canteen-style restaurant in San Jose, before continuing to Banaue – where we arrived in the evening and in time for dinner and an introduction to our guides for the trek coming up for the next few days.

Early Morning Pork

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Today was a travel day, used to make the trip to Banaue in the central highlands of Ifugao province. An overall distance of about 370km was ahead of us, so a drive of about eight hours.

We left Manila in the early morning, but already had a first stop a few meters after crossing the city limits. We were now in the La Loma district of Quezon City – the heart and core of the Filipino lechon production (and arguably the best of the country). Here we had the chance for a quick glimpse of the many, many pigs, doing their turns, while roasting over the coals …

Well – I am not too fond of pork, but the sight and the smells here, really got my saliva flowing – and that’s despite the fact, that it was just about seven in the morning.

Samples were not available though, pigs were only sold as whole … so we kept the saliva flowing and continued our trip North.