50 Shades of Green in North Luzon, the Philippines, April 17-25 2015

While planning our month-long trip in the Philippines we decided to limit, the number of our destinations so we can really enjoy the places we visit and not spend our time running around, and also save some money by avoiding too many domestic flights. This proved a difficult task considering the 7000 (!) islands that comprise the Philippines. We eventually decided to first head up north to witness the famous rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995.

Our first stop was decided to be the small but popular village of Sagada in Mountain Province, which we reached by taking a 10 hour night bus from Manila (560 PHP, Ohayami Transport, bring warm clothes because they blast the AC) to Banaue in Ifugao Province (we booked the bus ticket through Filipino Travel Center, it's cheaper if you book through Ohayami directly). Once in Banaue we took a 3 hour van to Sagada (300 PHP per person, a jeepney might be a cheaper option) that also stopped at the Banaue view point where we got our first glimpse of the famous and truly impressive rice terraces.

We arrived in Sagada on a Friday morning and realized it was not the best idea because this small one-road village was packed with weekend crowds. As it turns out Sagada has become a hit  weekend destination for domestic tourism, popular with local families and young groups looking for a nature getaway and "semi-extreme" adventures (a popular T-shirt sold and worn proudly around here claims "I survived Sagada"). So, finding accommodation was s challenge but we finally did find a small but descent room in Greenhouse guesthouse (500 PHP, shared bathroom). Despite the tourism explosion there is still a small village feel in Sagada and during the week its a nice place to relax.

Sagada offers many attractions with the most popular one being the "Lumiang-Sumaguing Cave Connection" tour which includes 4 hours of crawling and climbing in a rare maze of natural limestone caves filled with little lakes and interesting rock formations. We opted for the shorter  2.5 hour version exploring only the Sumaguing Cave. It is required (and necessary) to have a guide for this tour, usually hired at the tourist information center in town. We were a bit spontaneous and weren't sure what we're doing so we ended up finding a guide just outside the entrance of the cave who turned out to be great (800 PHP for 2 people). Besides lighting the way with a gas lantern he helped us through the very slippery parts of the journey, took many pictures of us, and was very funny.

Lumiang burial cave

Sumaging cave

On the way to the cave there are some beautiful rice terraces and also a nice vegan and very eco-friendly restaurant called Gaia Cafe and Crafts, the vegan cupcakes are especially yummy. Other nice places to eat around town were Sagada Brew, Bana Cafe and Yoghurt House. 

Sagada is also known for the hanging coffins, an ancient form on burial still used today by some locals. You can see some up close at the start of the Echo Valley trail, a 1 hour hike that we attempted to do by ourselves but were forced to hire a guide (apparently these are new regulations since a tourist hiking on his own was injured there recently), which wasn't too bad because we ended up combining it with a trip to an underground river and Bokong waterfalls which are lovely though it was crowded there (probably quieter on a weekday).

Echo Valley hanging coffins

Bokong Waterfalls

Our next destination was the northern more remote Kalinga Province where we hoped to do some more hiking and maybe experience some of the tribal heritage and culture of the area. We took a jeepney from Sagada to Bontoc (50 PHP 45 min) and then hopped on a bus to the village of Tinglayan (3 hours). The bus was crowded so we decided to ride on the roof (sorry mom!) and it turned out to be a good decision since the scenery was simply stunning with breathtaking views of the Chico River and numerous rice terraces. 

Filipino jeepney

on the roof of the bus

In Tinglayan we crossed the river on a hanging bridge to the small village of Luplupa where we stayed in the lovely Luplupa Riverside Inn (250 PHP per person, shared bathroom) owned by a friendly German- Filipino couple who also support young students from the village by employing them in the inn and sponsoring their education. They work together with Victor Baculi, somewhat of a legend in these parts, a former barangay captain and a veteran guide who knows every trail in the area. He is also 68 years old!

We were surprised to learn that apparently there were many Israeli travelers in Luplupa in the 80s and 90s, and Victor even recited (perfectly) for us a few Hebrew songs (El hamaayan, Lakova sheli, Uga Uga). In the afternoon we went on a walk to explore the area passing through neighboring small villages in what seemed like a step back in time. We found a small hidden waterfall and jumped in for a short dip. 

The next day we set out on a hike with Victor and a Czech couple. We walked to the village of Buscalan famous for the legendary tattoo artist 96 years old Whang-Od, known as the last surviving Kalinga tattoo artist, who uses an ancient (painful) technique called Batok. We were extra excited because we watched a Nat Geo documentary about her back home and it was great to meet her in person. Not only has she become world famous and even trendy among tattoo lovers (she even has a facebook page), she is also now the richest woman in the village (a full chest tattoo will cost up to 40,000 PHP) yet she has not changed her simple life style. She welcomed us into her house where we drank strong Kalinga coffee and ate a lunch of rice and bean soup.

We continued walking for a few hours through the villages of Butbut and Ngibat, meeting some friendly locals along the way and reveling at the amazing views of bright green rice terraces all around.

"sleeping beauty" mountain

Victor the legendary guide

famous tattoo artist Whang Od

The next morning we returned to Bontoc, stopping at the local tribal museum and stumbling upon a tribal dance festival in the center of town.

local tricycle

From Bontoc we took a van to Banaue and made it in time for the last jeepney to the small village of Batad. The road to Batad is still in the works so we had to walk the last 20 minutes to the village. We stayed in Simon's Viewpoint Inn (500 PHP, shared bathroom) enjoying some of the best views of the rice terraces. The next morning we hiked to the village of Bangaan, stopping for lunch at Family Inn and started walking back up hill to Batad, but were thankfully saved by a nice man (owner of Batad Pension) who gave us a lift in his van and didn't want any money. Without much rest we continued to Tappiyah waterfalls, a steep downhill walk of about 45 minutes (the way back is of course uphill and much more grueling). The waterfall is 70 meter high and very impressive, there is a nice natural pool you can swim in but the sun was coming down and it was too cold for us.

The next day we caught the early morning jeepney back to Banaue and chilled for the rest of the day until our bus back to Manilla (Ohayami transport, 450 PHP, with wifi!). We had a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa in Palawan Island in the afternoon, so we passed the time until our flight in our favorite internet cafe Coreon Gate.