Cordillera Region

The overnight bus from Manila to Banaue takes 9 hours and is billed as air-conditioned. As soon as the bus started, an Arctic wind was pumped from vents above every seat – it soon became apparent who had done the journey before, as thick blankets and warm coats were produced. The rest of us shivered in our seats, barely sleeping a wink due to the impending frost bite. Apparently the driver refused to turn the system off. I assume that since they billed it as air-con they were going to bloody well have it.














We ate breakfast at the hotel, looking out over the rain socked rice terraces and contemplated what to do. The best rice terraces are at Batad, a mere 10 miles by 'road' followed by a short hike. We, together with another guy who'd come off our bus, hired a Jeepney (long wheel-base jeep) and a guide, and headed off. A spine crippling hour later on the worst road on Earth, we arrived at the 'saddle' above Batad. A further half hour walk down hill got us to a pizza restaurant overlooking Batad village and the rice terraces that it sites in. We sat and ate pizza as the heavens opened up.



A further hour or so, following paths along the terraces, got us down though the village and up to the ridge the other side, which gave the best view of the semi-circular terraces. We then walked along the top of the terraces, and to prove their amphitheatre like quality, someone in the village kicked off the Eagles greatest hits, which was audible right the way across.

















We had arranged transport to Sagada with a guy who was acting as a guide for a trio of Filipino girls (basically he was making some extra money by throwing us in the back of the minibus). The pickup time was meant to be 9am, but since nothing quite runs to time in this part of the world, they turned up at 11:30. After stopping for photos and lunch, we arrived in Sagada at 4 – not bad for a two hour journey.
Sagada is a fairly relaxed traveller hangout (although western backpackers were thin on the ground when we were there), so we booking in for two nights – by 7:30 we were asleep.














The next day we hired a guide to explore the caves. First on the list were some hanging coffins – literally coffins hung on the side of a cliff - we saw hanging coffins in China too, and they weren't that interesting there either. The first cave is the Lumiang Burial Cave; there, 100 or so coffins are piled up near the entrance, with more inside (the village now has a cemetery, so they've largely stopped piling coffins in caves and dangling them off cliffs).















Next was Sumaging Cave. Armed with a gas lantern, we descended into the large, bat filled first cavern. This was somewhat treacherous going, as the rocks where wet and muddy, and the place was full of bat excrement. After 10 minutes the scene completely changed – here an underground river had carved out a meandering path through the sandstone seam. We took off our shoes and found you actually get very good grip with bare feet on sandstone, even with the water flowing over your feet. The rock formations look like river eroded mud – except they've taken eons to form. As we descended further, the formations become more elaborate and we were pointed out structures like “pregnant woman” and “the king”. Occasionally the route required some climbing, and at one point a rope decent. All the water leads to a deep pool – I jumped in first, and not surprisingly was hit with pretty blood cold water. It's impossible to get out where I jumped in as the sandstone walls are too steep, but it's easy to climb out next to the waterfall. Kirsten went in next, fully clothed (I'd brought bathers), then I had another go just for luck.















To avoid a horrific overnighter back to Manila, we took a bus to Baguio along the Halsema highway. This is a winding mountainous road, offering some spectacular views, but despite the drivers insistence on permanently being on the wrong side of the road, and only overtaking on blind bends, it wasn't nearly as nerve racking as it is made out to be.















The principle reason for stopping in Baguio was to avoid 13 hours on a bus, so we got no further than the travel agent (to book the flight to Puerto Princesa) and Dunkin Donuts, although I believe there's some nice countryside around. We are now we're back in Manila, and in a much better area (Makati).