BBB (Bontoc, Banuae, Bangaan) to Rice Terraces

We arrived in Bontoc late at night. We were able to find one of the few hostels (Pines Kitchenette And Inn) in the Philippines. We asked for some help from the local police to get us headed in the correct direction and then became lost quickly. We had walked past the location a few times without noticing the place, but ran into a man we had met on the bus. He walked us to the correct location. I felt silly having such difficulties finding the place and was happy to place my bag down once in the room.

Our Hostel:

Around Bontoc:

Bontoc was not a unique town for the Philippines. We didn't find anything that made it really standout. What Bontoc did have going for it was Cable Cafe (Reso, Bar, Wine) and a good sized outdoor market. The town was a stopping point for Banuae, and is a good place to get some cash if you need it. Banuae has Internet but no ATMs or banks...? We should have used an ATM in Bontoc but then the adventure would have been easy.

Another restaurant that was okay, but not as good as Cable Cafe was Stacey's:

After a night of no thrills and good mango shakes, we found our way to the Jeepney terminal for Banaue. Waiting for the next Jeepney, we picked up some playing cards that we had been meaning to get but also never seemed to remember when we could do something about it. The ride from Bontoc to Banuae is a bumpy road with short stretches of smooth road. The driver seemed high on something, and I tried not to focus on this as we raced up and down roads near the edges of huge drop-offs and no side-rails. On the way you'll see a few rice terraces, which are a microcosm of what is to come in the Banuae area. I passed the time between sights with Meg playing cards, which helpped forget about how crazy the driver was on the road.

I found the advertisement amusing,
since Megan goes by Meg

Arriving in Banuae, we were encouraged to buy our returning tickets to Manila ahead of time, which was a first for the entire experience in the Philippines. Most places won't even let you buy a ticket until you are on the bus. We bought our return tickets back. The bus driver and a few of his friends walked us to a few hotels. We ended up leaving our “guides” and found something cheaper. Drivers and locals will often be quick to help you find a place to stay but will take you to a place with someone they know as the owners or one of the workers, which doesn't always mean the best deal for you. We walked around after dropping our things off at the hotel then ate food and spent a painfully slow time on the Internet. The Internet wasn't much better than dial-up.

Around Banuae

The hotel in Banuae:

The next day we found a tricycle ride for 500 P, which is about 1000 P less than if you pre-book or go with one of the registered drivers that have set prices in the visitor center. No matter how far they try to tell you the ride is...just keep talking them down :) The tricycle ride was bumpy and I was thankful for every opportunity for a stop, which was usually for a view point for pictures and the driver to smoke. I found some fake wood made from concrete, which seemed to pop-up all over the Philippines. Concrete is a cheap material for building and the Philippines uses it in many different projects. Making our way to Bangaan and finally laying eyes on the place, I felt the bumps, pesos, and boredom were well worth it. Bangaan is one of the easier hikes if you want to see rice terraces up close and generally has a lot less tourists. Batad is best known place for rice terraces and has the largest set of rice terraces in the area but takes both more effort, time, and money to get to. If you have the time the area would be great for hiking around. Most of the rice terraces in the area have a few older people dressed up in traditional clothing waiting for you to take pictures of them and then they will spring on you for money. I found one guy pretending to sleep to lull people into thinking they could get away with a photo. If you want a photo of such a person it will cost you in one way or another...the Internet has photos that others have taken are enough for me.

Along the way to Bangaan:

The Bangaan city (lower part) is small but very rich in spirit. I liked walking around the city. Most people are used to tourists stampeding through their yards, which is almost impossible not to do if you want to look around.

After getting back from the rice terraces we still had about six hours left but didn't want to spend more money. Meg walked around and I caught a Jeepney to a near by town to hit up the ATM. It was nice to go solo for a short time.

We picked up some gifts for Lucas (the man that let us leave some things with him in Manila) and headed back to Manila at the end of the night by bus. The bus ride is supposed to be six to eight hours, but we got unlucky with all of the extra traffic from the road construction...the bus ride was ten hours! We arrived very late in Manila. All of the cab drivers by the buses wanted set prices and no meters, which meant we weren't going for it. We walked to the street and in no less than ten seconds hailed down a cab. Headed to our friend's and called it a night.

The next day was uneventful, but it was our last in Manila. We caught a flight to Cebu from Manila on Cebu Airlines and regretted using them again. We were a little late getting there and were told that first they were no longer allowing people to check-in, even though they hadn't started boarding. Finally letting us check-in, we were told to run so we wouldn't miss boarding. We ran, and I ran enough to remember I hadn't run in too long. Second issue was by the time we ran there, we were told to wait. The plane had been delayed by over half an hour...no idea why that wasn't communicated to the check-in people!?

But...yay! Cebu ;)

From the room of the first place we stayed in Cebu

Tip for the Day: Haggle! Haggle in the morning, Haggle in the night, Haggle all about!

A bunch of pics from the terraces and around Bangaan (both lower and upper):

All those specs are actually bugs caught in webs...so many!

Ants! I liked it at least :)

WWOOF: Keeping Life Simple & Making Me Sweat

We left Baguio and made it to Acop/Tuplay (never was able to clarify what to call the town). Peter met us getting off the Jeepney. I was a little concerned at first because the plan I'd made through email didn't have us meeting a man at all. We were supposed to meet a woman after getting off of the Jeepney. I decided to suppress this slight fear and followed Peter. We stayed in the farm's owners' home for about fifteen minutes because they told us to sit and rest. We didn't feel like we needed to rest. We did sit long enough to make pleasantries. I think everyone in the room just wanted to get to know us a bit. They seem genuinely interested to learn about our lives.

We set off from the house with Peter and Victor, whom was already at the home. We hiked for three kilometers down a mostly steep hill in a monstrous down pour. A few slips and we made it to a river, went about half a kilometer uphill, and we had made it! We were shown our place to stay, but were given the option of a tent. I explored around the new place we'd be staying for almost a week. When I'd had enough of the hut, I left with Meg in tow and our belongings behind us. Mama Olive asked why we didn't put on dry clothes...we found out that at this farm you don't work in the rain...tell that to my mom in the Seattle area! :D A short walk and I was back at the hut. Meg and I changed clothes...waited...hung out...waited...rain stopped. Talked with Peter some, received food for the week from Mama Olive, and settled in for the night.

During the first few days when it wasn't raining, we spent most of our working time trying to find things to do. We came at a time when there wasn't anything to harvest or plant. Peter was so passive about things that even when asking for work he didn't always give us something to do. We ended up giving him ideas for what we could do, such as weeding. Weeding killed my back. I tried to stay away from bending over for a few days. I spent most of my time moving rocks from the old river bed (washed out from a storm) up the half kilometer hill for one of the homes there were restoring. Meg tried her hand at rock picking & hauling, painting the same home we were moving rocks for, and a few other things. She seemed to settle mostly on weeding. I enjoyed hauling the rocks up the hill while listening to audio books :) When not working, we either explored the area with Peter or by ourselves, ate food, waited for rain to stop, or slept. I was still getting over my cold.

Making food for ourselves was one of the treats at ENCA Farm. No electricity wasn't much of a problem with all of my electronics fully charged before arrival and hard work put me asleep quickly. The stove in our hut was propane, which made cooking fast and easy. I spent most of my evenings catching up on my blog by candle light or in the dark. Meg and I got into some audiobooks since they take much less battery than games or movies (books on tape for those older peeps). The Forever War by Joe Haldeman became a treat for the two of us.

By the time we had to leave I wasn't thrilled about it. I did want to charge things up but I enjoyed the simple life with fresh organic foods. Reluctantly, I packed my things up. We set off with the sun high in the sky. Once across the river, rain and more rain poured on us. I finished the audiobook The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman, while on the hike up. I had started it a few days prior to give Meg time for catching up on the Forever War since I had gotten a little ahead of her.

We arrived on schedule to the farm owners' home soaked again but in high spirits. We changed clothes and ate some food they whipped up for us. Caught a Jeepney to Bontoc as the jump off point for the start of our journey to Banuae and the rice terraces.

Some more pics from around the farm: