rice terraces

january 5 - 7 2008

everyone (in the philippines at least) says that the rice terraces should be one of the wonders of the world. we never did hear when they were built, but it was at least over 2000 years ago – and they're still being used today.

i don't even want to try to explain or describe it, so i'll just start off with a picture.





these are the batad rice terraces, but there are terraces all over the northern provinces (in case any of you are worried that we were in the north (a peace corps volunteer was killed up here a few years ago), don't worry. no wandering off the beaten track around here; it's quite safe as long as you stick to the typical tourist places). you actually have to walk into batad – there aren't any roads, so we stayed in a town called banaue, about 14 km away. the road from banaue to batad wins the award for the worst road in the philippines. i really thought i might have to give it to the road between long beach and carmen because seriously nothing has compared to that road this entire trip, but no, banaue to batad wins. muddy and rocky do not even begin to describe it – let's just say that brad and i had to get out of the tricycle a few times because it couldn't make it.

it's worth it though. the trike drops you off at the bottom of a hill, so you walk a few kilometers up and then a few kilometers down into batad. most people hire a guide, but brad and i decided to just wander around them ourselves. so we spent the afternoon literally walking down 2000 year old paths, up and down, around, across rocks rutting out of the sides to allow you to climb. it was spectacular. and with every new angle and bend, they gained more character and looked completely new. beautiful. gorgeous. amazing. often we just stopped and stared.







sadly, it was raining the next day, all day, when we intended to go visit the banaue rice terraces. so we had to miss out on a good view, but we could still see how much banaue is just built in and among the terraces.





and just as a side note, chewing tobacco is truly disgusting. the mouth of every man in banaue is bloody and the road is covered with red, blood spit spots. gross.