If you are interested to visit the place, better hurry up because modernization and neglect are about to obliterate what has seemingly stood with impregnability and practical usefulness for centuries.
Banaue is a tourist place. Affordable lodges that cater to families and big groups abound. An authentic 'ulog' can also be rented for an authentic Ifugao experience. Curio and antique shops dot the streets.
The Rice Terraces that was printed on the PhP 1000 bill is about 2 kilometers further atop the mountain. There are other postcard perfect terraces which could be visited. A Tourist Assistance Bureau office is near the market. The office can arrange tours, usually walking tours, to any detination.
My family, composed of my wife, siblings and our respective kids, visited Banaue last April during our annual long travel. This is a time for our bonding. (Our bonding time or annual long travel, which I initiated in 2002, requires a separate post.)
We left Manila aboard 2 vehicles at 10:00 pm. As we exit Manila at the SLEX, we passed by the usual gasoline station to gas up, and take our midnight snacks and coffee from the adjoining fastfoods. This could be the last decent meals we had as we ascend the Mountain Provinces in the middle of the night. The kids love and look forward to this long travel. And to them the meaning of long travel is literally days of non-stop travel.
At 2:00 am, we stopped somewhere atop the mountains of Nueva Ecija, where most of the cargo trucks were parking for rest and quick meals. We had some coffee in a small restaurant, which was open and lighted but deserted. The caretakers woke up and attended to us when we were already seated and and tinkering with the wares they were selling. We stretched, used the CR, then continued with our travel.
At around dusk, we passed by Lankawe, the capital of Ifugao. The place was still sleeping so we went on. Then at about 6:00 am we passed the welcome arch of Banaue. The kids were ecstatic. It was drizzling but they preferred sitting at the open back of the pick-up. They didn't like to miss any scenery. They were aching to see the rice terraces as they craned their necks at every zigzag turn.
We stayed in Banaue for 2 nights and 2 days, more than enough to explore what most tourists wanted in Banaue - the rice terraces.
Then we headed for Baguio.
Baguio City is less than 4 hours via paved roads. But there is no public transportation linking the 2 tourist destinations. The answer is obvious. The roads maybe asphalted/cemented, alright. But there are no side bars. And as the road zigzags precariously on the sides of the tall mountains, it is easy to imagine that you are in an airplane because the view from the car is the same view from the window of an airplane on crusing altitude. With a small miscalculation, the land vehicles may just be literally flying offroad. And offroad means hundreds of feet of sheer vertical drop.
I think the best view from Banaue on the way to Baguio was atop the gigantic Ambuklao Dam. Don't forget to stop and take pictures on the rest spots. I you are faint hearted or if you love your family too much, this could be the only chance you pass this way. The roads maybe good but very risky. @
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