The Cordilleras

Three travellers set out from the Big City, in search of oxygen, beautiful sights and relaxation! And they found two of them, but the latter seemed to escape the trio! Instead they had adventures!

After a long, cold night bus we set out from Banoue for Batad, a tricy and jeepney ride away. For a bit of added adventure we enjoyed the jeep ride while perched on top! The jeep brought us up to the saddle of the mountain, and from there we hiked down to the village. Batad is famous for it's rice terraces, they are at least 2000 years old (think about it, that's the time of Christ!), and are said to be the most impressive in the world. They impressed me!

We hiked in, dropped off our stuff and headed out again to find a local waterfall. But I have failed to mention that my highly praised Chacos did not do the trick! Even the tame walk in, trashed my toesies, and my feet were in no condition to keep going. I ended up hiking in flip flops and barefeet - a winning combination!

This was the precious waterfall - and after the hike we had in, or rather the fear it instilled of the hike we would have OUT, well, the waterfall was a great place to be. We braved the chilly waters for a little dip.

On the way out we thought we'd made it through the worst as we topped one hill of straight climbing. But to our chagrin we still had to continue on to the green house you see in the top left!

Luckily the whole journey afforded us remarkable and gorgeous views, it was awe-inspiring. All around us were jagged green hills, and stacks of gardens cut into them. All of these hundreds of terraces were handmade - without the help of modern technology!

From Batad our travels continued as we gawked at terraces all the way out to Banoue, to Bontoc and Sagada. In Sagada we spent a night and took on what is currently my biggest accomplisment...I went CAVING! For those of you who are unaware, I am afraid of the dark, of small spaces, murky water, spiders, the center of the earth, and heights and I have a general disdain for bats. Well this trip respected none of those fears! I took them all on and have to say we beat the cave! The pictures of that expedition have yet to be unearthed... so stay tuned this weekend or next week and I will brag all over again!

Our trip ended with 2 whole days in Bagio City, about 7 hours north of Manila. What I have failed to mention earlier is that all of these mountains come complete with a cooler climate - what a treat! I shivered, I bought another sweater, and I loved it! We took it easy in Bagio but did manage to see the local attractions, including a butterfly sanctuary and Spiderman 3. And then Tuesday night we forced ourselves to make the trip back to the City.

(And while there has been recent slump in my posting efforts, I have much to say now, so keep checking this page next week and I will have lots of new pictures and news!)