baguio...banaue...batad
so i've traveled a lot since my last blog. from manila i went to baguio, which is a nice smallish city (the population is around 230,000 i think) in northern luzon. it was founded by the americans, so it's a relatively new city here. the biggest draw of baguio is the weather. because it's way, way up in the corderilla mountains, it's a good 10 degrees celcius cooler than manila. they call it the summer capital, in fact. perhaps this means that all the government officials ditch manila in the summer months and head to baguio. seems like a good plan to me.
in any case, i spent the bulk of the last five days in the mountains. i believe that mom and dad and todd would have been a little unhappy with the transport situation. there were a couple moments during which i saw my life flash before my eyes as the bus or jeepney flew around a hairpin curve.
but really, i jest. it wasnt much at all like that. when you see other people riding ON TOP of the jeepney as it winds next to the edge of a cliff, you feel pretty confident things are under control. as scary as it might be to do that in the states, the people who live up there do it all the time. they're good at it by now. i would recommend this trip to anyone who doesnt mind a cold shower and long (long: 6-10 hours) busrides. the ability to take a few kilos of dust to the face is also requisite.
the best part so far has been trekking around batad, a small village (pop. about 1100) in the corderillas. it's quite near banawe, so for the first 12 km you take a tricycle, which is kind of like that motorcycle the Two Fat Ladies used to drive around england, but with less motor and more carriage. that was fun, because you're only a foot above the ground and away from the edge of the mountain. then you walk over the top of one mountain, and back down again. near the bottom is batad, which is SURROUNDED by rice terraces. the terraces are *i think* around 2000-3000 years old. they are huge; i saw some that were at least two meters high. the best part was walking on the terraces themselves. the people that live in batad still cultivate the terraces, and in fact, this is their main source of food. they dont sell it outside the village, but comsume it all themselves. it's pretty cool.
also saw a nice waterfall in batad, but the trek down and back up was incredibly steep, and proved the end for my legs. i could barely go 100 feet up before i'd have to sit down again, and well, that's no fun. my guide was totally fine with it, though, because apparently we got down the mountain much faster than usual. in any case, we were going to have about 2 hours extra time, and it turned out we were just on time. we did, i must add, stop for some dinner overlooking the terraces. perhaps it was good that my legs died, because i wouldnt have done that if i were still moving along well.
after trekking back up and down the blasted mountain and taking the jeepney back to banawe, i had a nice little dinner of omlette and asparagus soup, accompanied by a san miguel. i find that when traveling alone, eating at restaurants is more enjoyable because you get to sit down for a minute and stare at people in comfort. a foreigner, particularly one traveling alone, particularly a woman, will definitely attract a lot of attention here. it's nice to have a little break from the street, but not have to sit in your hotel room.
that said, i think people in luzon - in general - are remarkably nice to foreigners. lots of people have asked me lots of questions, helped me find things i need, offered advice, etc. you are definitely an oddity, but they are pretty friendly. this is not to say you dont experience all the negative aspects of being a foreigner; you still pay more (i have noticed that the tricycle drivers' prices in each city seem to go up and down, depending on the driver), and you get some unpleasantly persistant stares. but that's all to be taken in stride, since here at least, the good is outweighing the bad.
well, i want to go to the market before i move on to the next place, so ill stop here. ill have to write about the rest next time.
in any case, i spent the bulk of the last five days in the mountains. i believe that mom and dad and todd would have been a little unhappy with the transport situation. there were a couple moments during which i saw my life flash before my eyes as the bus or jeepney flew around a hairpin curve.
but really, i jest. it wasnt much at all like that. when you see other people riding ON TOP of the jeepney as it winds next to the edge of a cliff, you feel pretty confident things are under control. as scary as it might be to do that in the states, the people who live up there do it all the time. they're good at it by now. i would recommend this trip to anyone who doesnt mind a cold shower and long (long: 6-10 hours) busrides. the ability to take a few kilos of dust to the face is also requisite.
the best part so far has been trekking around batad, a small village (pop. about 1100) in the corderillas. it's quite near banawe, so for the first 12 km you take a tricycle, which is kind of like that motorcycle the Two Fat Ladies used to drive around england, but with less motor and more carriage. that was fun, because you're only a foot above the ground and away from the edge of the mountain. then you walk over the top of one mountain, and back down again. near the bottom is batad, which is SURROUNDED by rice terraces. the terraces are *i think* around 2000-3000 years old. they are huge; i saw some that were at least two meters high. the best part was walking on the terraces themselves. the people that live in batad still cultivate the terraces, and in fact, this is their main source of food. they dont sell it outside the village, but comsume it all themselves. it's pretty cool.
also saw a nice waterfall in batad, but the trek down and back up was incredibly steep, and proved the end for my legs. i could barely go 100 feet up before i'd have to sit down again, and well, that's no fun. my guide was totally fine with it, though, because apparently we got down the mountain much faster than usual. in any case, we were going to have about 2 hours extra time, and it turned out we were just on time. we did, i must add, stop for some dinner overlooking the terraces. perhaps it was good that my legs died, because i wouldnt have done that if i were still moving along well.
after trekking back up and down the blasted mountain and taking the jeepney back to banawe, i had a nice little dinner of omlette and asparagus soup, accompanied by a san miguel. i find that when traveling alone, eating at restaurants is more enjoyable because you get to sit down for a minute and stare at people in comfort. a foreigner, particularly one traveling alone, particularly a woman, will definitely attract a lot of attention here. it's nice to have a little break from the street, but not have to sit in your hotel room.
that said, i think people in luzon - in general - are remarkably nice to foreigners. lots of people have asked me lots of questions, helped me find things i need, offered advice, etc. you are definitely an oddity, but they are pretty friendly. this is not to say you dont experience all the negative aspects of being a foreigner; you still pay more (i have noticed that the tricycle drivers' prices in each city seem to go up and down, depending on the driver), and you get some unpleasantly persistant stares. but that's all to be taken in stride, since here at least, the good is outweighing the bad.
well, i want to go to the market before i move on to the next place, so ill stop here. ill have to write about the rest next time.
posted by bethany at 20:36
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