Rice terraces in Banaue

The Banaue Rice Terraces are a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines and are considered to be the 8th Natural Wonder of the World by many Filipinos and they are registered to the Unesco patrimoine. Some people call these rice terraces the "stairways to Heaven", or "the eighth world miracle".

The terraces are carved in the mountains of Ifugao and were most likely done by hand. I felt blessed to get there. The reputation of the site is justified. There have been rice terraces in the mountainous regions of Ifugao and northern Luzon Island for over 2,000 years.

The Banaue and Batad Rice Terraces are the most notorious terraces in northern Luzon.

As they are used to say in Banaue, you don’t get rich with money, you get rich if you have few rice fields and a water buffalo because it may you able to feed your family for a year.

I enjoyed my three days trek in the wonderful Ifugao region. From Banaue, we reach Cambulo in 7 hours because we get stuck by the rain on the afternoon, I am sure we could have done a better time without it!

They we spend the night in our guide’s aunt house. The food was incredibly amazing and warmth us after this rainy day.

We spend the evening around the fire and we tried Moma. This is a local energizing mix between tobacco, beetle nuts (as I understand it comes from a plant similar to coconut tree) and vine leaf. It makes you feel warm from the head to the chest. The funny fact is that once you reach Banaue you notice that a lot of people have red on the lips and in the mouth, even on teeth. This is definitely not lipstick, this is Moma!

After a good night sleep, we were on the road again to reach Banaue. The second day was exhausting but we walked less time. So many stairs… I abandoned the idea to count how much there is. We visit the waterfall, a touristic place but beautiful.

We reach Batad in the afternoon and the view is really beautiful. We spend the night here, in silence without electricity because of the storms. A perfect get back to nature.

It is best to hire a guide if you want to adventure yourself in the rice terraces as you might get lost otherwise. These mountain hikes can take hours but the views of the terraced valleys are breathtaking and in one or two places there are waterfalls and natural swimming holes where one can ease away the aches and strains of the hike.

The rice terraces here were declared in 2009 free from any genetically modified organisms. Farming in the area is carried out much the same way it was carried out hundreds of years ago.

To reach Banaue from Manila, there is buses most of them are night buses. It will cost you 450/500PHP for an ticket and it is about 8 hours to reach Banaue. I choose Ohayami Bus Company, they have 4 trips daily for Ifugao province. Their terminal is located in Lacson Avenue corner Fajardo St. Sampaloc.