I don’t remember how we discovered Banaue initially, but it somehow came up during our discussions of where to visit in the Philippines and I think one of my friends had seen some pictures of the Batad Rice Terraces and decided that we should make the overnight trip to Banaue to see this very scenic area of the Philippines.
Once we arrived into Manila, we made our way to the “bus station” where we would be able to purchase tickets for the overnight bus to Banaue. Now, bus station is a very subjective term as all it really was, was a man sitting behind a desk with a sign that said he sold bus tickets. There were 3 of us and we were told that the only tickets left were for 2 seats and one middle (less comfortable) seat in the middle of the aisle. We had no choice but to take this as our plans were already set and we couldn’t afford to not go on the dates we had previously chosen.
The day that we were supposed to leave, one of my friends got really sick and she decided to stay in Manila to rest instead of joining us for our trip to Banaue. It turned out to be a really good decision because the bus ride was anything but comfortable and would likely have made her even sicker.
I had read that the driver of the overnight bus will turn on the air conditioner to the highest setting and that the bus gets really cold overnight. We had prepared for this by each bringing a light jacket as well as a big blanket. Unfortunately, I somehow left my jacket in the cab and so I was dressed in a short sleeved t-shirt and feeling very thankful that my friend had brought along a big blanket that she could share with me. When we first boarded the bus, the air conditioner was on but since it was close to 30 degrees outside, this seemed quite normal. I think it really hit me when I started noticing other people boarding the bus dressed in thick winter jackets. I remember thinking that it seemed a bit exaggerated as it was hot outside. A few hours later, I really began to think that these people with winter jackets had the right idea all along. The bus was so cold and even though we had pointed the vents above our heads away from us as much as possible, there was still so much cold air flowing around the bus that it made for a very uncomfortable 9 hour bus ride.
We arrived around 6:00am the next morning into Banaue and immediately set out to hire a jeepney to take us to the rice fields. After some negotiations we found a driver who was willing to take us for the steep price of ₱2400. We probably could have asked around to see if there were any other tourists in the area that would like to share the ride with us, as the jeepney we hired could have probably fit about 15 people very comfortably. However, it was very early in the morning and there really weren’t that many people around and we decided to go on our own due to the fact that we knew we were only there for one day and we didn’t want to spend time waiting around for other people. We knew that there was also a public jeep that would cost much less, but it is not a scheduled service and no one seemed to know where it leaves from and when, so instead of wasting any more of our time, we just found a driver that was willing to take us there.
After a very bumpy and curvy ride on the jeepney that lasted quite a while (I can’t remember exactly how long but it was definitely over 25 minutes), we finally arrived at the top of the hill where we now needed to hike down for about 40 minutes. The sky was gloomy and the grounds were very wet after a night or rain, so we were extremely careful during our hike down to the fields. About half way down, we reached this lookout point where we met a little 12 year old girl who lived in the area. As with all young Filipinos, her English was impeccable and she began telling us stories about her school life.
We continued down to the bottom and not before long we reached a rest area where we stopped for lunch. I’m not sure if it was because it was a very gloomy and rainy day, but there were very few people around. At lunch, we contemplated whether or not we should go out to the rice fields and try to climb one of them. We saw some local farmers out there, but not many tourists. We decided that since we took this long journey to the area, we owed it to ourselves to experience it, in case we end up regretting it later on. So after lunch, we made our way to one of the closer rice fields and almost immediately we decided that we couldn’t risk it. It was extremely muddy and slippery from all the rain that was still coming down and we didn’t want to take the chances of possibly falling and hurting ourselves.
We decided to just start heading back up the hill again. Seeing as how it was very muddy and wet everywhere, we thought we’d give ourselves some extra time to return to the top. Once we were taken back to Banaue, we found a place to sit down for some dinner before our 6:30pm bus ride back to Manila. At dinner, we were introduced to banana ketchup, which didn’t really taste like banana at all.
Right before boarding the bus, I stopped in a convenience store to purchase some water and snacks. I bought some ice cream to try and at the time I thought I was buying some mango flavoured ice cream, but it turned out to be cheese flavoured ice cream. It was delicious and I was left hoping to find more of it before I left the Philippines.
The bus ride back to Manila wasn’t quite as bad as the ride to Banaue, as this time I got to sit in the aisle seat where the vent wasn’t blowing down on my head directly. Nevertheless, it was still not the most comfortable ride by any means. During one of the rest stops, many of the locals got off of the bus to purchase some street foods. This was the first time I had seen people eating balut, a developing duck embryo. People seemed like they were thoroughly enjoying it but I just remember thinking it seemed a bit cruel. However, now that I know how popular it is all over Southeast Asia, I might even try it one day.
For more photos, please see my Photo Gallery of Banaue.
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