Banaue Rice Terraces
A leading tourism destination point in the country and considered as the "Eight Wonder of the World", it is estimated to be more than 100 square miles in area. The rice terraces start from the base of the mountain range and reach up to several thousand feet high.
Made 3,000 years ago, these rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of the strudy Ifugaos. Streams into irrigation canals that run downhill throuch the rice terraces.
Banaue is accessible from Baguio through the Bontoc route that passes the Halsema Mountain Highway via the Nueva Vizcaya Route. It is an eight hour car ride spiced with beautiful mountain sceneries.
Situated in Banaue are the Banaue Hotel and Youth Hoste, owned and operated by the Islander Properties.
The Surrender site of General Tomoyuki Yamashita
A home-economics building is the site where the late General Yamashita and his staff informally surrendered to a certain Captain Grisham of the US 6th Army in the Philippines. He was then brought to the Bagabag Airfield and flown to Baguio where he formally surrendered to General Jonathan Wainright on September 3, 1945.
Mayoyao Rice Terraces (Mayoyao)
The spot is 44 kilometers away from the poblacion Banaue. Mayoyao lies amidst rice terraces, thus upon arrival, one is awed with the breathtaking view of the terraces whose dikes are tiered in flat stones.
Ambuwaya Lake
Legend says that the lake was once a big sition that became a lake because of the killing of a leech by some children. The lake is deep and is ideal for boating and swimming. The shaded surroundings is ideal for picnicking. It is now a site of reasearch on fish culture.
Mt. Napulawan (Hungduan)
It was in this mountain where the Japanese Army under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita were burried. A lake serenely lies on top of this mountain where one finds dwarf oak and pine trees.
~~stairway to the sky~~
Ifugao was derived from the word "Pugo" which means hills. Except for some distinction, the Ifugaos are similar to their tribal neighbors like the Bontocs and the Kalingas, generally the "Igorots".
Although now peaceful, the Ifugaos were the most resistant to foreign domination in the past. Their culture dates back 3,000 years ago. Some historians believed that this tribe, thousand of years ago, first migrated from the highlands of Burma and Indonesia through the vast continents of Asia.
Here, travelers discover an entirely different world of magnificent vistas, where the sky seems close and the climate referred to as the "people of the skylands", the famous builders of the gigantic rice terraces, referred to as the "Stairway to the skies". Carved by the hands more than 3,000 years ago, the Rice Terraces have been considered as the Eight Wonder of the World. It took the Ifugaos centuries to build the terraces but for the succeeding generations the task is still unfinished. Work on it continues until today, making the reice terraces the longest agricultural project in histroy. At present, the rice terraces encompasses an area of 4,000 feet above sea level. What makes the rice terraces so staggering is not only its magnitude by also its revelation of the struggle for survival of the hard-bred Ifugaos against their harsh environment.
To build the rice terraces with crude hand tools, the Ifugaos have first reinforced the entire base of mountains with walls of hard rocks gathered from the deep river banks. The stone walls itself extend as deep as two meters underground or more. The stone walls of the rice paddies are built from the base up but for those rice paddies carved out of hard solid soil irrigation system for the rice paddies was built and maintained by the entire community. It is believed that the stone hauled in a span of 3,000 years by those hardy tribes from the river banks and elsewhere to wall all the teraces, surpasses the weight of stones to build the ancient Pyramids of Egypt.
Planting season starts in February and only the womenfolks do the planting job while menfolks work on the stone walls, rice paddies, irrigation and hauling of harvested grains form the fields. This division of labor is still strictly observed as thousands of years ago by their forefathers.
They still maintain the centuries-old tradition that the village chief who is also the high priest shall be the first to harvest during the start of the harvest season. Sacrificial animals are butchered before planting but the most colorful and expensive holidays are celebrated after harvest time. For two consecutive days, a particular village celebrates by butchering chickens, pigs and even water buffaloes for those who can afford.
Ifugao has a total land area of 2,517 square km.It has 7 towns and Legawe as its capital.
Ifugao is bounded on the north by Mt. Province, on the east by Isabela, Cordillera on the west, and Benguet on the southwest. The weather is very comfortable all throughout the year. Ifugao is very wet during the Philippine rainy season, which is from June to October. Dry season begins from November to May.
Road Condition. Manila to Solano (in the province of Nueva Vizcaya) is good, Solano to Banaue is rough road.
Major industries. The dominant industries in the province are agriculture and lumbering.
Points of interest
Tam-an Village. A typical Ifugao village situated 240 steps down from the Banaue Hotel's swimming pool. Here woodcarving and handwoven products are produced and sold to travelers.
Village of Amsalto. About 500 meters from the new Banaue Trade Center, one can reach this village thru trails and rice paddies, Along the path is the old tomb of Banaue's last chieftain, Ponchillan. A few meters above is the elevated sealed tomb of the famous Dr. Otley Bayer, an American anthropologist who married a native woman and spent his lifetime in Banaue, studying and trying to establish the real origin and culture of the Ifugaos.
Bocos Village. About twelve kilometers from the Banaue Hotel and a two hour hike uphill thru mountain trails, one can see Battad Rice Terraces shaped like an ampitheatre. A twenty-minute hike from the village gives the visitor a glimpse of a cascading waterfall with its enormous pool for swimming.
Banaue Viewpoint. The viewpoint is a 20-minute drive north of the Banaue Hotel. It is a perfect spot for taking pictures of the rice terraces at a larger magnitude.
Village of Bang-an. Fourteen kilometers east of the Banaue Hotel is the village of Bang-an. On the main road, one can take pictures of a fully terraced mountain with the typical village on the base.
Banaue Trade Center. About 20-minute hike from the hotel is the trace center which is the center of the activity where souvenir items are sold. Saturday is the big market day.
Guihod Natural Pool. After a four kilometer drive from the poblacion, and after hopping and jumping over the huge boulders, one reaches the crystal clear waters of Guihod. The water is perfect for a cool and refreshing swim.
Ducligan Hot Springs. These hot springs are found at the bank of Banaue-Ducligan River and adjacent to a deep pool. Ducligan is 21 kilometers away from the poblacion.
Philippine War Memorial Shrine. It is a concrete building, pyramid type constructed at Poblacion, Kiangan. This shrine could be used as a viewpoint to see the poblacion, other neighboring barangays and the capital town, Lagawe. The shrine is 10 kilometers away or a 15-minute drive from the capital town.
Million Dollar Hill. The hill overlooking the poblacion of Kiangan. It got its name from the last war when the allied armies spent millions of dollars worth of bombs and ammunitions to annihilate the enemies from the area.
Ahin Salt Spring. The hot spring is located in a distant barangay of Hungduan. The Ahin Salt Spring is a 12-hour hike from Kiangan.
Bintacan Cave (Lagawe). Located at the slope of a rocky mountain of Ibulao, it is a three-rook cave with drippings of lime water that formed into stalactites and stalagmites of varied beautiful shapes.
Natuban Cave. The cave is much larger than the Bintacan Cave and has a descending entrance to four rooms. The cave is located at Boliwong, Lagawe, about four kilometers hike form the poblacion accessible by mountain trails.
Magat River Multi-Purpose Project (Potia). It is a multi-million peso project employing thousands of people.
Tucucan Hot Spring. Like the Ahin Hot Spring, the Tucucan Hot Spring is a two hour hike from the Ahin Hot Spring.
