Philippines: Banaue & Tinglayan

Early the next morning, we had a hearty breakfast with pancakes & coffee and left the village of Pula.

A photo with our host before we embarked on the 2nd day of hiking.

It was rainy/foggy which was quite refreshing.

The scenery has become more forest and less fields.

After about 4hrs we reached a road, hired a tricycle and were whisked down the hill to the Banaue Viewpoint. Our timing couldn’t have been better as the clouds were just breaking up, giving us a great view of the rice terraces.

Women dancing in traditional Ifugao costumes. The dances involve very complex sequences in small shuffling movements, very neat!

Water buffalo skulls outside a home, this signifies the wealth of the family and sacrificial occasions for celebration or mourning.

We took a jeepney back to Bontoc to spend a night before going further into the Kalinga region.

We strolled along the main street and admired the numerous tricycles constantly buzzing to & fro.

Christmas week is a major holiday in the Philippines, where a lot city dwellers go back to their home villages to celebrate together. We were warned so we arrived at the bus stop 45min early at 8am only to find that the bus is full already. Only option is to take a roof seats…after some debating we climbed on and tried to make ourselves comfortable.

Sitting on my backpack and grabbing on a rail running under my legs.

Carmen is sitting on top of a spare tire and has to duck down every time we pass a low hanging wire or tree. She also has to hold on to me so I can keep taking photos. :)

After loading for almost an hour, the over-loaded bus finally hits the road.

Bus had to climb over a pile of dirt, I don’t understand a thing the locals were saying but I guess they are concerned about more rock slides.

The views were gorgeous, we were sitting up high and could see all around us. Though a few times I think our feet were dangling right over the river below…

Carmen: “How heavy do you think our bus is? More than 3 tonnes?” Me: “Hrm….I guess about 3 tonnes”

A village we pass along the way, there was a cable that wheel a box across the river for transporting goods.

Bus pulls over and the operators tell us we have arrived, we untie our bags and climb down the ladder.

Goodbye Bus #808 for the unforgettable 3hr journey.

We are at Tinglayan! But we found out that the guesthouse is across the river via a suspension bridge.

Carmen was not pleased with me at that moment…