Rice, Mountains and Trekking

So it's been a week since I last posted and what a week it's been...

It began with me taking an overnight bus journey from Manila to a town called Banaue up in the Cordillera mountains. I was warned it would be cold and yes it was utterly freezing, I have no idea why they have it at such arctic temperatures but they do. The bus journey north was uneventful, with most of the seats being taken up by a fairly large group of Californian high-school students (they seem to go to some new-age school where such trips are the norm). I ended up sitting next to Jason, a marine scientist from Hawaii, and after we started chatting we soon discovered that we had similar plans, so we ended up travelling around together.

After spending 8 hours or so trying to sleep on the journey, we reached Banaue in the early hours of the

morning. As soon as I got off the bus I could tell that this was going to be a far more pleasant experience than I had had in Manila. The landscape was just stunning, with towering mountains and rice terraces as far as the eye could see. That morning we decided to head out

straight away to Hapao to walk through the rice terraces to a hot spring. It was a wonderful experience walking through small villages along 2000-year-old terraces

with some truly spectacular views. After relaxing for a little while in the hot spring we headed back through the terraces just as the sun came out and were treated to yet more amazing views.

After returning to where we were staying in Banaue we decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on sleep since we were pretty darn tired after the bus journey and hike. Next day we got up bright and early for more hiking. We first hiked 4 hours up into the mountains to a small village called Cambulo where we stopped for a delicious lunch of local rice and

vegetables. Lolita, our guide, often brings tourists here

and a fair number spend the night, so when we arrived some of the local children were quite excited thinking we would be staying. It turns out that when people do stay, all the children perform a little show including singing. The tourists are then expected to sing a song in return, followed by the guides. Jason and I agreed that if we had known more about Cambulo in advance then we would probably have opted to spend the night there. Leaving Cambulo we hiked through the rice terraces around the village to another slightly larger village of Batad with equally impressive view

s and a waterfall where we were to spend the night. After a visit to the falls we were completely shattered, but elated with what we'd seen. After a dinner of Adobo (a local dish of rice and a meat, soy sauce and onion stew) we headed off to bed.

The next morning we woke up to what has to be one of

the most impressive views to wake up to. As the sun rose above the mountains the shadows across the rice fields were incredible.

It was another early start as we hiked back up to the

main road to get a lift back to Banaue. After a late

breakfast we bid farewell to Lolita, retrieved our luggage which we'd left there and caught the bus on towards Bontoc.

All was going well until we encountered a minor problem, a HUGE landslide blocking the road. But it was OK, after some of it had been cleared we walked around it and jumped into another jeepney to Bontoc. In Bontoc we needed to change jeepneys for one to Sagada but unfortunately the next one was full. We were not deterred however, and did like the locals and climbed onto the roof for an exciting 1 hour journey up to Sagada. It wasn't the most comfortable of rides but the views were truly epic.

Sagada has to be one of my favourite places ever (I even managed to accidentally plan to be here another night). It's a fairly small town up in the mountains and because it's not on the main tourist trail it is remarkably quiet and peaceful (and the locals want to keep it that way). The views are spectacular and there's a ridiculous number of things you can do, from hiking

to camping to caving to rock climbing. Or, if you aren't feeling particularly energetic you can just chill out with some of the local mountain tea and a good book. The ambience is great and the food in most of the cafes and restaurants is very tasty. Apparently it used to be only adventurous western backpackers who would come here, but since the roads have been improved most tourists seem to be from Manila.

Over the four nights we've been here I've been caving, hiked to a waterfall for a swim and got up at silly o'clock to see the sunrise from on top of a mountain. In between I've indulged in food prepared by a French Chef, had

copious amounts of fresh yoghurt and met some really cool people. There's so much to do here yet it's so laid back, definitely making it somewhere I'd like to come back to at some point.

This morning we are packing up again to head back to Manila to get a flight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan for some coast-based action (it turns out that although Jason and I booked flights separately we're on the same one so we're going to keep travelling together for now). Can't wait.