Batad, Ifugao Part 1: The Way To Batad

It was during one of our conversations in Boracay, that me and Alexis talked about going to the Batad Rice Terraces, Ifugao, Mountain Province. There was no concrete plan since Alexis would continue with his tour of the Philippines after we met in Boracay. Then it just happened, we decided to push trough with the trip after he came from Coron, Palawan and after a week that I visited Sagada.

We went to the bus terminal of Ohayami in Sampaloc, Manila at around 8:30PM, Saturday night, and boarded the bus at around 10:00PM. The bus obviously has seen better days. It was not that clean and comfortable compared to the brand new buses of Coda Bus Lines. There were three stops during the entire trip for toilet breaks and to eat. The road in the Nueva Vizcaya was under construction which entailed additional travel time.

Finally, at around 8:00AM, the next morning, we arrived in Banaue. I was planning to go to the public market and catch the 9:00AM public jeepney that goes to Saddle Point, the jump off point going to Batad. But as we were going off the bus, Alexis saw my name written on a bond paper being flashed by a man. We approached the man and he said that he was contacted by our accommodation in Batad to fetch us via tricycle, for a fee of course. We decided to just go to Saddle Point with this man rather than wait for the public jeepney.

After paying the tourism fee of P20 per person in Banaue, the man suggested that we buy our supplies at the Banaue public market since the prices of products in Batad would cost twice or even thrice as much. We agreed and bought some food supplies and beers.

I then inquired how much will be the tricycle fare, and the man said P700. I found it expensive but when I went to one of the restaurants nearby, I saw a list that sates that the fixed price from Banaue to Saddle Point was P1000. So we thought that P700 was a fair price.

It was another one hour ride from Banaue to Saddle Point. Along the way, the view was already stunning.

Alexis and the tricycle

The hanging house

It was then another 30 minutes walk from Saddle Point to Batad town. The first half of the trek was easy since the road was cemented. Judging by the looks of it, it was fairly new.

Saddle Point

End of the Road

A downhill trek on dry soil and rocks then followed. I was thinking at this point, that the return to Saddle Point will be a hard one because of the steep ascent. I thought to myself that it aint gonna be easy going back!