Dave A.
Yelp
WHOA! Considered ONE of The MAN MADE WONDERS of WORLD, it's one of the Philippine National Treasures! Kinda like the Pyramids of Egypt, this is a similar amazing creation. Sure, it's a nice image to see on pictures but... BUT, it's TRULY VERY impressive to bear witness personally to human feats of ingenuity. So much, that we decided it was worth the 10 hour journey North from Manila through some nicely paved expressways, but also poorly constructed roads, unpaved roads, and definitely some serious twisty turny road condition craziness once in the Ifugao Region. My weak stomached son even had to sit up front in the transport when he was awake because the rumbly tummy was starting to churn with all the turning action. The Banaue Rice Terraces are part of the Ifugao Rice Terraces. Banaue is probably the most recognized of all of them, as it has been depicted on a version of the 1000 peso bill previously and mentioned when talking about Wonders of The World. We also visited the Hungduan Rice Terraces during this visit. Both quite spectacular in its formations but Banaue seemed to be more grandeur in its views. Weather was cool during the month of November.
To get here, it isn't just pull it up on Google Maps & go. Some tourists got misdirected on their treks here thinking Google Maps works anywhere. NOT HERE! Well, not yet anyways ;) The owner of the Inn we stayed at (Native Village Inn) mentioned some tourists were a day late because this fact. Tough to hear that. Also, I noticed some of tourists' guides had some difficulty communicating with their customers. We chose the rent a car & find a driver route over following a group tour. Rems Tarlit (+63 908 358 8417) joined us close to Baguio & drove us to and around the Ifugao Region for three days. He spoke great English, displayed in depth knowledge of the people and land, and most important, friendly & personable. He made our visit well worth the effort.
Worth coming here? Absolutely! It's been on my bucket list for a long time! CHECK!
Easy recommendation :)