Banaue rice terraces
Banaue is surrounded by rice terraces that were notched into the rugged mountains thousands of years ago.
These terraces require constant maintenance to keep them in shape producing one crop of mountain rice per year.
The most popular view point is a few kilometers out of town heading to Sagada but I decided not to take any pictures over there.
There are quite a few buildings going up that change the whole feel of the place.
These fields are between the Batad junction and Banaue.
The locals don’t have a problem with you walking on the paths between the terraces if you feel adventurous.
A lot of planting is done in May so the lush green that you see in some photographs will be hard to capture but seeing how the planting is done is also very interesting.
Banaue has become very built up over the years and getting around has become very expensive. You can take a first class bus with onboard cr all the way to Manila for 460 peso but a trike to the Batad Junction is 650 peso.
It is hard for a tourist to get local prices there and while beautiful Banaue doesn’t appeal to me as much as it used to.
You can hop the jeepney to Baangan and get off at the junction but you will have a tough time catching a ride back to town.
Banaue definitely deserves a look however especially if you are just passing through on limited time. For sure take a day to make the trip over to Batad while you are there.
Banaue has the tourist infrastructure to adsorb the crowd it gets and it really is a neat little town.
Several of the guest houses are perched over the ravine where a river runs through town and it is just brilliant eating lunch on the balcony.
Banaue viewpoint.
Banaue Rice Terraces
Climbing Mount Apo
General Santos
Growing Orchids
Judy's Resto Bar
Logging with Motorcycles
Mount Mayon
Balabac Island
Biri Island
Calbiga Cave
Capul Island
Mangrove Swamp Palawan
Mikes's Resort
Hi,
We will be in the Philippines in two weeks time. We want to do a 4/5day tour to Banaue/ Bontoc rice fields etc.
Because we have very limited time (6 days till our flight from Manila to Coron) we were thinking of taking a bus from Manila to Baguio and taking a tour from there. Do you think this is a good plan? Do we need to book a tour in advance or can we just walk around the travel agencies the day before we need to leave? Do you know any good agencies where we can pre-book a tour without getting charged twice the walk-in rate?
Thanks for your help!
Nicole
Hi Nicole,
I suggest taking a bus from Manila direct to Banaue. They leave from Cubao in the north side of Manila around 8 pm and arrive in Banaue in the Morning..
If you are staying at either Pension Natividad, Friendlys Guesthouse, or Malate Pension in Manila they can give you advice at the desk. Booking with tour agencies will be very expensive and totally unnecessary.
When you arrive in Banaue there will be plenty of freelance tricycle tour guides to choose from. I feel that Banaue is the best place to base when visiting the rice terraces. There are good cheap hotels, you have wi-fi access, and there is good food. They are right above the scenic river that runs through Banaue and it is a joy to just hang out and watch the world go by.
It is only about a 45 minute ride to the trail up to the world famous Batad Terraces.
Maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours to Sagada by jeepney.
15 minutes to the Banaue viewpoints
Maybe an hour to Hapao
definitely try to avoid pre-booking a tour from Manila – totally unnecessary
happy trip
dp
Thanks a lot! Very much looking forward to it!