Tapiya Falls
Close your eyes. Imagine you’ve been on a cramped bus overnight from Manila. You get off the bus and you waken your senses. You can smell the fresh mountainous/rice air, you can feel the cool breeze rub up against your skin then open your eyes to an incredible sunrise over the mountains; welcome to Banaue.
Located in the Ifugao province in north Luzon, Banaue and the surrounding villages have stunning cascades of rice terraces set in the hillsides a top site to visit. From Banaue i did a 4 day trek, from the Banaue view point to Cambulo and Batad to Kinakin. I can safely say it was incredible, the villages all have a unique feeling and view. From being set high on the hillside to being situated on the river. Everyday i trekked between 3-6 hours to make it to the next village usually for late lunch and most of the time i wouldn’t see a single foreigner!
Local villages amongst rice terraces
During the day the sun was scorching, which made it hard to walk so it was up at 6am for an early start everyday. As the villages access to electricity is limited it was usually a game of cards or meeting new people by the afternoons.
Batad was my favourite view point, the view from the village perched up on the hillside was beautiful whatever the time of day. The view out my room window was stunning with the brightly coloured clouds at sunrise and the bright green terraces throughout the day. About an hour walk away is Tapiya Falls, majestic waterfalls hidden in its own valley. I was lucky enough to be the only person here before the afternoon rains! To get to Batad you can either trek from a nearby village or get a jeepney to the saddle and walk from there.
View from my window
Banaue is the closest town. Here you can chillout with a mango shake to watch life go by or trek and discover the nearby villages or hot springs. The rice fields surrounding the area are over 2000 years old, in most areas they start harvesting around July; all by hand. The oldest in the area is in Happao Village around an hour away; here there are also amazing hot-spings with miracle rich water straight from underground. There are also ethnic villages in the area that can do tours and teach you about the older way of life around the area. I went to Hiwang village; where they have traditional wooden thatched huts, with human (Japanese) skulls and animal bones, as well as their old tools used for cooking.
For anyone who is planning on visiting The Philippines, i definitely recomend a trip up north. It’s a nice step back in time, where you do not see many foreigners and explore the farming Philippines.
Japanese Skulls
Traditional houses
Happao Hot Springs
Batad Village
Trekking through rice fields
View from trekking to Batad Village
Kelissa Brockett 
Nice post! Did you do the trekking on your own or with a guide?
I did most of the trekking on my own, but my tricycle driver drew me a map for the main routes as they have many tributaries and it can get very confusing. For the hike from Batad to Cambulo i had a guide but they are very expensive! (around 500p for 2 hours) If your not very experienced with trekking or orienteering i would definitely recommend a tour guide! 🙂