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June 2005 - The rice terraces of Banaue are often advertised as the "8th wonder of the world" here in the Philippines. My peace corps friends had told me a trip to Batad was a better view of the rice terraces, so that is where I went. To get to Batad, you must hike up and down a mountain - perhaps 2 kilometers (or more?). Everything that goes into the town must come on foot, there is not road leading down to the village. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see the tiny village. To your left, I was able to witness the preparation of pigs for transport down into the village. Poor pigs. |
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To your right are the majestic rice terraces of Batad. They really are an awesome sight to behold in person. Early June is harvest time, so the rice terraces have beautiful color of green and tan.
Batad is a wonderful place to be, it is like stepping back in time to another place. Below is a fellow traveler and a local man and his family. You can see his lips and mouth are red. Most locals chew on leaves similar to tobacco that stain their teeth. I tasted a little, it did not appeal to me, but it was something neat to see. |
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Below is some of the harvested rice. My host father back in Leyte was a rice farmer, so I thought I knew rice farming in the Philippines. But in the mountains, they have a different way. They dry the rice in a heated house. Then pound it in a big mortar. No rice mills here. That means it is a lot of work to get one grain of rice.
In Manila, I like to eat the red rice from the mountains. Amazingly I could not find red rice to eat while in Batad, only white rice. Most people from Batad like to eat the white rice. Only silly foreigners like me enjoy the red |
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rice for its taste and nutrition. Ah well. |
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