Banaue Reflection

The first time I climbed the mountains going to Banaue was on April of 2002 and that was Holy Week. I and some friends planned to be there after the second semester. Most of us were from Batch 2000 (Don Bosco High School).
The road going up was quite rough and the mountain was steep. We met some tourists on our way.

The road going up was quite rough and the mountain was steep.
When I went back after five years (November 2007), I saw some changes. The road from Banaue Poblacion to Banaue proper is still roughly the same. It is just widened so that 2 jeeps coming across can be accommodated. From the proper where we started to hike is almost the same but as we went along, I noticed that the road became wider. A tricycle or an owner type jeep can actually pass by until Batad. I and some friends whom I went with reached Batad Rice Terraces after more than 2 hours of hiking. We rested in one of the inns facing the majestic view. It was very cold even if it was just afternoon. It was not that beautiful as I had seen the first time because the farmers just reaped the palays or the rice plant. I just saw the remains of the rice plants piled on the edges of the rice paddies.

After resting for about 2 hours (I slept because of tiredness) and taking some snacks, we decided to climb the terraces. I went ahead and lost myself at the peak of the terraces. There were some rice fields which were full of tall grasses. I tried to think it wasn’t like that before. As I followed the path, I became I bit scared because it was getting dark and I couldn’t trace the way to go back. From where I stood, I looked down the village and tried to find my companions. I couldn’t see them and didn’t know where they were. Suddenly, I heard loud voices and they were just at the other side. We met and found our way back to the inn because it was getting darker.
I noticed that the village has lights already meaning they have electric power. We just used lamp before and it was a bit difficult especially when going out. According to the people, the electricity turned up 2 years ago.The following day, we trailed down the Tapia falls. The way going down wasn’t easy because it was very tricky as before. If I was not that careful, I could slip and fall down the ravine. They swam in the river and tried to go near the falls. Ay naku, my companions were as hard headed as the stones. They were enjoying themselves in the water, taking pictures and teasing each other while I was there feeling nervous because the water was coming up. It rained that night and was still drizzling that day. I just didn’t realize those people were from the other side of the planet and had tons of reasons when I told them blah blah blah of being careful whatever! They may’ve laughed behind my back. I turned back and ignored them.I thought of the 3 children I met in that falls 5 years ago. They were selling drinks and junk foods like chippy, oishi..etc. These children overtook us on our way to the falls five years ago. The older one which was 8-9 years old was carrying a case of coke, the girl who was 7 years old was carrying the bags of bread and junk foods while their 3 years old sister was on her back. The youngest was held by a woven clothe wrapped around her back to the shoulder of the big sister. They told me they were going to the falls to sell what they brought with them. Their goods came from Banaue poblacion rode up to the proper and carried to Batad. I wondered where these children are and what they do now.At last my companions finished their swimming so we decided to go back to the inn. Wow. It was another trek going up and it was darn raining. We reached the inn, freshen ourselves and started to trek again going back to Banaue where we must take the ride to Manila. It rained hard so we were all wet.