After almost a full month in Vietnam, it is time for us to leave for our next destination : the Philippines
Over-night flight to Manila
Our flight from Hanoi to Manila is crazy late. Indeed, the flight is scheduled for 2:30 am! We booked an extra night at our hotel to stay until 11 pm before having to take a taxi to the airport.
A few hours before leaving for the airport we learn that an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck in Manila. No major issue in the city but all the buildings got evacuated. At that point we understand our flight will probably be delayed and just hope it will not simply be canceled.
Waiting at the airport was ungodly long, and as we expected the flight left an hour late. So we leave at 3:30 am and try to sleep as best we can during the 3 hour flight.
We arrive early in Manila and sit down in a Starbucks to try to wake up a little bit.
We will only spend one night in Manila before leaving the next day towards the North of the island for a 3 day trek in the rice fields (because apparently we didn’t get enough in Vietnam).
The rice -fields of Banaue and Batad are known worldwide for being the prettiest on earth, and they are also a UNESCO world heritage site.
Over-night bus to Banaue
After a 24 hour period of rest and catching up on the blog, we take a night bus to get to Banaue.
There we will do a 3 day trek with a guide, Franz, that we booked a few days back. We found his information on a blog that recommended his service.
At 10 pm we get inside the bus to Banaue and we can’t believe it. It’s just a regular bus with seats that barely tilt back. Completely different from the night buses we were used to in Vietnam and in South America. The AC works way too well so we are freezing and have no blankets. The night is going to be long… And indeed, we barely slept.
Early morning arrival in Banaue
We arrive in Banaue at 7:30 am, and Franz’s cousin is waiting for us at the bus stop. The temperature here is a lot cooler than in Manila, probably because Banaue is located at 4,900 ft above sea level, and it feels great!
Franz’s cousin makes us climb in his Filipino tuk-tuk (that they call tricycle here) and we go join Franz and the other members of the trekking group that arrived either yesterday or this morning with an earlier bus.
On the way we stop at a few viewpoints to admire the beautiful rice fields of Banaue.
Trek day 1 – Banaue to Cambulo – 11 miles
We arrive at the gathering point, the Banaue Ethnic Village, at 8 am. And meet our trekking partners : Cyrielle, Sandrine, Priscilla and Marion, 4 French friends on vacation in the Philippines for 3 weeks, and Klara a Dutch women spending 3 months in the Philippines. We will spend the next couple of days together. Then we meet Franz and his buddy Jeremy who will be our two guides during the trek.
Itinerary for the trek :
Day 1 – Banaue Ethic Village to Cambulo Village walking past Pula Village
Day 2 – Cambulo to Batad stopping at the Tappiyah waterfall
Day 3 – Hapao rice fields and Hot Springs
Franz serves us a nice big breakfast and off we go to start the trek.
The vehicle we take to get to the beginning of the trail in none other than one of those Jeepneys that we see everywhere since we arrived.
The Jeepneys are popular public buses that are customized and painted in many different colors. Originally these were all Jeeps that the US Army abandoned after WWII. Hence the name Jeepney.
We hop on the roof of the Jeepney for a few miles inside the jungle.
We start the hike at 10 am. The sky is blue and the weather absolutely beautiful.
We start by walking through the jungle and the vegetation is incredible.
We pass lush forests.
And stop at a few beautiful viewpoints.
The view is absolutely gorgeous.
We climb to the highest point of the hike at 5,900 ft above sea level. From here it is all downhill.
The sky is still clear and blue and it starts to get really hot. But nothing compared to the heat we had while hiking in Sapa.
We stop for lunch just before getting to the village of Pula. From here we start to see our first rice fields.
The view from our lunch spot is amazing. We can even see the village of Pula in the bottom of the valley.
We then hike down to the village, walking along the rice fields.
The view is spectacular and we stop a few times to take pictures.
At the bottom of the valley we get to a river where we stop for a little while.
Matt will go for a swim. Very pleasant.
We get back on the trail, and from here we will be exclusively walking along the rice fields.
The landscape is spectacular.
Here, differently from Sapa, the rice fields are already very green and grew quite high. Which gives for a very different landscape.
Once again, it is hard for us not to stop every two feet to take pictures.
The hike is really nice and we have a nice group. Franz is very funny, he knows a few French expressions that he uses in perfect context. We love it !
During the afternoon the weather starts to change a little bit. The sky turns grey and it looks like a thunderstorm is coming our way. Luckily we will have no rain. As we continue through the rice fields we walk past a few small villages.
We run into locals who are coming back from a wedding. And some are pretty wasted. The way back along the rice fields is difficult for some of them. We wonder how they do not to fall over…
We continue in the heart of the rice fields. Before crossing the river one last time and getting to our home-stay for the night.
We can see it from the trail.
We arrive at the village of Cambulo at 5:30 pm, where we will spend the night.
In total we walked 11 miles today. Not too bad for a first day after spending the night in the bus.
The home-stay is very cute, right by the river. The view from the patio and from the rooms is amazing.
Our after trek ritual doesn’t change : shower + cold beer. The best combo ever.
We will then have dinner together before watching a show made by the local children living in the village.
They sing plenty of different songs, all are either in French or in English. We are stunned. They know the same songs we do. They are all super cute.
After that they start dancing and invite us to join them. We will even dance the Macarena all together. A very nice moment.
To end the evening we sit down in the home-stay, chatting and drinking Gin. Jeremy plays us several songs on the guitar. We love it. And he sings surprisingly well.
We start drinking too much Gin, mixing it with some sort of citrus first. Before mixing it with beer, because the citrus ran out. Apparently this is what they do here in the Philippines. We all get along super well.
We continue talking until midnight before all going to bed.
We are all pretty tired, especially given the few hours of sleep we got in the bus.
Trek day 2 – Cambulo to Batad – 5 miles
We wake up at 7:30 am with a slight hangover. But the view from our bedroom is fantastic. And there is nothing like a nice hike to sweat out last night’s alcohol.
A nice breakfast before starting today’s hike.
We leave at 9:30 am to Batad, just 1.8 miles from Cambulo.
We start with a steep climb to get out of the village of Cambulo. We are treated with a nice view on the village and the rice fields from the top.
Since the construction of the road between Cambulo and Batad, the trail was cut off. Meaning we have to take a Jeepney for 1.5 miles to join the other side of the trail.
We then continue our hike on the trail. This time through the jungle.
As we walk we have an amazing view on the mountains. We are lucky because the weather is incredible.
We arrive in the heights of Batad late in the morning, a little out of breath and already super hot. Today there is absolutely no shade along the way, which makes a huge difference.
When we arrive at the top, the view on Batad is incredible.
Batad is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines. We can’t really judge because this is just the beginning of the trip. But can clearly agree that the place is magical.
The view over the rice fields is breathtaking.
Over 2,000 years old, these are a UNESCO world heritage site, and according to local legend, the 8th wonder of the world.
From now on the serious stuff starts. We have to walk down the steep stairs to get to the Tappiyah waterfall. The landscape around us is simply amazing. The steps going down are way less amazing. Maider’s knee is starting to hurt. But once we arrive at the bottom we see that we didn’t do all this for nothing.
The waterfall is amazing and we can even go for a swim.
This waterfall is 70 ft high and pretty impressive, a lot of people are here to go for a swim, tourists and locals alike.
The way back up will be hot but a lot faster than coming down.
We then have to make our way to the top of the village of Batad where a Jeepney is waiting to take us to Bangaan.
The view on the way is surreal.
We are in the heart of these amazing rice fields.
We can’t stop admiring the landscape.
We finally arrive at the Jeepney after walking 5 miles over the course of the day. Not a lot of mileage but the elevation gain and loss was pretty brutal.
Before returning to Banaue, we have a last stop in Bangaan, also known for its rice fields. We don’t even have to climb off the Jeepney, and take pictures from the roof.
Franz will take a group photo of us on the Jeepney with the rice fields in the background. Awesome!
At the end of the day we finally hit the road towards Banaue. We didn’t expect the ride back to last over an hour… Thankfully the landscapes remain amazing, but as we climb in altitude and as the sun sets, it is getting really cold on the roof of the Jeepney.
When we arrive in Banaue there is quite a bit of traffic because of a two day festival in the city.
We finally arrive an have to say goodbye to the 4 French girls who are leaving tonight. And with Klara we go to our guesthouse. No shooters tonight, we are exhausted. And we all fall asleep before 9 pm.
Trek day 3 – Hapao rice fields and Hot Springs – 2.5 miles
The next day, after an excellent breakfast, we meet up with Franz who tells us that the people joining us today have a 4 hour delay with the bus from Manila. So he suggests that we go watch the local festival before going for our last day hike.
So we arrive at the local gymnasium where there are representations of tribal dances and songs.
Nothing exciting but it was fun to see such a festival. There were no tourists, which made for a true immersion in local culture.
At 11 am we finally meet up with the 3 other French people who just arrived and go visit the Hapao rice fields. First we have a 45 minute drive before starting the hike.
We stop a couple times on the way at viewpoints to take pictures.
We arrive at the Hapao rice fields where a guide joins us to take us to the hot springs.
We start in the village before truly making our way inside the rice fields. These rice fields are less well known than the ones in Batad but still very beautiful.
The mountains aren’t as high and steep as in Batad, but the view remains amazing.
The Hapao river runs along these rice fields that all get their much needed water from this single river.
After 45 minutes we arrive at the hot springs. And to our biggest delight these are almost empty.
We start by jumping in the river, where the water is super cold.
Before going inside the hot springs where the water is around 110 degrees. We will spend 2 hours here getting to know the 3 French people who joined us this morning.
In the afternoon we come back using a different trail. This one also offers amazing views on the valley and the rice fields.
We get back to Banaue late in the afternoon and we even have the time to take a quick shower and grab an early dinner before taking our 7 pm bus to Manila.
This trek was another incredible experience. We were a little skeptical because we were afraid the landscapes would be similar to the ones in Sapa. But it wasn’t the case. Here the rice fields are already green and that makes a huge difference. We also walked inside the jungle with its lush vegetation, which means that during this 3 day trek we saw many different types of landscapes.
We walked through the jungle, the mountains, on narrow winding paths to reach waterfalls and along rice fields that extends for miles and miles.
And being with different groups helped us meet great people that we hope we will be able to see again during our stay in the Philippines.
Our guide Franz, wasn’t organized at all, everything was last minute with him, but he was the nicest and funniest guy, and always did his best to make our stay amazing.
We leave exhausted but happy from this nice adventure. In Manila we will catch a flight to go to Coron, nicknamed “the pearl of the Philippines” for its amazing lagoons and unbelievable beaches. See you guys in our next stop in paradise.