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August 2011

Philippines 2011: Day 2 – Banaue rice terraces; trekking to Batad village

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Aug 19, 2011
/
Philippines, Travel

Date: 18th April 2011

The bus departed from Autobus station at around 10pm and not soon after the bus had started, we encountered a problem — the air conditioning wasn’t working. Which made sitting inside a small bus (ticket costs ₱450/$10/€7) all the more uncomfortable.

When I was doing my research, Autobus and GV Florida were the two bus companies that were popular for overnight trips to Banaue. Both had customers complaining about how cold the ride was because the A/C inside the buses were often so cold. How ironic that I experienced the complete opposite!

The passengers were getting quite restless as there were a few children in our group as well. Eventually the bus stopped just off EDSA and the bus personnel tried to repair the A/C. A good 15 minutes later, repair it they did… slightly. There was air being recirculated, which was essential, but not cool enough to call it ‘conditioning’.

Overnight bus ride to Banaue Philippines — We stopped halfway through the journey for a break

Full moon ride to Banaue — Full moon night

I tried my best to sleep, but given that I can hardly ever get sleep in bus journeys, this too was one of those journeys. We arrived in Banaue town just past 6am the next day. We were dropped just outside the main town and I had to take a trike to the area where all the hotels were.

As soon as I got down, the trike driver asked me whether I wanted to do a tour, to which I obviously said “yes,” but I told him I wanted to have breakfast first. I took a room at New Wonder Lodge (cost ₱250/$5.8/€4.1) which wasn’t a rice terrace facing lodge but given I was going to be out all day, I didn’t care much for the view. All I wondered was how long this lodge has been ‘new’ (hint: it wasn’t).

But I did hop over to the plateau facing Greenview Restaurant for breakfast.

Banaue town view from Greenview restaurant — The view from their balcony (Taken on Nokia E72)

Filipino breakfast Banaue food — My Filipino breakfast - rice, eggs, pork sausage, a pineapple slice and coffee

Post breakfast, I began shooting.

Banaue town view from Greenview Lodge panorama — Panorama comprised of 13 shots

Banaue rice terraces lodge view panorama — Panorama comprised of 6 shots

Banaue rice terrace farm Phillippines — The Banaue Rice Terraces are one of Philippines' most popular natural treasures

The trike driver who offered to take me around for a tour of the rice terraces was waiting outside and I asked around to find out how much the tours generally cost. They all said ₱900 ($21/€14) if going by trike (which is the most common). I hadn’t even slept properly so I asked the trike driver if we could go a bit later, say around noon. He said that’s not possible because if I want to trek all the way to Batad village and see the other rice terraces, we would have to leave now.

Guide trike riding through Banaue Philippines — So, I got in his trike and we set off

Driving to Batad from Banaue town — It was a bumpy ride

Driving to Batad Banaue village children — That's because the road aren't always smooth

Driving to Batad Banaue farmer kid — My guide told me this region is prone to frequent landslides

Guide trike window stickers Banaue Philippines — If there is one thing I learnt Filipinos love, it's basketball (and obviously the NBA)

Banaue rice terrace small farm Philippines — I just had to ask my driver to stop whenever I passed by such beauty

Arnel Banaue guide Philippines — My moma (beetel nut) chewing guide, Arnel

Banaue road to Batad hill Luzon trike — We moved on

Banaue bad road hill Luzon — Quite a dusty ride as well

Banaue rice terrace farm Luzon Philippines — Had to ask Arnel to stop again. Beautiful, isn't it?

Banaue road to Batad landslide Philippines — Arnel wasn't kidding about those landslides

Banaue road to Batad curve hill — I guess there's a pretty good reason why they're not allowed to drive post sunset

Banaue jeepney passengers landslide road Philippines — If it isn't trikes, the not-so-frequent jeepneys are the only other mode of transportation the locals have to get to town

Banaue jeepney passengers trike Philippines — Couldn't help but imagine how tough life must be out here

Banaue mini waterfall road to Batad Philippines — Pretty now, dangerous during heavy rainfall

Barangay Bangaan Banaue Ifugao sign Philippines — Barangay means village and Ifugao is the province Banaue is situated in

Banaue road construction Luzon hill Philippines — This was a common sight

Banaue hanging house cliffside Ifugao Philippines — This sight, wasn't 🙂

Banaue hanging house Ifugao Philippines — True to its name

Banaue rice terrace farm hill hanging house view panorama — Stopped here for a bit as well (Panorama comprised of 9 shots)

After nearly 40 minutes since we left the main town, we finally arrived at our first stop on this tour.

Road to Batad rice terrace Banaue — No, this isn't Batad. This is the point from where, you have to go by foot to get to Batad

Batad rice terraces sign Banaue — I set off

Batad concrete road to viewpoint Banaue — You do have a stretch of concreted roads...

Batad rough road to viewpoint Banaue — ...though the concrete stetches would often give way to rough ground

Batad road landslide Banaue Ifugao Philippines — Landslides here too

Road to Batad junction jeepney Banaue — Wait, they have a jeepney service here?! -_-

Batad jeepney kids hanging on Banaue — Yes kids, I'm walking it up

Wet road to Batad junction — After 15 minutes of trekking, I began to huff & puff. I stopped for a break.

Hill curve to Batad panorama — Panorama comprised of 5 shots

Banaue hills Ifugao Luzon Philippines — I had to stop, smile and ask myself: "Where on this earth am I?" 🙂

Road to Batad market Banaue Philippines — I moved on in the hopes Batad's rice terraces were just around the corner

Wooden pattern fossil Batad — I wonder what caused these patterns?

Trekking to Batad jeepney in sight — I could see a glimmer of hope I was getting closer to civilization again

Batad market junction jeepneys Banaue Ifugao Philippines — Finally!

It took me nearly half-an-hour to get to this point and I was only halfway through my journey to Batad’s rice terraces. Arnel had told me the walk would take me an hour. So I figured it would be another half-an-hour more.

Batad market shop Banaue Ifugao — It looked like there was only one way to get to Batad village

Batad viewpoint junction panorama Banaue Ifugao — At first glance, I wondered if the trek to the village was surely going to take *just* 30 minutes more

Batad local carrying goods on log Ifugao Philippines — Down was the only way to go

Steps to Batad village toilet hill Banaue Ifugao Philippines — Long way down (That shed is a toilet by the way :))

Batad tourist viewdeck Banaue Philippines — I decided to try and a get a better look before descending down

Batad viewdeck puppy dog Banaue Luzon — Awww...

Batad hills Banaue Ifugao Luzon — Yikes!

Batad hills Banaue Ifugao province panorama — Were those the Batad rice terraces?

Batad hill path road Banaue trek Philippines panorama — But I had already come this far

Batad chicken Banaue — And I didn't come all this way to watch chicken feed on rubbish

Trek to Batad steps downhill — So I took a deep breath, and took my first step down

Steps to Batad locals carrying suitcase — Locals were carrying tourist's suitcases and heading to the village

Villager carrying rice to Batad village Luzon — So I had to make way for locals carrying way more heavier loads than I was carrying -- and walking a lot faster than I was

Trek to Batad rice terraces villagers carrying rice — I was carrying around 5kgs in camera equipment -- these guys were surely carrying WAY more

Batad village electricity line Banaue hills — Apparently Batad village only got electricity until recently

Steps to Batad village Banaue hill trek — It took a good 5 minutes for the steps to get over

Batad hills landslide Ifugao Luzon Philippines — More landslides up ahead

Trek to Batad rice terraces landslide hill — From here on, it was just rough terrain

Trek to Batad rice terraces landslide hill path — I had to tread very carefully

Just around the corner, I passed by an elderly American who nodded to me as if to say “Boy, this is tough!”. I asked him if he made it to Batad village but he said his legs couldn’t even make it halfway through the journey. On hearing that, I though to myself – “Maybe it’s because he’s old”.

Trek to Batad rice terraces landslide hill road Philippines — Over in the distance, there was a group of villagers carrying a wild boar on wooden logs. Thing is, the boar was still alive, and squealing so loudly you could hear its anguish echo through the valley

Batad trek hill landslide path blocked Banaue — Nearly half an hour into the journey, I thought to myself just much further I had to go

Trek to Batad village Banaue landslide path — Mentally, I kept telling myself "Slowly, slowly" as I crossed such paths

Steps fall Batad — And just after I took this photo and stepped on the stones up ahead, I trip!

I tumble once but fortunately I didn’t roll any down any further. My immediate reaction was: “Oh shit, my camera!” Fortunately the 7D is built to take a bit of a beating so nothing happened to it. The only damage was a few scratches on my arm and on my knee. I got up, washed the very same parts of my body but realized I wasn’t carrying any band-aid with me!

So I had no other choice but to continue walking towards the village. I didn’t walk back because I wasn’t sure how far along I was — whether the Batad village was closer or was I much closer to the viewpoint junction back uphill.

Trek to Batad rice terraces store Banaue — They have a few small stores on the way to the village but this guy didn't stock any band-aid

Trek to Batad village Banaue — I moved on, limping a little

Batad trek locals carrying wild boar comfort room — I caught up with the wild boar group at the 'comfort room' stop on the way

Batad village Rita's View Inn banner ad — I kept hoping the village was right around the corner

Batad village homestays banners Philippines — I must be near, right?

Rice terrace Batad trek Banaue — Did I walk all this long for a rice terrace this big?

Getting to Batad village Banaue trek Ifugao — Few minutes later, my first glimmer of hope

Entering Batad village Banaue Philippines — This should be it right?

Arriving at Batad village rice terraces — Finally!

It took nearly an hour to get to Batad village — and that was just from the junction, not including the trek uphill from where Arnel had dropped me.

So, were the Batad rice terraces worth the trek?

Batad rice terrace village Banaue Ifugao — I guess so

But the rice terraces could wait. I approached a store and asked if they had band-aid, fortunately which they did. I asked where I could wash my wounds and the store lady pointed down to the basement.

I washed up, plastered up and sat down for a while. I needed to rest my legs!

Had something to eat and drink before resuming my photography.

As I check out the surroundings, I feel something touch my legs.

Batad village little girl running Banaue — It was this small girl

Batad village small kids playing Philippines — Looks like they wanted to play a little hide 'n' seek with me

Batad village small children playing Philippines — Felt sorry for them. Guess they don't get to see many new faces, let alone some Indian.

Rita's Mountview Inn Batad rice terraces — There's aren't that many places to stay in Batad -- but then again, I'm sure there's enough accommodation for the number of tourists who make it here

Hillside Inn restaurant Batad Philippines — One of the bigger inns

Batad Pension Inn restaurant Batad rice terraces — Pension inns are the name used to refer to cheap, simple accommodation all across the Philippines

Batad Elementary school Banaue village — Decided to walk to the school

Batad Elementary school village basketball court — Batad Elementary School

There were village kids following me asking for money (don’t want to use the word ‘beg’), and I gave them ₱10 each, out of sympathy.

Path to school Batad village — Walked back up

Batad rice terraces village Banaue Philippines panorama — Panorama comprised of 5 shots

Batad rice terrace village Banaue Philippines — I really wanted to go all the way down to the village but I knew my legs couldn't take it anymore

Batad village rice terrace steps Philippines panorama — That thin line are steps... I could only imagine myself walking down those from here

Batad village rice terrace hill — If at all I dare do this again, I would spend a night here and only leave the next morning

Batad village rice terrace plateau panorama — Imagine waking up to a view like this at the break of dawn

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay in Batad any longer. It was already 12:30pm and with an already tired body, I knew I was going to take another one hour just to get back.

They were requesting visitors to make a donation to the village for its ‘upkeep’. Whether it was for Batad’s development or just for the locals to make good use of the money for their daily lives, I still donated ₱100.

I also asked if any local was willing to carry my bags as I just couldn’t walk uphill with the load I was carrying, now with an injured leg. One of the villagers agreed to carry my bag uphill for ₱100.

Batad village Banaue Philippines panorama — I took one final panorama (comprised of 7 shots) and bid Batad's rice terraces goodbye

Walking back to Batad junction local guide — The local who offered to carry my bags (forgot his name unfortunately)

Trekking from Batad village to junction Banaue — He was always ahead of me and would often stop until I caught up

Batad trek uphill landslide terrain — Just to give you an idea of the terrain

Batad trek back to junction — I tried to match his pace but I couldn't

Eventually he too had to stop for a break and we rested for a few minutes at one of the makeshift stores along the way. I bought him something to drink and I asked him how long he has been walking these hills. As a native of Batad village, he told me they’ve been doing this since they were little. Young boys are made to carry goods up and down the hill, so their bodies get used to it as they age.

I even saw a small boy carrying a load of potatoes on a log uphill and the expression on his face was nothing short of hardship. It really was revelation of sorts for me. Here I was on this trip, to take my mind off from being laid off from work and yet, here are people who have been living like this for decades… all because of their lineage. Few make it out of Banaue, let alone their own village, and move to bigger cities.

I asked the local what their primary source of income was. He told me it was mostly farming, but a lot of the rice that’s grown in their rice terraces are for their own consumption as very little is sold in the markets. Of course, tourism is now helping them a bit as well.

As we moved on and neared the junction, I caught up with the American I crossed paths with earlier on my way down. He still hadn’t reached the top. I told him about my ordeal as we walked up together.

The American (again, forgot his name as well) told me about a different path up but I decided to just stick to the steps and follow the local who carried my bags. I told him I’ll catch up with him later.

Batad trek alternate road — The American took that road, which is an alternative to the steps

Batad hills Ifugao Luzon Philppines — I took one final shot before climbing the hundred steps up

Once I reached the junction, I paid the local ₱150 instead of the agreed ₱100. He was grateful, and I had no reservations about my actions. I thanked him for carrying my bags and he headed back to his village.

Sigh.

The American reached the junction at about the same time I did, and we both sat at a store because sitting was exactly what we needed! A few minutes later, we were joined by a Brit who was with his trekking guide. With all three of us sweating profusely as evidenced by our shirts, needless to say, our conversations immediately began with how each of our experiences were. The Brit was concluding his nearly 4-day trek across Batad and was panting as he spoke. He spoke of how his guide (surely a local) just wouldn’t break a sweat and how he couldn’t do without his trekking pole.

Anyway, myself and the American couldn’t sit there forever and though we thought of taking a jeepney back, none of the jeepneys looked like they would be moving until they had enough passengers. So as one final effort, we both decided walk back down to where our trikes were waiting for us.

The trek back down was easier this time simply because, one, it was downhill, and two, there were concreted patches of road. Also, speaking to each other about topics ranging from the world economy to where else both of us had traveled took our minds off of how much distance we had to cover.

Thirty minutes later, we were back to the starting point. The American and I parted ways but he suggested that we catch up for a beer later at night once I’m back in town.

Once I was back in Arnel’s trike, more than beer, I just wanted to get back to my room to wash my wounds properly and then rest.

But instead, Arnel took me to the next stop on this tour:

Rice terrace near Batad panorama — Another rice terrace village, but I forgot its name (Panorama comprised of 8 shots)

Rice terrace village in Banaue Philippines — Arnel told me I could walk down there but it would take some time. I told him my legs couldn't take anymore climbing and asked him to just take me back to Banaue town for the main rice terraces.

Despite being a bumpy ride back, because of how tired I was, I still dozed off in between.

Banaue road repair bulldozer — Only to wake up on occasions when a heavy duty machine had to clear up debris on the road due to a landslide

Once back in Banaue town after nearly an hour, Arnel drove me up to the first of three viewpoints for Banaue’s rice terraces.

Banaue Nfa-Aguian view deck rice terraces — This was the first view point

Banaue rice terraces first view panorama — Panorama comprised of 8 shots

Banaue house on rice terrace Ifugao — Walked past this house to get to another viewpoint

Ifugao rice terraces placard description Banaue — Panorama comprised of 9 shots

Banaue tinawon rice plantation — The sign was describing the stage during which rice seeds are planted

We moved on higher up to the second viewpoint.

Banaue rice terrace second viewpoint panorama — Panorama comprised of 16 shots

I asked Arnel to take me to the final viewpoint.

Banaue rice terrace tribals at shop main viewpoint — You need to walk down to the platform

Banaue rice terrace steps down to house — My worst enemy: steps

But this being the last stop on my tour, I decided to push my legs one last time and walked down the steps towards the house.

Banaue house facing rice terrace — The plan was to stand in front of the house and take photographs

Dog house facing rice terrace Banaue — But as I got down the steps, the dog in charge of the house came barking at me... so I stayed right where I was and didn't venture any further

Banaue house white dog — Oh well, good dog doing its job

Banaue rice terrace steps burning smoke — Took the 70-200mm lens out for these shots

Banaue rice terrace farm levels locals steps — This gives you a scale of just how big these rice terraces really are

Banaue rice terrace level farms size — Imagine how many man hours it must have taken hundreds of years ago to carve these lands

Banaue rice terrace long steps — It's no wonder these rice terraces are considered by Filipinos to be the '8th Wonder' of the world

With that, I decided I had taken enough from the main viewpoint.

Banaue steps to main viewpoint — Now came the tough part

My legs were really quivering with each step I took. I had to use my tripod as support to raise myself to take each step. I was that tired!

Misty hills Banaue Ifugao — It was a really misty day today

Banaue 8th wonder sign — Thanks, but I was done!

Banaue road shanty houses locals — Walked back to Arnel and asked him to take me back to my lodge

Banaue main viewpoint chicken crossing the road — Don't ask me why the chicken crossed the road

As we drove back, Arnel told me if it wasn’t so foggy today, I would have gotten a better view of the entire Banaue rice terraces. I said it’s fine, because at this point all I wanted was to take a hot shower and give my feet the rest they needed.

Arnel dropped me back and I paid him ₱900 plus a ₱100 as a tip, simply because I felt like it. I first went to a store to buy some biscuits and cake in case I woke up too late. Because here in Banaue, there is a 9pm curfew and just about every shop closes by then. It’s wise to stock up on essentials before the sun sets.

Back in the room, I first took a hot shower and felt so much better. After that, I just crashed on the bed. Given the fact I barely slept at all the previous night due to the bus journey, and after all the tiring activities from today, it only took me a matter of minutes to doze off.

I hadn’t forgotten to meet up with the American from earlier, but when I did wake up…

Banaue town at night People's lodge — ... this was the scene outside

Banaue town at night curfew — It was past midnight

Yes, I overslept. But I didn’t care, I needed the sleep.

My legs felt a little better and I sat on the bed, switched on my computer and ate something. As I transferred today’s photos on to my hard drive and reviewed them, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of achievement. Despite how my body felt, today really changed me in some ways. First, I couldn’t imagine where on earth away from India I was. Secondly, the trek really changed my perspective on life (in some ways). I shouldn’t be complaining about losing my job when I go back to my office. At least I had an office in a city to go back to. To the people in Banaue, life wouldn’t be that much different when they wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow, all I was going to do was see even more amazing places!

This is undoubtedly is the most epic post I’ve ever written (so far). 170 photos just to show you, my reader, what all I saw today. Over 3400 words to tell you what I experienced on my second day of sightseeing across Philippines.

I have been trekking since my college days and I enjoy walking, a lot. Trekking to Batad was undoubtedly the toughest trek I have ever undertaken. I cannot believe I walked 9kms up and down. A total of 18kms in Batad. And you know what? I didn’t even know it was 9kms to Batad village until I began working on these photos!

Go read the sign about ‘Batad rice terraces’ up above just after Arnel dropped me to the point I had to then go on foot. I didn’t notice the description and 9kms mentioned on the sign until I worked on that photo!

In a way, it’s a good thing I didn’t. I would have had second thoughts of trekking 18kms had I known the distance and the terrain I encountered along the way. Also, had it not been for the pleasant, not-sunny-at-all weather, there’s no way I would have gone all the way.

But would I do this again?

No.

🙂

Edit (16/09/2011): I found the map I had with me that day

Here’s a much bigger version for reference.

Previous posts:

Philippines 2011: Day 1 — Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Fort Bonifacio

Philippines 2011: Flying over South China Sea for the first time

Other posts in this series:

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Banaue town; heading to Sagada via Bontoc

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Sagada’s Lumiang burial cave, Sumaguing cave, Hanging Coffins of Echo valley

Philippines 2011: Leaving Sagada for Baguio, and arriving in Angeles city (Days 4 & 5)

Philippines 2011: Day 6 – Good Friday in San Fernando, San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites

Philippines 2011: Day 7 – Leaving Angeles City for Manila, Mall of Asia

Philippines 2011: Day 8 – Manila tour: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, China Town

Philippines 2011: Day 9 – Cebu: Fort San Pedro, Basilica of Santo Niño, Taoist Temple

Philippines 2011: Day 10 – Bohol tour: Chocolate Hills, Loboc river cruise, Tarsiers, churches

Philippines 2011: Day 11 – Arriving in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 12 – Puerto Princesa Underground River tour, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 13 – Puerto Princesa to El Nido by bus

Philippines 2011: Day 14 – El Nido island hopping tour A and sunset at Las Cabanas beach, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Back to Manila, shopping, and my final thoughts about the country (Last post)

Philippines 2011: Day 1 — Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Fort Bonifacio

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Aug 11, 2011
/
Philippines, Travel

Date: 17th April 2011

Technically yesterday was day one in Philippines, but today was when I would officially begin my sightseeing. After a good hearty sleep, I woke up in time for breakfast at Kabayan (they start serving really early).

Kabayan hotel Pasay reception Manila Philippines — The reception

Kabayan hotel Pasay Pinoy Star cafe Manila — Where they serve breakfast and lunch

The breakfast and lunch isn’t your usual buffet offering. You queue up and get served your choice of dishes. No seconds.

Kabayan hotel Pasay breakfast Manila Philippines — Still, they give you a mouthful

It was enough to kick-start my day.

Filipino animal expert TV show Kabayan hotel — Although, I went back to my room and ended up watching TV for some time. This Filipino Steve Irwin was showcasing the natural wonders of Palawan, a place I was going to. So I considered it ‘research’ (even though he spoke mostly Tagalog).

As per my trip itinerary, I was going to be leaving Manila tonight for Banaue, but thanks to Aimee who already bought the bus ticket for me, it freed me up today to go see the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial — which wasn’t far from where I was staying.

I had to check out by noon — and I duly did so by noon. I kept my luggage at the reception and told them I would collect it in the evening. Since it was already 12pm, I had lunch from Kabayan before leaving.

Kabayan hotel pasay lunch Manila Philippines — My first taste of Filipino cuisine. First impression: dry. Not a whole lot of varied flavour. Unlike Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, I guess curry isn’t common here. I only had chicken stock to flavour the hard sticky rice.

Done with lunch, I made my way to a very busy Pasay MRT station. Bought myself a one way ticket to Ayala station (as that’s where Aimee told me I needed to go first).

Pasay MRT terminal Manila Philippines — Ticket cost ₱10

Ayala MRT station Manila — It was a short 5 minute ride to Ayala

SM Glorietta mall Ascott Taguig city Manila — This stop is is a popular shopping hub because of SM and the Glorietta malls here

I also saw a Convergys office here, not that I was surprised to know big Indian BPOs have offices here in the Philippines.

Manila Taguig city road — I took a taxi because the cemetery was to be a short drive from here

But the taxi driver in his broken English started hinting as though he had no idea about the cemetery, its existence or how to get there — which I knew was just an act. The cemetery is quite famous and located in the posh Fort Bonifacio area in Taguig. Plus, its freaking huge!

Manila Taguig city office buildings — I was getting a little irritated by the taxi driver as we were slowly driving around business parks with the cemetery nowhere in sight

Fortunately, there was a traffic policeman up ahead and I forced him to stop so that I could ask the officer as to how to get to the cemetery. The officer gave the taxi driver instructions and I could see a smile on the driver’s face as if he was thinking “yeah, yeah, I know where it is. Fine, I’ll take him there!”

A few minutes later, I arrived at the cemetery. The fare: ₱135 ($3/€2.2). Way too much!

Manila American war cemetery entrance gates — Anyway… phone camera in, time for the DSLR to begin its usage

There isn’t an entry fee for the memorial. The security guard only asked me to sign my name in and advised me not to step on the grass or walk through the first two lanes (don’t know why).

Manila American War Cemetery and memorial view from entrance — Didn’t look like there were many people inside

Manila American War Cemetery Memorial left trees — Stuck to the left side

Manila American War Cemetery War Memorial big tree — With over 17,000 graves, this is the largest war cemetery outside the United States

Manila American War Cemetery Memorial tombstones Taguig panorama — I shot a lot of panoramas because there was no other way I could capture the scale of the cemetery

Manila American War Cemetery War Memorial plaza — The Memorial Plaza

Manila American War Cemetery Memorial fountain caretaker — I didn’t seem many workers here

Manila American War Cemetery & Memorial airplane flying over — I could see the cemetery from the sky just as I was about land yesterday

Manila American War Cemetery Memorial Jewish tombstone — You find the occasional Jew among the crosses

Manila American War Cemetery Memorial tombstone hill — This cemetery is a symmetrical haven

Manila American War Cemetery war Memorial tombstones wide panorama — (Panorama comprised of 12 shots)

Manila American War Cemetery war memorial uncut trees — I like how they decided not to cut some trees

Manila American War Cemetery War Memorial white tombstones wide panorama — Panorama comprised of 11 shots

Manila American War Cemetery war memorial white tombstones wide angle panorama — Panorama comprised of 13 shots

Manila American War Cemetery memorial chapel panorama — Back of the Memorial Plaza chapel

Manila American War cemetery & memorial afternoon — I took a break from the circle and decided to check out the Memorial plaza

Manila American War cemetery & memorial chapel front — The chapel

I wrote a note in the visitor’s book they have inside the chapel and left.

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza battles — The battles these soldiers fought are all showcased here

Manila American war cemetery memorial pacific battles — Mostly World War II and the other Pacific battles America fought in

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza soldiers names on walls — The names of the 17,000 plus soldiers buried here are engraved on these walls

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza Filipino soldiers names — I couldn’t help but notice there were a lot of Filipino names on the walls too

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza filipino soldiers — Ah, that explains it. I was under the impression only American soldiers were buried here.

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza Idaho seal — The have the respective state seal corresponding to the walls with the soldiers from the same state

Manila American war cemetery memorial gardener — Lone worker

Manila American war cemetery memorial road — I left the Memorial Plaza

Manila American war cemetery memorial sparrows — Took the 70-200mm lens out for this shot

Manila American war cemetery war memorial crosses — Even though it was scorching hot, I chose to come at this time for the lighting: I wanted shadows

Manila American war cemetery memorial road panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 shots

Manila American War cemetery memorial jeep — You can bring your vehicle inside if all you want is drive through

Manila American war cemetery memorial water evaporating — You can’t really see it but the water was evaporating as soon as it hot the hot tarmac

Manila American war cemetery war memorial section panorama — Larger the panoramas, the smaller the crops when making it fit on my website

Manila American war cemetery war memorial tombstones black & white — Had to try black & white

Manila American war cemetery memorial graves black & white — Added a bit of grain to this one

Manila American war cemetery memorial lawn graves — It was time to leave

Manila American war cemetery memorial medal of honor tombstone — A recipient of the Medal of Honor

Manila American war cemetery war memorial tombstones hill road — Took this on the Canon 450D, which I was also carrying

Manila American war cemetery memorial BGC buildings panorama — Panorama comprised of 14 shots

Manila American war cemetery memorial rainbow sprinklers — Cool huh?

Manila American war cemetery memorial plaza view panorama — I walked back to the Memorial Plaza for one final look

View from memorial plaza panorama — From a little higher up

Manila American war cemetery memorial crosses shadows — After 3 hours of sweating it out in the hot sun, I finally walked towards the gates

Manila American war cemetery memorial white lines — I felt satisfied with the photographs I took today. A good start to this trip.

American Battle Monuments Commission Manila cemetery memorial info — The memorial is maintained by a US government agency

I went inside the visitor’s lounge and stayed for a few minutes. Not that they had anything to see inside, but the room had air-conditioning and a water cooler. The retired American army colonel who manages the place smiled at me as he walked into his office and said: “Enjoy it”.

Enjoy it I did 🙂

Feeling a bit cooler, I left the memorial. The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is one among the few attractions in Manila worth seeing. You may not want to spend 3 hours here, that too in this heat, but I found it peaceful and a calm place for a bit of photography. Of course, do keep in mind this is still a cemetery honouring soldiers and not your usual family picnic park. So do show some respect for the dead once inside.

Bonifacio Global City Taguig Manila — I took a taxi back to Ayala station

The taxi ride was through McKinley Road, and I quickly realized how posh this area was. The taxi driver told me very rich people live on McKinley Hill.

McKinley hill road to Ayala Manila Philippines — Passed a few highly fortified houses, which usually implies bureaucrats, individuals with questionable incomes sources and other high profile people live here

Ayala Malls McKinley road Manila — Unlike my rip-off taxi ride to the cemetery, the journey back was through the right path and it only cost ₱56

Glorietta malls Ayala Manila Philippines — Figuring I still had some time (and craving for some more air-conditioning), I checked out Glorietta Mall

Glorietta Ayala mall Marks & Spencer store Manila — This was the only photo I took from inside before the security man came over and told me photography is prohibited. Oh well.

SM Ayala taxi line Manila Philippines — I checked out a few floors and left soon after

I took the MRT back to Pasay, went back to Kabayan, freshened up, collected my bags and called Aimee. She asked me to come to Central station, where she would meet me there.

Once at Central, we took a taxi and went to Sampaloc, cost ₱70.

Cayco Street Espana blvd Sampaloc Philippines — We got down here

From there, it was a short walk to the Autobus office. I collected my ticket, paid Aimee back (₱450 for a one-way ticket to Banaue) and we sat a convenient store to chat for some time.

Aimee in front of Autobus station Manila — This is Aimee, and the Autobus office is in the background

I saw Aimee off and boarded my bus, a small one. I’ll talk about how the ride was in my next post but all in all, today was a good start. I had high hopes for the next few days.

Previous post:

Philippines 2011: Flying over South China Sea for the first time

Other posts in this series:

Philippines 2011: Day 2 – Banaue rice terraces; trekking to Batad village

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Banaue town; heading to Sagada via Bontoc

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Sagada’s Lumiang burial cave, Sumaguing cave, Hanging Coffins of Echo valley

Philippines 2011: Leaving Sagada for Baguio, and arriving in Angeles city (Days 4 & 5)

Philippines 2011: Day 6 – Good Friday in San Fernando, San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites

Philippines 2011: Day 7 – Leaving Angeles City for Manila, Mall of Asia

Philippines 2011: Day 8 – Manila tour: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, China Town

Philippines 2011: Day 9 – Cebu: Fort San Pedro, Basilica of Santo Niño, Taoist Temple

Philippines 2011: Day 10 – Bohol tour: Chocolate Hills, Loboc river cruise, Tarsiers, churches

Philippines 2011: Day 11 – Arriving in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 12 – Puerto Princesa Underground River tour, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 13 – Puerto Princesa to El Nido by bus

Philippines 2011: Day 14 – El Nido island hopping tour A and sunset at Las Cabanas beach, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Back to Manila, shopping, and my final thoughts about the country (Final post)

Philippines 2011: Flying over South China Sea for the first time

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Aug 06, 2011
/
Philippines, Travel

Planning a trip to the Philippines began with the most unlikeliest of inspirations — an e-mail forward from my father. Not even a good official one, but one of those e-mails that had numerous ‘fwd: FW: Fwd:’ before the actual subject line of ‘can you believe Philippines has such beauty?!’ followed by numerous exclamation marks.

I usually disregard the images I find in such e-mails as they’re usually not from the country they claim to be but upon checking up some of the names of the places they showcased, I was quite surprised about how little I knew of their existence!

It dawned to me I knew very little about Philippines, this despite having grown up in the Middle East where (just like Indians) millions of them come to work. As a kid, all I knew about Filipinos is that a lot of them work in fast food joints or play in a band — and they don’t have the letter ‘F’ in their vocabulary. So I would often hear “500 pils” instead of “500 fils” when asked for change.

I learnt of Banaue and its famous rice terraces, the beautiful beaches of Boracay and Palawan, but the place that made me wish I was there was the remote island of Batanes. It was then, early 2010, I decided to consider making a trip to Philippines.

It was quite challenge really, because trying to study the geography of Philippines wasn’t easy.

Philippines country regions provinces map — (Image source: Wikipedia)

Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands. Sure, many of those thousands are really tiny to even identify on a map but still, getting around the country isn’t easy. It requires some learning beforehand. Since it’s not a landlocked country like most of Thailand, you have to commute via road, ferry, and airlines just to get to certain places within the country.

I initially thought of clubbing Philippines & Thailand last year but it was proving to be quite expensive. So I decided to give Philippines it’s own time.

That time was early this year, when things weren’t looking too good at my workplace. We all knew what was coming our way with the fate of the office and so, instead of prepping up my resume and looking for another job, I researched more on Philippines instead 🙂 When things became official in March and we all knew we were going to be laid off, I booked my tickets!

I tried Air Asia first but at around INR19k, it wasn’t as cheap as I thought it would be. Plus the timings were inconvenient. I land late at night and my connecting flight would have been at 7am the next morning. No way I was going to spend that long at KL LCCT! So I checked all the usual Indian travel websites and got the best deal from Travelocity for a Malaysia Airlines flight at Rs. 26,153 ($584/€411) return. Yes, it was more than Air Asia, but it was going to be convenient, so I didn’t mind paying a bit extra for that. Also, I would get proper meals, land at KLIA and not the present ~~warehouse~~budget terminal. More importantly, the time I had to wait for my connecting flight was lesser.

Philippines Airlines had just launched their direct flight service to New Delhi (only), but it was quite expensive, so flying the Philippines national carrier was not a possibility.

Next came the visa. When I researched on the tourist visa, I was happy to find out Philippines offer a 21-day visa-on-arrival for a 147 nations! Great, I thought… until I scanned down the list and couldn’t find India one among those 147 countries -_-

So I ended up at the website of the Philippines embassy in New Delhi and found out I have to pay Rs. 2320 for a tourist visa (and for just 21 days). Since I couldn’t fly to Delhi just to get a visa, I had to get it done through an agent. Some agents wouldn’t even do it, and one moron even asked for Rs. 10,000 as service charges! But I walked into the nearby Thomas cook office in Koramangala (inside Raheja Arcade) and got my visa processed by paying their Rs. 1000 service charge. At Rs. 3320, this was the most I had spent on a South East Asian visa so far, and that too for a single entry visa. My multiple entry Singapore visa for 2 years cost just Rs. 1800 and my 1 year Malaysia visa cost just Rs. 1500. Thailand was free visa-on-arrival the two times I went.

My travel period was from 16th April to 4th May and I chose the dates keeping in mind the main focus of my trip was to photograph the Easter crucifixions in San Fernando. The rest of my itinerary would see me visit the largest American war cemetery outside of the United States, traverse throughout the Ifugao province for my fix of rice terrace farms, see coffins hung on hill sides, Cebu, see odd-shaped hills in Bohol and finally enjoy the natural beauty of Palawan island. I was looking for ‘interesting’ with this trip, so I ruled out Boracay — the nation’s most popular island destination, and the most touristy. Unfortunately, Batanes was out of this trip plan as well, simply because it was too expensive to even get there. No budget carrier (and Philippines has enough of them) flies to Batanes and even those that do only fly if they get enough passengers. Batanes is that remote an island.

As days passed by, I felt a bit nervous and kept having second thoughts about spending a lot of money during uncertain times. Sure, the Philippines currency value was the same as the Indian rupee, so that really helped! But still, here I was, going on vacation when all my colleagues were busy job hunting. Plus, I was going to be visiting a new country, one that like Thailand (to the eyes of the ignorant) has a sketchy reputation. I knew what I was going to see, and I was looking forward to see if they live up to the hype, but still…

One ray of hope that eased me up a bit came my way two weeks before my departure date when one of my readers left me a comment telling me how much she appreciated my website and that I “should visit the Philippines sometime!”

🙂

That blessing of a reader couldn’t have come at a better time and after we got in touch, she would be of great help to me, even helping me out with some bookings. I felt much better knowing I had a local contact, which always helps!

Leaving Bangalore airport Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur — Now I was ready to fly!

Malaysia Airlines seafood meal Bangalore flight — I had pre-booked a seafood meal for a change and while the tuna and veggies were good, I couldn’t help but envy my co-passengers with their ‘regular’ meals enjoying their creamy desserts and chocolates when all I got was cold fruits. It’s as though Malaysia gimped on the rest of the meal given how much fish costs. Sucks

Kuala Lumpur international airport tower Malaysia — Selamat pagi* Malaysia! (*Good morning)

Kuala Lumpur International Airport KLIA gates — I landed on time and took this around 7:45am

Kuala Lumpur International airport duty free liqour Malaysia — This was my first time in Kuala Lumpur International airport as last year I flew Air Asia

Kuala Lumpur airport KLIA Harrods store Malaysia — There’s a mini-Harrods (Impressed with how sharp this photo came out)

Kuala Lumpur International Airport Cadbury store Malaysia — They have an exclusive Cadbury store here too

Kuala Lumpur International airport duty free Malaysia — I loitered around the Duty Free for a while

Post loitering, I found my gate and sat in front of it. I tried to catch some sleep but ended up going online to kill time for the next 4 hours.

KLIA grey skies Malaysia morning — It was grey skies even until noon in Sepang

I boarded my second Malaysia Airlines flight for this trip in the afternoon and I was now en route to Philippines.

Sepang city Malaysia flight aerial view takeoff — Selamat tinggal Malaysia!

Leaving Malaysian shores aerial view flight — Leaving Malaysian shores…

South China sea spotted clouds blue water — … and flew over the South China Sea for the first time

South China sea cloud over islands — Which was a welcome pleasant change of scene for me

I took a break from staring outside my window to eat some peanuts.

Malaysia Airlines salted peanuts allergy information — Well… duh 🙂

South China sea small hilly island aerial — Back to staring out into the blue

South China sea islands aerial photograph — Beautiful

South China sea huge cloud over islands aerial photography — Awesome

Malaysia Airlines meal packaging Manila flight — Okay, break time. Lunch had arrived!

Malaysia Airlines seafood meal Manila flight — Seafood meal again. Tuna steak and veggies again. ‘Regular’ meals came with Cadbury chocolates besides pudding for dessert. I got dried raisins. Seriously -_-

South China sea line clouds aerial view island — Meal done, back to blue

South China sea oval island aerial photograph — Submerged?

South China Sea boomerang island submerged aerial photograph — Needless to say, I really enjoyed this flight

South China sea moon afternoon aerial photograph — Hello moon…

It got cloudy after this, so I lowered the shades and caught up on some sleep.

South China sea mountains above clouds aerial photograph — Woke up an hour later to the announcement we were approaching Manila

Entering mainland Philippines shores aerial photograph — Hello Philippines

Philippines Manila aerial photography — Manila city

Manila port Philippines aerial photography — Manila port

Manila city evening aerial photograph — Metro Manila is the 8th most populous metro in Asia

Manila sunset from plane Philippines — It was nearing 5pm in Philippines

Manila Taguig city building construction Philippines — The flight was a bit early… which is never a bad thing (as long as the traffic control clears it)

About to land manila international airport — About to land

Landed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila Philippines — Ninoy Aquino International Airport

So after nearly a total of 8 hours of flying, I was finally in Philippines. Phew, long journey!

Arrival Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila Philippines — How’s the airport? Quite old and in much need for an upgrade. Well, at least Terminal I was in.

I got my passport stamped, got my bags rather quickly, converted some dollars and I was out in around 15 minutes. The first thing I wanted to do was get a local SIM and fortunately Globe was handing out free SIMs (though they were mostly for OFWs*).

I hired a pre-paid yellow taxi (which would later turn out to be a mistake) and asked him to take me to Kabayan Hotel in Pasay, which was close to the airport. I chose Kabayan as it was a popular recommendation online. Plus, I didn’t want to spend too much time in traffic just to get to touristy Makati.

But despite how close the hotel looked on the map from the airport, getting there still took nearly 45 minutes in evening traffic. It cost 250 pesos ($5/€4) which is far more than what I thought it would cost. Anyway, I went to the hotel reception, booked a single room for myself and checked in.

Kabayan Hotel single room Manila Philippines — My A/C single room, PHP950 per night ($22/€15)

Kabayan is pretty cool. They have rooms ranging from dorms all the way up to deluxe rooms and from prices starting as low PHP610, they are very popular. And get this, you get complimentary breakfast and lunch! They also have free wi-fi among other great amenities.

Kabayan hotel rooms Manila Philippines — The toilets and shower rooms are down the hall and in between (clean and well kept)

Oh by the way, they don’t use the word toilets much in Philippines, instead it’s ‘Comfort Rooms’ or ‘CR’ 🙂

I stepped out again because I needed to buy some credit for the Globe SIM so that I could inform my family of my safe arrival. Since I was out, I decided to grab dinner early. It soon struck me just how much fast food Filipinos eat. Mc Donalds and homegrown Jollibee was everywhere — and they both had multiple branches within meters of each other — and all of them were doing brisk buisness! As the fast food chains are too chicken to sell beef burgers here in India (due to religious politics), a good ol’ cheeseburger was what I was craving. I picked up a burger from Jollibee, a doughnut from 7-11 and some water.

The area I was in was quite a busy part of town as it was a major hub for transportation, so you get everything you need as far as convenience stores, supermarkets and eateries go. It’s also a very noisy area, mostly because of the jeepneys.

But Kabayan does a good job of cutting out the noise once you’re inside the hotel. I took a nice warm bath and then had my dinner. I called my aforementioned reader (whose name is Aimee) and we spoke for a while. She told me the pre-paid yellow taxi at the airport are priced way more than the usual taxis I could have gotten had I just walked a bit further out. Also, there were frequent airport buses that drop people to Pasay and back. Oh well, rookie mistake.

Kabayan hotel single pad LCD tv Manila Philippines — Unlike many hotels in this price range, Kabayan has a good selection of channels which even included Zee TV (the only Indian channel though)

Given that I hadn’t slept properly in nearly 24 hours, I called it an early night.

I couldn’t wait for tomorrow to begin!

——–

Please note: In this series of posts, I won’t be mentioning conversion rates for Indian rupees as both Philippines Peso (PHP/₱) and the Indian Rupee are more or less on a 1:1 value ratio. So Rs. 100 is like PHP98. Therefore only US dollar and Euro conversion rates will be mentioned.

*OFW = Overseas Filipino Workers; similar to NRI (Non-Resident Indian)

Other posts in this series:

Philippines 2011: Day 1 — Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Fort Bonifacio

Philippines 2011: Day 2 – Banaue rice terraces; trekking to Batad village

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Banaue town; heading to Sagada via Bontoc

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Sagada’s Lumiang burial cave, Sumaguing cave, Hanging Coffins of Echo valley

Philippines 2011: Leaving Sagada for Baguio, and arriving in Angeles city (Days 4 & 5)

Philippines 2011: Day 6 – Good Friday in San Fernando, San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites

Philippines 2011: Day 7 – Leaving Angeles City for Manila, Mall of Asia

Philippines 2011: Day 8 – Manila tour: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, China Town

Philippines 2011: Day 9 – Cebu: Fort San Pedro, Basilica of Santo Niño, Taoist Temple

Philippines 2011: Day 10 – Bohol tour: Chocolate Hills, Loboc river cruise, Tarsiers, churches