Things to do
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Banaue Main Viewpoint
Several roadside platforms a few kilometres uphill from the town centre look across the terraced amphitheatre that appears on the Philippine banknote. Ifugao elders in traditional dress wait at the rail and expect a tip for photographs. Tricycles run up from town and wait. Mornings are clearer; by afternoon cloud often fills the valley and closes the view.
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Banaue Rice Terraces
Carved into the Cordillera slopes by the Ifugao and worked by hand ever since, these mud walled paddies climb in stages from the valley floor, watered from forest reserves above each cluster. Viewpoints on the road north of town give the classic amphitheatre. The World Heritage listing names five clusters elsewhere in the province.
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Batad Rice Terraces
An amphitheatre of stone walled terraces fills a bowl below the village, an hour of walking beyond the road at Batad Saddle. Guesthouses line the rim and most visitors stay a night to catch the light at either end of the day. Paths cross the terrace walls themselves, narrow and slick after rain. Footing matters more here than fitness.
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Hapao Rice Terraces
West of Banaue in Hungduan, stone walled terraces step down to the Hapao river, with hot springs in the riverbed at the bottom of the valley. Fewer visitors come this way, and the walk through the paddies passes working farms and drying floors. A guide is arranged in the barangay. The track is muddy whenever the fields are being flooded.
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Tappiya Falls
Below Batad, a steep descent of about forty minutes ends at a cataract dropping into a deep plunge pool ringed by boulders. The climb back is the harder half, on uneven steps in humid air. Water runs cold and the current under the fall is strong enough to push swimmers back. Guides from the village handle the route and the river crossings.
