A trip to Batad, Banaue will not be complete without exploring their vast Batad Rice Terraces. As this one of the UNESCO World Heritage site, it must be something. It really makes this place an interesting one.
An invite from Sir Ben for this trip make me confirm without any hesitations. It is one of the first items on my bucket list. It was introduced to me in 2005 yet it wasn’t included in our itinerary so we didn’t have the chance of seeing it.
Now that I am already in Batad, I sleep at an authentic Ifugao house and I need to explore what is really the gem of the place; its Batad Rice Terraces. It is like an amphitheater covering almost all of one side of the mountain facing the village. How amazing it is to come up with the brilliant idea in building this vast rice fields? Now I understand why UNESCO also makes this part of their list of World Heritage sites.
As set in our itinerary, we will explore the Batad Rice Terraces and at the same time trek to Tappiya Falls in the morning. After taking our breakfast, we prepare ourselves for quite a long walk with up and down stair challenges. We also plan to do the circuit. We will be walking along the route traversing the rice fields going directly to the passageway to Tappiya Falls. Upon return, we will be utilizing the other route that will pass through the village.
Along the way, we happen to pass by the water source of Batad. I stop for a taste of it. In every place I am into, I always want to try to taste their potable water. I am thankful that I am not that sensitive to any water source as long as locals drink from it.
Just a short walk from the water source is the start of the rice terraces maze. The challenging and enjoyable part of our journey is the hike along the dikes. While some are purely soil, some also have bigger stone-piles on top of the dirt. We will also be literally passing along the plants so we must have to be careful not to destroy the dikes.
Since we are new to the place and not much into dike walkings, we are also a lot careful so we will not fall on either side of the dike. One side is just a step down the muddy rice field while the other side is almost 10 ft deep falling directly onto the other rice field.
The rice fields have its own unique form of irrigation. I am not sure where is the actual water source for irrigation but the fields are properly irrigated. I also remember how the Incas made some water canals for Machu Picchu. I am thinking that the locals of Batad have also the same concept of irrigation.
This time, the crops in Batad Rice Terraces are in bloom. Some areas of the rice fields are almost yellow (signs of near harvest season) while some are deep green. It is so amazing seeing the fields like a map of different shades. Mang Ramon explains to us that farmers have only one cropping a year since the variety of crops they are tending yields in 5 to 6 months.
Now, the farmers in Batad have three varieties of rice crops in the fields. I also find it amazing when we happen to pass along a variety of crop that grow taller than me. As I have known in our province, rice varieties would grow up to waist level only, yet in Batad, they have this giant variety.
The hike along the fields helps us understand the way of farming in Batad. They must have to stabilize the dikes because they receive a lot of rains all throughout the year. They also have to stabilize the canals for excess water to flow directly to the river nearby thereby lessening the damage from landslide. They seldom have it in the field though.
Some parts of the dike have concrete pavements; visitors as well as locals are using it as the access road to Tappiya Falls. I think they are also limiting the modernization of the dikes since they are part of the list as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They have to strictly follow the guidelines of being one in order to preserve like that of the originals.
I enjoy the journey of walking along the maze of Batad Rice Terraces. It is simply amazing as well as a challenge. From the raw dikes to the stone and concrete pavements, from hopping to one side of the canal from the other, in going up and down the stone stairs, it is really a fun-filled one of a kind experience.
Been here: May 29, 2016
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Wow plenty of amazing info.