Banaue (Philippines) - the new wonders of the world

The buses to the north of Luzon all travel at night. Like pearls on a string, all the bus companies drive one after the other and all stop at the same restaurants and petrol stations. The highway towards Banaue resembles a continuously built road, with houses on both sides.

The buses are outdated but generally okay, the prices can be considered cheap (about €14 per person)

We arrive in Banaue in the early morning hours and are usually picked up by guesthouses or tractors trying their best to attract tourists to stay with them. This was the first time in the Philippines where I had the impression that there was something like organized tourism and indeed, Western tourists dominated.

We stayed at the Greenview Guesthouse with simple but comfortable rooms and a magnificent view of the rice terraces and the village. The sun shines in the morning light and we are just happy to be out of the million metropolis Manila

There is not much to say about Banaue, faceless, not very beautiful or appealing. We only wanted to stay for one night and use the day to hike in the rice terraces and move on to Sagada the next day.

We decided on a four-hour tour to the rice terraces of Hapao with a stop at the viewpoint afterwards.

The views were terrific, I was fascinated by the small villages that had sprung up in the middle of the rice terraces and the extremely narrow paths through the terraces. Next time, I would book a small guesthouse in the middle of the rice terraces to enjoy nature even more. Everything was shining in the most vibrant green and looked so perfect that it's hard to believe that the terraces were built by hand and are already 1000 years old.

The highlight was definitely the view from the viewpoint, we were really lucky with the weather, as it usually rains a lot in this part of the world.

Unfortunately, it started to cloud over on that day and an annoying drizzly rain spoiled our afternoon, which we spent idle in the Greenview. In the evening, we enjoyed typical traveler food and got some tasty meat skewers from the roadside stand around the corner. We noticed a road sign because we would see it in the following days as a constant reminder, 'no spitting Moma'.... the Ifugao people chew betel nut, leaving unsightly red, blood-like stains on the ground. Although deeply rooted in Ifugao tradition, it seems not to fit into the new image of the Philippines anymore.

'It's more fun in the Philippines', the slogan of the local tourism authority makes one fear the worst.....every effort is being made to attract the hordes of travelers from other parts of Southeast Asia to the Philippines. Paradise will increasingly change, it will soon become more faceless and adapted to the mainstream here as well.

Our conclusion of Banaue, it's definitely worth it - just don't expect anything from the town. The rice terraces are great, and if you have more time, you should consider a multi-day trek. Unfortunately, the Ifugao people are also exhibited for cheap photos and a small fee, an event that we skipped.

Overall, the culture of the Ifugao people, their houses, and their rituals reminded me very much of the South Sea or Papua New Guinea - the regional proximity is unmistakable.

We found the 'jewelry' on the Ifugao houses to be quite bizarre. When asked, we were told that the poor devils hanging below the roof ridge are the remains of Japanese soldiers from World War II! They were supposed to serve as a deterrent to unwanted visitors and I guess the skulls and pelvic bones have had their effect