Our Amazing Trip

This picture was taken inside a cave. The log looking items are actually caskets. The people of Sagada traditionally either hang their coffins off the side of cliffs or put them in a cave. If you are in the lighted side of the cave you were a good person , that dark side you were a bad person. They stopped the practice in the 1980's due to sanitary restrictions.

These boys were thrilled with their hand carved scooters.

These ladies were out in front of their house cleaning rice. I stopped and asked about it and they gave me a lesson in rice farming. It was actually very educational. I had no idea how rice looked before it was in the bag.The little girl kept handing me handfuls of rice. It was so cute.

This woman was in the on the side of the mtn. road doing her wash with a hose of mtn. irrigation water. Most Filipinos can sit like this for hours. That is the way they  sit and eat with no furniture.

This is the town of Bontoc it was one of the larger ones we went through but all of them look similar to this downtown area.

A group of natives in the original costumes. They make their living getting their pictures taken from tourists and expecting compensation for the picture.

The best part of our trip was not only the things we saw but the amazing people we met. Humble and friendly and live a very simple life and are happy. We all could learn from them.These sweet girls were doing the family wash with a smile.

Our group Tuesday morning before we left.

The cultural experience was unbelievable. We were so thrilled to see real people in real life situations. These rice farmers were on their way to the fields with their trusty water buffalo.

We stopped at a WW 11 war memorial at the sight of a Japanese POW camp. Most of those there were treated so badly they died in captivity at the hands of their enemies. Their names are on the walls both American and Filipino soldiers.

I finally got to sit in a tricycle.It is crowded!

Our Hotel in Solano our first stop.

Our room. The Hotel was nice but the food was not good at all.

A Jeepney we passed with a wedding party. They have a pig strapped on top to be roasted for the wedding feast.

Overlooking the rice terraces. They went for miles and miles throughout the mountains. Some were over grown and no longer in use but there were many still in operation. They are extremely labor intensive because of the location and difficulty to farm. The only equipment is a shovel, your back and an occasional water buffalo. Some are dated back about 2000 years.

The mountain location made it easier to flood the fields with irrigation from above and keep them wet during the growing season.

This was one of my favorite ones.

This was my favorite view. Pictures cannot capture what the eye could see. It was truly amazing.This rice terrace feeds this village. After the rice harvest some plant theirs with vegetables.

hThis portion of the mts. had pine trees. I loved smelling the fresh air, and pines, so different than the pollution in Manila

We were able to actually walk through one of the villages instead of taking pictures from the car. This was a humble village in Benhaue where the lively hood is the rice terraces.

Miles and miles of mountain homes look like this. Bamboo woven enclosures.

We stopped and talked to this sweet mother of 4. She spoke pretty good English. She told us the rice terraces are inherited. If you are the 1st child you inherit you own terrace. All the rest of the children lease theirs from the owners and get 50 % of their yield.This young mother said her family have lived and farmed this area for decades. They lease their terrace.She allowed us to look into her home. It was a room about 8X8 with a wooden floor.Her family consisted of herself,  her husband, her mother and 4 children all in this tiny space. They all spend most of there time outside visiting with each other. The children play outside all day and no one seems to worry about them at all. There was no furniture of any kind. No bathroom no running water. They dig a hole in the back to go the bathroom and they store mtn. water to drink.The small opening right behind her had a small fire going where she cooks the rice and whatever else they have. She did have the family remove their shoes outside so inside was clean and tidy. She was happy and and said she had grown up in that village but hoped her kids could get an education and get a job elsewhere.