Getting to Banaue

I have always wanted to see the Banaue rice terraces. I cannot imagine having something so amazing in my country and not seeing it even once before I die.  So when I found myself living in Luzon, the prospect became more real. It was now accessible via land travel. According to Google Maps, it was some 485 kilometers from Batangas City or some 7.5 hours away.

Here is our route, starting from the NLEX toll barrier in Balintawak:

NLEX Balintawak toll plaza to Nature's Mist in Banaue, Ifugao

Tips: 

• Make sure to eat or go for a toilet stop along any of the gas stations along NLEX since there are no adequate toilet facilities along SCTEX and TPLEX.

Batad Rice Terraces

I know, I know. You do not have to go to Batad to see awesome rice terraces. But if you are staying the night in Banaue anyway, go to Batad even if it kills you. The rice terraces in Batad are among five inscribed clusters that have been declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.  The four others are:  the Nagacadan terrace cluster in the municipality of Kiangan;  Hungduan terrace cluster, the central Mayoyao terrace cluster and the Bangaan terrace cluster in Banaue. 

Of aswangs and sigbins

In a recent exchange of emails with my sisters, two of them mentioned this “aswang”, a label they had given a grey-haired woman who used to own the huts on a beach which our family frequented during our childhood days. I was amazed that I did not share this memory. I certainly remembered the woman, but not that we had ever thought she was an aswang.

Manananggal by hydeist17
(www.deviantart.com/art/
manananggal-87318427)

According to Philippine folklore, aswangs are shape-shifters. They are humans by day but transform into creatures (most often a dog) at night. They supposedly eat unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts. I have a feeling that my sisters confused her with a manananggal, another mythical creature who is a woman by day and transforms into a winged monster-like creature at night. When darkness falls, her torso splits, allowing the upper half to fly away and hunt humans.