Me, my bestfriend and another friend decided to visit the Batad Rice Terraces which was said to be better than the famed Banaue Rice Terraces. We were supposed to stay at Batad for the night since the walk to and from the rice terraces would be exhausting. However,we arrived in Banaue around 4PM of April 8, 2012, the rain was pouring hard and we were advised by the people at the information booth not to push through with our plan to go to Batad that afternoon. Since we were already there and to compensate the disappointment and ruined plan, we decided to go to the viewing deck of Banaue to admire their rice terraces. Though they say that it was not as good as it was before, I stilled admired the view. We stayed at Banaue Homestay which charged us Php400.00 per person per night. The staff was nice and very friendly. And she was the one who rented a jeepney to take us to Batad the next day.
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| The beauty of Banaue Rice Terraces |
After a restful night, we woke up around 3:00AM and departed from Banaue around 4:30 in the morning via the jeep our inn rented for us (Php2500.00 for the trip to and from Batad). We had a stop over by the hanging house, took some pictures and continued our way to the Saddle Point.
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| View from the Hanging House |
We arrived at the Saddle Point around 6:00AM. This is the farthest place any car can take a tourist. So we really had no choice but to walk. We took some pictures from the view deck before heading down to Batad.
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| Saddle Point View Deck |
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| Seeing this sign made us happy... We're almost there!!! |
After having our names listed, we made our way to Tappia falls passing through the Batad Rice Terraces which we first viewed when we were at the information center.
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| The beautiful Batad Rice Terraces |
We arrived at the Tappia Falls around 8:20AM. But we had to walk through not-so-steady rocky ground before getting there. We had to climb up and down the terraces, pass by an area where rocks were literally falling and make another climb up and down mountains to reach the falls.
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| My best friend climbing down a terrace |
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| Watch out for the falling rocks |
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| This is one of the most dangerous area we had to pass |
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| Rocky path |
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| Have no choice but to walk pass through this |
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| Big steps to and from the Tappia Falls |
We were lucky to since we were able to see 2 rainbows near the falls. We took some pictures and swam in the cold water. This felt so good after walking for more than 2 hours. The tired feeling disappeared and we just enjoyed the beauty of the falls. Since we were warned not to go under the falls, we were contented on staying at the side.
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| Awesome view of Tapia Falls |
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| Tapia falls from the resting area |
Afterwhich, we swam at the area near the riverview restaurant. After dipping in the cold water for almost 2 hours, we headed back around 10:40AM.
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| River beside the restaurant |
We were able to reach the first resting area which has the sign "Warning!!! Falling rock 200 meters ahead" at around 10:55AM. We rested for a while and went on our way. We passed by another 3 resting areas before getting to the store that sold shirts with the words "I Survived Batad" for Php 140.00 each. From there, we reached the information center at around 11:45AM. There were stores in the area that sold Batad Shirts for Php170.00 to Php200.00 each.
From there, we arrived at the first resting area around 12:15 and met a Chinese guy who was on his way up to the Saddle Point. He asked to join us since there's no assurance that he can catch a ride from the Saddle Point back to Banaue. We passed by other resting areas and arrived at the last stop over around 12:45PM.
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| The last resting place before reaching Saddle Point |
When we reached the foot of the steps up the Saddle Point, we were given the choice to climb up the stairs or take the longer path which did not involve any stairs. The three of us took the stairs and counted the number of steps before reaching saddle while the Chinese guy took the easier path. After 419 steps, we finally arrived at the Saddle at around 1:15PM. The Chinese guy arrived 15 minutes later saying he took pictures along the way :D
We headed back to Banaue around 1:30PM and arrived at our inn around 2:25PM.
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| Our rented jeepney to and from Batad |
Next adventure..... Thailand!!!
***2015 and 2016 update:
In November 2015, me and my family visited Battad. I was amazed at how fast we reached the place because it took us only 45 minutes from Banaue. I was also surprised to see that there was already a road from Saddle point up to past many of the what used to be resting places.
The Battad village can now be reached within 15 minutes trek from the parking area. Add another 15 minutes and you are already at the rice paddles! That's almost an hour saved!
A current issue now are the vendors in the Tapia Falls. They created there own stall in the middle of the river! It was really disturbing. As of April 2016, the barangay officials are still discussing this with the vendors.
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