Sendusout

One thing I have often read about blogging is that you should never make excuses for your lack of writing. It always sounds so sad to read a post where someone is apologizing for not having written in ages because they have been busy or sick or whatever. So I’m not doing that. That’s not what this opening paragraph is all about.

Last weekend, during Isaiah’s spring break, we were able to take a wonderful trip up north. Our wonderful friend, Liz Hollenberg, is wrapping up a 6 month volunteer position with WMC-AP and so we had lots of motivation to explore one of the most stunning places on earth; the Banaue Rice Terraces.

The rice terraces are often considered as a contender for the title of 8th Wonder of the World. I would have to agree. This amazing irrigation system was built over 2,000 years ago and covers over 4,000 square miles of rough mountains. The magnitude of it all is breath taking. The terraces are still farmed today, yet many factors are threatening their existence. The rice that grows here is a slow growing crop and takes a lot of work. Rice grown at the base of the mountains yields 3x the crop and can be farmed with machinery; however,  the biggest threat seems to be modernization. Most young people from the Ifugao tribe would rather get computer jobs in the city to support their families.

The fact remains that this place, and the way of life for many of it’s inhabitants, is little changed from what it was like in the past.  These people seem to relish in the beauty around them and take life as it comes, day-by-day.

We had a great time driving around the area, taking pictures, going on short exploratory hikes, taking more pictures, buying a few souvenirs, and taking even more pictures. There were lots of opportunities for hiking into some areas that are more stunning still, but they kids were happy not to be forced into a three hour march along the terrace walls.

During our trip, we stayed at the SIL guest house in Bagabag, about 45km south of Banaue. This was another treat. The mission compound at Bagabag is beautiful and the kids especially were thrilled that they had a swimming pool and trampoline. If they had their way, they would have jumped and swam the entire vacation. For us, it was a treat just being in the country side and exchanging the smells of diesel fuel for flowers and trees and the sounds of car horns for birds and the wind rustling leaves.

We had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend the drive for any living in Luzon. With the new highways out of Manila we were surprised that it was a short half-day drive. Take a break and refuel in the midst of God’s amazing creation.

We do have more pictures in a Facebook Gallery, so check them out.