Our Hotel in Banaue

This is the owner of the hotel we stayed at in Banaue, it was an okay hotel but learned there was a much nicer one but also much more expensive. She was very nice and had a little souvenir shop right there in the lobby. Smart lady, all of us women had to buy a few things there. We went on our trip just in the nick of time because when the rainy season starts the road are often closed because of mudslides.

Our Trip to Banaue Rice Fields

No pictures can do the scenery justice. These rice fields by created by hand many generations ago. They utilize every inch of mountainous terrain by layering the planting fields. This region was where this kind of farming on terraces began. The art is dying away because the young people move to bigger cities to seek work.

All the terraces in this area are created with dirt walls. In other towns we saw they were constructed of rock. They primarily plant rice but we saw many terraces loaded with vegetables of all kinds. There is no irrigation, they depend totally on rainfall. It is so breathtaking to look down and see hundreds of terraces as far as the eye can see and growing crops on each of them. They have to walk from wherever their home is to the terraces each day to tend the crops, they walk on mud paths to reach them. If they live on the top of the mountain they have quite a commute to the lower terraces!

This is what the rice looks like close up, if the rice is more yellow it is about ready to harvest, if it is a deep green it will be a while before it can be harvested! We have seen them plant and harvest rice, it is hard back breaking work and done manually in the sun and humidity.

Rice is an important staple here in the Philippines, even with all the planting we see ongoing, they have to import rice from China. They eat far more than they can produce.

More of Our Banaue Trip

This is a sturdy bridge made of strong wire cables HOWEVER it still didn't inspire a lot of confidence.

This is as far out as I care to go! There isn't much water in this river as you can tell from the background so if you fell there would be no soft water to break your fall.

All of the men felt the need to go out into the middle of the bridge. All I have to say is "More power to ya!"

This river was farther into our drive. We traveled for about 6-7 hours to get to the heart of Banaue Rice Terrace country. It was not always very good road and very mountainous. It is located in the Cordillera Mountain range in Northern Luzon. While on our trip we came to the highest highway road point in the Philippines.

Mango Trees

These are Mango trees. They have deep green leaves and are plentiful in the Philippines.

The missionaries were telling us that they pull the Mango trees down as they are growing so when they are loaded with fruit it is easier to pick. The Filipino people as a rule are very small so that makes sense. Here are some that are almost on the ground.

Sis. Jover & Sis. Jaca

Sister Jover and Sis. Jaca--two of our favorite sisters, served in Manaoag. This was taken right before they returned home from their mission. We are going to miss them. They are awesome missionaries.

Close Encounter of the Wrong Kind!

This accident had just happened earlier in the morning about 5:30 a.m.
The scene is just a minute or so from the Mission Home in Baguio.

This picture was taken from across the street at a Petron gas station. It looked like a taxi was crushed but...

On closer inspection we see it was two taxis that got it! We don't know what happened to the person in the bottom taxi but it couldn't have been good!

Making Rope

This sister is a member, she was spinning this wheel by hand to make rope. She takes wild grass that grows freely here (she has to let it dry out) then spins it into rope. She told us she can make 7 in a week, each a 100 meters in length. She sells each bundle of 100 meters for 60 pesos, which translated into dollars is about $1.25.

This is the wheel she uses to spin the rope on--she keeps adding more of the grass as she spins. It is very strong rope.

This is a bundle that contains 100 meters of rope for 60 pesos. She was in a little room with no fan and only one small window so it is very hot. I think this might be her only source of income. The Filipino people have to work very hard here to make a living.