Getting to Batad

I arrive Banaue around 5am. It's a town about 9h north of Manila, in the Philippine mountains at about 3500ft. I'm determined to go to the mountain village of Batad, but due to the typhoon last week, a series of landslides have closed the roads up to the mountains.

After breakfast, I find a motorcycle driver called Freddy who claims he can ride on top of the landslides to drop me off close to Batad. I hop on, and indeed he rides on top of the landslides, it's pretty cool, I just have to get off and walk one of them. After 6 miles we reach a really massive landslide, and Freddy says he can't take me longer. So I hike from there, around 6 miles on bad roads, climbing numerous landslides, then another 3 miles descending a small mountain trail to reach the village at around noon.

Batad is a truly remote place. The village is set on a mountain side surrounded by rice terraces. The only way to get around is by the steep trails they've created along the mountain. There are no motorized vehicles, I don't even see any electricity! In the Philippines, this area is called the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is so beautiful, that even the locals seem to spend most of their time just gazing at the rice terraces. Unfortunately, I'm so exhausted after the hike and the two nights without proper sleep, so I have some lunch, a shower, then collapse and sleep no less than 15 hours!

Freddy drives over a landslide.

A landslide on the way to Batad.

Another annoying landslide.

Arriving in Batad.

Batad, Philippines