The Rice Terraces of Banaue

This World Heritage Site on the southern edge of Luzon's Cordillera Central Mountains is home to a network of 2,000-year-old terraced rice fields that climbs steeply up the mountainsides. Irrigated by a complex system of water channels, most of the terraces are still farmed by the Ifugao people, descendants of the terraces' ancient builders. These terraces offer the visitor an often vibrantly green and always intensively rural scene.

The central hub of the region is the small town of Banaue where most accommodation  is located, but the best rice terraces are found in remoter valleys arround the village of Hapao and Batad. The latter are undoubtedly the most spectacular, clinging to the steep sides of an amphitheatre-like valley, but they are reachable only on foot.

The Steeply terraced rice fields in the countryside around Banaue  are really the central feature for visitor to this region. When the rice plants are young, the terraces are a swathe of stunningly vibrant emerald green. In some areas the terraces are sculpted across a relatively gentle landscape interspersed with cluster of betel nut palms, source of a mild drug that the local people chew, such as around Hapao (below). At a higher altitude, the steep terrain requires some spectacularly deep and complex terraces, most specially around the village of Batad (right  and below left). Roads connecting most villages are narrow steep and twisting, and the only form of public transport is the ubiquitous jeepney. (top right), services regularly linking the villages to Banaue.

The Ifugao people, one of the Philippines' most well Known Cultural minorities, where the original builders of Banaue's rice terraces about 2,000 years ago. Today, they still farm many of the terraces. Their traditional clothing consists largely of red woven cloth, though it is rarely seen these days, Headgear is frequently decorated with feather (below right), with the most elaborate featuring hornbill casques (right), while other adornments might include pendants made from animal bones (below), Their wooden homes are usually built on stilts, and while these are still common, the traditional thatch roof is being increasingly replaced by sheet metal. Some thatched houses has been preserved, such as those at the outdoor museum at Hawang (Top), house are still commonly adorned whith the paraphernalia of rural life, including portable chicken coops (Above right) and water buffalo skulls.