‘That’s my village, Bangaan’, said Conchita, pointing to a cluster of houses among the rice terraces far below where we stood on the terrace of a simple roadside restaurant. Peering down through the drizzling rain I could make out a simple church and rooftops of corrugated metal and thatch.
‘That’s where we are going’, added our guide Jezzy. I gulped! I had known we would need to tackle some steps today but I’d been assured that she would take us to a village that was easier to reach, as I’d warned her I could find a long hike too difficult. If this was supposed to be easy … !
It was worth it, however. As I made my way very cautiously down steps that were often slippery and very uneven, I stopped often for photos as the views of the village below me changed, and new angles on both buildings and rice terraces opened up. I shared a couple of photos from Bangaan in one of my ‘postcards‘ from the Philippines; now for a closer look at that amazing landscape.
With all the galleries in this post you can click to open as a slideshow and see captions
The rice terraces of Bangaan
The Ifugao people have farmed these terraces for two thousand years, and today’s farming methods have changed little since the terraces were created. Using modern machinery and farming methods would be totally impossible here. Each family owns a few terraces, and Jezzy told us that traditionally the red shrubs we saw were used to mark the boundaries. But the community works together to maintain the stone or earth walls, and they help each other out at harvest-time. This is subsistence farming; the rice is grown to feed themselves, not for sale. The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, with Bangaan one of five individual locations included in that listing. According to the UNESCO website:
For 2,000 years, the high rice fields of the Ifugao have followed the contours of the mountains. The fruit of knowledge handed down from one generation to the next, and the expression of sacred traditions and a delicate social balance, they have helped to create a landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between humankind and the environment.
The village school
About halfway down we stopped at the local school. Earlier this morning Jezzy had gone to buy lollipops and wafer biscuits for the children. I would personally prefer to offer pencils or maybe postcards from home on such a visit. But we hadn’t come prepared, while Jezzy had. And the sweet gifts were certainly appreciated!
There were some children in the playground who clearly knew what to expect from our visit as they rushed over to greet Jezzy as soon as we appeared. We went into each class at a time, starting with the youngest. In each the children recited a greeting, but they received the treats differently according to age. The younger ones hurried over to us, those slightly older stayed at the desks looking expectant, while some of the oldest continued with their work while we walked between the desks, only pausing briefly to say, ‘thank you ma’am’ or ‘thank you sir’. But all were ready as we left to chorus as drilled, ‘Thank you for coming to see us, please come again’. One class went further and sang us a rather military hymn.
From the school we descended at least as far again until finally we reached the village. Bangaan has been labelled as a Living Cultural Landscape as it still retains a few traditional Ifugao houses called bale.
At home with Conchita
Conchita’s was the first house we came to, and she welcomed us to sit down. She introduced us to her mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, the youngest just two months old.
She brought coffee while Jezzy showed us the first stage of preparing rice for cooking, stripping the grains from the stalks. We were encouraged to have a go, with mixed results! Conchita then demonstrated how they pound the rice, winnow, pound and winnow again to get it ready for cooking. They do this every day, preparing the rice that, like most Filipinos, they eat with every meal.
Village homes
Conchita then showed us around the village. We saw some of the traditional Ifugao houses, bale, built on raised platforms. Rice can be dried in the open below, the family live on the first floor and the loft area is used to store rice. The access ladder is raised when no one is home. And the platform is attached to the uprights without nails so they can be easily separated should they want to move their location. Outside one home we met an elderly woman who showed us her weaving, and who spoke decent English.
Then we returned to Conchita’s house where we were urged to try on some traditional dress. Neither of us is particularly enthusiastic about this sort of activity as a rule. But it would have been churlish to refuse, and her little grandson was keen to join in the fun.
We bought a small woodcarving of a rice guardian such as sits outside most homes here, as both a souvenir of our visit and a way of saying thank you. And as we left they produced gifts: a fridge magnet and a bag of the rice we had ‘helped’ to prepare.
The uphill climb
After that it was time to tackle the steps back up. This time I counted them. There were almost 500, varying in depth from just a couple of centimetres to probably more than 20! I managed the first half, to the school, without too much difficulty although I needed a couple of short rests and a longer one at that halfway point. But the second half really took it out of me, and I felt pretty drained and wobbly when we finally reached the top. However I was pleased to have managed it as the visit to the village had been really lovely, with everyone we met there so welcoming.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Monday Walk. Maybe you’ll appreciate the views all the more for not having to tackle those steps in the rain yourself!
I’m also sharing this with Terri for her monthly Sunday Stills challenge, this month focusing on shades of green.
I visited Bangaan in February 2025, and have permission to share all these photos, including those taken in the school and Conchita’s grandchildren
33 Comments
Steven and Annie Berger
We so hope to be able to visit someday. Your posts are just wonderful.
Steve
Sarah Wilkie
You would love the Philippines Steve, I’m glad my posts (and I assume Phil and Michaela’s?) are inspiring you to visit perhaps 😃
grandmisadventures
What a special experience to get to be part of things with them 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, we really felt we understood a little bit of their lives through this visit 😀
Alison
Those steps look treacherous indeed, and I would have been the same on the way up. You looked very fetching in the traditional dress. I think they’re happy to have visitors to view their way of life, otherwise they would be very isolated. Your photos are fantastic.
Sarah Wilkie
If not treacherous, then certainly daunting! Thank you Alison – I do feel the local people welcomed our visit 🙂 One reason we like to travel as just a couple rather than group tours is not to overwhelm a place like this. And thanks too for the compliment on the photos 😊
rkrontheroad
The most special travel visits are the ones where you connect with local people and see the area from their point of view. And the children! The misty rice paddy photos are stunning.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I totally agree Ruth, and you’ve expressed it perfectly – seeing things ‘from their point of view’. I felt we did that with Conchita 🙂 The ‘mist’ aka rain may have added to the atmosphere in the photos but the steps would have felt safer without it!
thehungrytravellers.blog
All looks decidedly familiar, including the weather! Just picking up on Jude’s comment, we did climb down to a village, just not this one. Conchita offered to take us the following day but we felt we’d got away the first day, having no major mishaps on those treacherous rain soaked steps, and anyway we wanted to drive ourselves around on day two. I think the village we visited was Batad. Anyway, they are all amazing places.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, you probably went to Batad 🙂 That was originally on our itinerary but when I told Jezzy I wasn’t up for hiking she suggested this alternative as being ‘easy’ 😆 That’s why the school was unexpected as I don’t think a school visit is a feasible part of a Batad hike? And yes, those steps felt quite treacherous in places even though the weather we had wasn’t quite as bad as you experienced. After all, if they’re wet, they’re wet! So there was me inching my way down while holding some sort of combination of walking pole / handrail (where available) / Chris, and there were the little kids running up and down (they went home for lunch) as if the steps weren’t there at all!
Sue
what a marvellous experience, Sarah. I’m most impressed with your tackling all those steps and uphill-well done!
Sarah Wilkie
I was quite impressed with myself! Thank you Sue 🙂
margaret21
What an absolutely wonderful experience. It sounds as though you weren’t made to feel like voyeurs. It must have been worth the discomfort and exhaustion to have been part of this very different day.
Sarah Wilkie
It was fantastic and well worth the challenges! And no, I didn’t feel in the slightest like a voyeur, more like a friend who’d dropped in for coffee 😀
Marie
The greens are so lush. Fascinating post.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, very lush – thank you Marie 🙂
bushboy
Amazing place
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 🙂
Anna
Such a beautiful landscape and so great that there is still the old traditional ways to see. And good on you for climbing the steps! This hiker is so proud 😂
Sarah Wilkie
You’d have been up and down with no problems I am sure Anna – after all, this is supposed to be one of the easier hikes in the area! But what is easy for one person is tough for another and impossible for a third 😉 It was so worth it however!
Vicki
Thanks for sharing, Sarah. I enjoyed your photos of this beautiful village, its people and traditional lifestyle very much.
….and well done for climbing those steps. I would have probably been able to climb less that 20 with my 3 heart conditions and now, enormously unfit. So saying, it’s amazing what we can do if we put our minds to it.
Sarah Wilkie
You’re right, it is amazing what we can do – often more than we would have thought! I was glad Jezzy persuaded me to try, I have to admit 🙂 I would have hated to miss out on visiting this village and learning about the lifestyle of these people.
Monkey's Tale
You must be so happy that you went down to the village though. It looks to be such a special town. But they sure have a tough life, beginning with thrashing your own rice. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
I was very pleased I’d made the effort, and succeeded! This was one of the best days of the trip, looking back, although I might not have said so whe I was halfway back up those steps 😀
restlessjo
The traditional dress quite suits you, Sarah. At least you had a hand rail for the steps, but it does look a long way down. I wouldn’t mind a bit of weaving but I can’t say I’d be thrilled at growing rice for my sustenance. We take so much for granted, don’t we? Thanks a lot for sharing xx
Sarah Wilkie
Hah, the hand rail was there the whole way down / up! I had to resort to grabbing Chris’s arm even though I did have a pole too 😀 Places like this make me conscious of how lucky I was to be born where and when I was, but if this is the only lifestyle you’ve ever known you wouldn’t judge it as we do I guess. But as I said to the others below, it’s becoming harder to ‘sell’ it to young people as a way of life when they are so much more aware these days of the alternatives open to them elsewhere.
Heyjude
There is no way I could have tackled all those steps. To be honest this sort of tourism makes me a bit uncomfortable. The children especially. And the dressing up. Do you know how many people visit this village? I recall that Phil and Michaela went here too.
Sarah Wilkie
Hi Jude 🙂 Phil and Michaela went to this area but I think not to this village. The weather was even worse than when we went and hiking down was out of the question.
I take your point about feeling uncomfortable but I don’t fully agree. Yes, I would have preferred to take more useful gifts to the school (we should have anticipated a school visit at some point on this trip and taken coloured pencils or similar as we have done elsewhere), and the dressing up isn’t really our thing. But as I said to Terri below, this way of life and the rice terraces themselves are threatened by the tendency for young people to want to move away and find a more comfortable and/or more modern way of life. Without people to work on them they could soon disappear. That is why tourism is important here, as it provides a bit more security and a reason for young people to stay in the area, as well as an additional income for the villagers. UNESCO had listed the terraces as under threat and have recently withdrawn that as they recognise the efforts of local people to protect them. And our guide Jezzy told us how she personally had persuaded the local authority that they should levy a small tourist tax (the equivalent of just $1 US per person I think) to invest in local projects. But I do think it’s important to be responsible in your approach to visiting. Hire a local guide, like Conchita, who can make sure you don’t do anything that would cause offence and whose family can benefit from the money you spend. Buy souvenirs from local craftspeople and eat in local restaurants (we had one of the best meals of our trip in that roadside restaurant after our climb back up!) Ask before taking photos, and only go where you are invited to go. And so on …
Heyjude
Thanks Sarah. I realise that you are a very responsible and respectful tourist. My problem is that I wonder if we want these ways of life to continue so we can visit them. I’m sure most of us would not want to live this way and we can’t blame young people for wanting a better way of life. I’m probably explaining myself badly and no way am I criticising you for your visit.
Sarah Wilkie
You’re not explaining badly at all, I totally get what you’re saying and I think there’s some truth in it. But if this way of life disappears, and they can’t grow the rice that is their main source of food, will all the locals find good alternatives or will some suffer as a result? I don’t have easy answers but if they can continue to farm the terraces but also get some additional support via (responsible) tourism, I hope that’s a win-win.
Terri Webster Schrandt
Amazing greens to be found in Bangaan, Sarah! Interesting that climate change hasn’t really affected 2000 years of growing rice for themselves. Those were indeed a lot of steps, glad you could manage them. Amazing shots of the area and culture.
This is Terri in case the post doesn’t recognize me. Second blog in the last 30 minutes that’s wanted me to log in to WP. Have a great week!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri (and yes, you were recognised!) I think climate change must be having an effect but not enough to stop the rice farming – yet at least. A more immediate threat is the tendency for young people to want to move away and find a more comfortable and/or more modern way of life. Without people to work on them these terraces will soon disappear. That is why tourism is important here, as it provides a bit more security and a reason for young people to stay in the area.
Terri Webster Schrandt
Great points! Tourism is very tricky business. Sadly, generational traditions are at risk due to the global reach of the internet and social media.