The Philippines Wrap-up

The Great : Batad. The small village is difficult to access and requires trekkers to be in fit condition. However, Batad offers the visitor hands down the best rice fields in the world. The view is majestic and trekkers will enjoy the many walks in the surrounding mountains. A real gem on the island of Luzon.

The Hidden : The seven viewpoints in Banaue. Our travel guide talked about only one viewpoint. As we went up the mountain to the first “official” viewpoint, we decided to keep going up in the hopes of getting a better top down view of the valley leading to Banaue. Lo and behold, we found other viewpoints, some with picnic tables that provided even better views than the official viewpoint. So if you visit Banaue, make sure you go all the way up to the last viewpoint. The highest one provides the most spectacular view.

The Overrated : Historical Intramuros in Manilla. Intramuros is touted as a must-see in Manila because it features many historical landmarks. However, Manila was completely leveled during WW2 which means that the “historical” features of Intramuros left standing after WW2 are few and far between. The walls of Intramuros, another must-see, were a bit disappointing.

The Ugly : Stray animals. Wild dogs scared the living bejesus out of us quite a few times. The fabulous mountain walk from Batad to Banaue had an infamous “dog alley”. Walking briskly through dog alley took us no more than 30 minutes, but it must have lasted a lifetime for Ania.

Also, extremely thin, starving dogs and cats with ribs or backbone protruding are a heartbreaking sight. We saw a kitten slowly dying on the street in Manila. I could not function properly for the rest of the day.