My two days in the Rice Terrace Region of the Cordilleras got off to a bad start: rain was pouring down all of the first day. I didn’t get any further than the Banaue viewpoint and returned to my guesthouse soaking and with only one gloomy photo of a rice terrace that even isn’t on the list.

It kept on raining during the following night, but things didn’t look too bad the following morning. I decided to make an early start and head for Bangaan. By various means of transport, that even included climbing over a landslide that had occurred during the night, I eventually arrived at the town of Bangaan. It’s picturesque, there is no other word for it. Imagine a valley surrounded by high green mountains, with only steep rice terraces on their lower slopes, and a tiny hamlet in the middle. Or look at the photos around this post.

There’s an enormous variation in shades of green (and some brown), wherever you look. Narrow walls / paths make it possible to walk amidst these rice fields. Because it’s not the rice harvesting season only fields with seedlings are bright green in December when I visited. But there’s a lot more to these rice terraces than growing rice: their construction technique (a massive effort 2000 years ago) and also the traditions of the Ifugao people that still live here and earn a meager income from the rice (and make a bit on the side by selling souvenirs).

There are several more WH-designated rice terraces in this area. The ones in Batad are the best according to both the guidebooks and the locals. My (self-imposed) travel schedule didn’t leave room for a visit to Batad or one of the others, but Bangaan already did let me conclude that these Rice Terraces are worth every effort of getting there.