Back in Banaue, the tourist center of Ifugao, Jeff and I took a forced rest day ’cause of the rain. We spent too much time watching weather forecasts — it appeared to be drier to the west, but I wanted to head east to see Batad, Bangaan, and Mayoyao. Jeff was less excited about the rice terraces and more concerned about spending miserable days riding in the rain and the clouds without being able to see anything.
I headed off east on my own and was pleased with the decision — I loved the bicycle touring in Ifugao, and the clouds were mostly high enough to not obstruct the views. As I approached the Ifugao-Mountain Province border, the area started to feel remote. In Jacmal, where there was not only a high school but also a university campus, I found a restaurant. Unfortunately it was Sunday — no students and no food. I bought some packaged junk food and pushed on (downhill).
There was nothing in Awayan, but it was still downhill to Butac (not to be confused with Butac near Natonin). I asked around in Butac — nope, no restaurant. I really needed to eat since I knew I had a climb ahead. Locals were helping a family with a car fix a flat tire. The family had apparently come from the direction where I was heading and had asked about a restaurant in the next village. There wasn’t one, but locals had given them a bag of food. Do you want it?, they offered me. Wonderful, thank you, I said, and found a place to sit in the shade. Fried fish heads and some boiled sweet potatoes.
Luckily there were a lot of fish heads ’cause the ride to Natonin ended up being harder than I expected. The roads in Ifugao had almost all been paved. Just a km after crossing the border to Mountain Province, I came to this:
Probably just a short bit of construction after a landslide, I assured myself. Nope, the dirt/mud/rocks continued almost all the way to Natonin.
Continue reading
