The road to Banaue from Sagada is long but none of us complained about the travel time — even though our butts were starting to catch fire for sitting too long — because the view from the window of the van was just too hard to resist. With the exception of my dear friend Tonet, we were all wide awake trying to record all the different kinds of beauty that our eyes would capture. Mountain Province is stunning. From the terraced hillsides to the small streams to the pine forests, everything was just a joy to look at.
When our van stopped for the first time since we left Sagada, we thought we were already in Banaue but our driver was quick to crash our false assumptions. “We’re in Bontoc,” he announced. “There’s something you might want to take a good look at.”
Bay-yo Rice Terraces in Bontoc, Mountain Province
We hopped out of the van one by one and saw what our driver was referring to — Bay-yo Rice Terraces. Although not as big as the Banaue Rice Terraces, Bay-yo is still a stunner. To be honest, it actually looked more appealing than any of the terraces I had seen so far. Perhaps it was because of the fact that there were no houses that stand in the middle of the terraces. The houses were all on one side of the cliff and the terraces, on the other.
Because it is called Bay-yo Rice Terraces, we easily assumed that the crops planted here are rice but one of the locals there said that they sometimes plant vegetables like potatoes.
After a quick photo-session with the terraces, we decided it was time to move on on our journey to Banaue. We thought there would be no more stopovers but we were wrong.
We stopped again at a lane of vegetable stores. Apparently, our driver wanted to buy some because of the low cost of vegetables here. We bought some, too!
Fresh vegetable stalls!
That's our driver purchasing veggies!
Veggies, anyone?
Our last stop before reaching Banaue was not planned. While on the road, we spotted this magnificent waterfall, cascading in the middle of a rainforest. We all shouted in excitement while picking our jaws, which we dropped on the floor. We asked that the vehicle be stopped because we wanted to take a photo of it.
Truly enchanting falls!
Until now, we don’t know what this waterfall is called but it sure is a marvelous sight! It is somewhere between Bontoc and Banaue. We have asked around and posted this on my social media channels hoping someone would give me the name of this waterfall but I have yet to find out.
The Bay-yo Rice Terraces and the Mysterious Waterfall - Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines,
That is Tummey Falls, located at Bay-yo, Bontoc.
Wooooot! Thanks for letting me know! Will research more about this waterfall!