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The Rice Terraces Of Banaue: A Stay Of Two Halves
Our stay in Banaue took something of a different turn as a proper deterioration in the weather took hold. The Philippines has this week been hit by a weather front known as a “shear line” – no, we hadn’t heard of it either – which has brought torrential rain to several islands. South of here the damage has been much worse with devastating flooding, here in northern Luzon it was less damaging but still pretty extreme. Our perseverance in getting out to the rice terraces on the wet day was rewarded by some better weather on Day 2. This is how it went… The thing which draws visitors to the…
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Baguio, City Of Pines
Slowly, slowly the bus hauls up the mountain road, climbing ever higher above the pine clad slopes and dramatic valleys, dragging round sharp hairpins until eventually we’re even above the clouds which cover the mountainsides in a giant cotton wool coat. It’s an incredible view from the bus window even before the setting sun sends unlikely shades on to the rolling clouds below, casting the pine forests into a ghostly golden twilight. This spectacular is, remarkably, to be outdone by the skies of the following evening….but of course we don’t know that yet… We hadn’t been sure about the bus, in terms of how we would get a seat. You…
