SCTEx Clark-Tarlac stretch opens on Friday, July 25

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway will be fully operational beginning Friday when the Clark-Tarlac portion of the 94-kilometer opens to the public. I got a sneak preview of the closed portion of the SCTEx today since we were given special permission to drive from Subic to the Luisita Exit in Tarlac.

With the SCTEx complete, travel time from Balintawak to Subic is now just about an hour and forty minutes. While travel from Balintawak to Luisita will be just one hour and twenty minutes. When it opens on Friday, motorists can drive from Subic to La Paz, Tarlac in just a little over an hour. Now that's progress!

Notes: I'll post more photos of my SCTEx Tarlac preview as soon as I get back to Manila. I was quite happy to see that they corrected the "MacArthur Highway" signs which I complained about in a previous post. I found out in San Francisco how the observation made its way to BCDA top brass and got the signs corrected.

Anyway, so much has been happening the past few months, I could barely update everyone about my travels. I'll try to get back in the groove within the next few days so expect a lot of updates from my recent trip to the US and the Mayoyao, Ifugao harvest experience last weekend.

Ifugao: Journey across the Ifugao heartland

The day after the harvest, we began our trip back to Manila. The group passed by a different route in order for us to see more of Ifugao. From Mayoyao, we boarded our rickety bus again for another bumpy ride deeper into the Ifugao heartland. But before we left, we stopped by a view point of the Mayoyao Rice Terraces.

We left Mayoyao shortly before lunch and traveled through remote barangays of the town. We had a late lunch in Barangay Tula-ed before continuing our journey. The views started getting really picturesque when we reached the bridge which connects Mayoyao and Banaue. If only we could stop at every barangay to enjoy the view. But we had a bus to catch. I especially liked Ducligan which they say was the setting for the 1996 film "Mumbaki." Another village with noteworthy terraces was Kinakin.

But I was pleased to know that this Ifugao mountain road passed through the Bangaan Rice Terraces, one of the five clusters declared by UNESCO as World Heritage. It would have been great if we got to hike down the village of Bangaan. But we didn't have time to do that as well save for a few minutes to take photos.

Bangaan is unique for its main village, a cluster of houses at the foot of the terraces. I saw old colored photos of the village when it was still all Ifugao houses. But like in most of Ifugao, new concrete houses have started to sprout all over.

The road also passes through the jump-off point for the Batad Rice Terraces, another UNESCO-inscribed cluster. But you still have to do a lot of walking to see them.

We knew we were nearing Banaue since we saw a large concentration of concrete structures from a distance. We finally arrived in town at 3:45 p.m. and went straight to the bus station to purchase our tickets back to Manila. Since the bus was going to leave at 8 p.m., we had enough time to visit the View Point area to check out the Banaue Rice Terraces. There are actually a lot of vantage points to choose from along the way.

The group had a hearty dinner at the Banaue Hotel before boarding the bus for our trip back to Manila. I've already put the planting rice tour in my January calendar!

Part 1: Trip to Mayoyao, Ifugao
Part 2: Mayoyao Rice Terraces in Ifugao
Part 3: Rice harvest experience in Mayoyao, Ifugao
Part 4: Trekking along the rice terraces of Mayoyao

How to get to Banaue, Ifugao
Florida Bus has a regular trip from Manila direct to Banaue. It leaves Sampaloc, Manila (Lacson St. cor. S. H. Loyola St.) at 10:45 p.m. Or you can take any bus that goes to Cagayan Valley and get off at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya where you can catch regular trips to Banaue and other towns in Ifugao. From Baguio, KMS Bus Lines and Ohayami Trans leave for Banaue at least twice daily.

How to get to Mayoyao, Ifugao
Take a bus from Manila to Santiago, Isabela (any bus to Cagayan or Isabela passes by Santiago). There are mini-buses from Santiago to Mayoyao which leave thrice daily at 6 a.m., 11a.m. and 3 p.m. From Banaue, there is one daily trip to Mayoyao from Solano which passes Banaue between 12 to 1 p.m.

Ifugao: Trekking along the rice terraces of Mayoyao

For four hours, we trekked along the rice terraces of Mayoyao. The good thing about the trek was that it was going down and our bus was going to meet us when we arrived at the bottom of the trail.

It may have been tiring at times no thanks to the hot sun. But the views were the best and things started to get better when it got cooler and cloudy. Along the way, we passed by one of the oldest burial mounds in Mayoyao. These burial mounds are temporary resting places for warriors of a particular clan. I don't think any of them are still in use.

Mayoyao is known for its stone-walled terraces. And you'd also notice that the ground under the houses are also stone-tiled. Which gives a very natural feel. And I hope it stays that way since plain concrete floors will look intrusive and out of place in such a setting.

I enjoyed the trek and the picturesque views of the terraces. The views could have been better if I was there while the rice terraces were being prepared for planting (glass surface thanks to the water) or when the rice was still green. Since most of the rice was harvested already, the rice terraces looked unkept. But the views were still wonderful nonetheless.

Dinner was amusingly high on cholesterol composed of more traditional Mayoyao food. The head of the slaughtered pig was made into dinakdakan, a dish I would consider the local version of sisig although the meat in this case was not chopped as finely. We were also served some duck soup. I binged on the really sweet pineapples they served for dessert to neutralize all that fat.

After dinner, we went to the town plaza for a wonderful cultural presentation of both the young and the old. What is noteworthy about this all is the fact that the older group is not a performing group but actual cultural practitioners, bearers of the Mayoyao's age-old traditions.

For those who are asking about the next tour, it will be in January, this time for the rice planting season. For reservations, please contact Josh Nalliw at +63 906 5308242.

Part 1: Trip to Mayoyao, Ifugao
Part 2: Mayoyao Rice Terraces in Ifugao
Part 3: Rice harvest experience in Mayoyao, Ifugao
Part 5: Journey across the Ifugao heartland

How to get to Banaue, Ifugao
Florida Bus has a regular trip from Manila direct to Banaue. It leaves Sampaloc, Manila (Lacson St. cor. S. H. Loyola St.) at 10:45 p.m. Or you can take any bus that goes to Cagayan Valley and get off at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya where you can catch regular trips to Banaue and other towns in Ifugao. From Baguio, KMS Bus Lines and Ohayami Trans leave for Banaue at least twice daily.

How to get to Mayoyao, Ifugao
Take a bus from Manila to Santiago, Isabela (any bus to Cagayan or Isabela passes by Santiago). There are mini-buses from Santiago to Mayoyao which leave thrice daily at 6 a.m., 11a.m. and 3 p.m. From Banaue, there is one daily trip to Mayoyao from Solano which passes Banaue between 12 to 1 p.m.