Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue

Bolton, UK
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Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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Day 1 (11th – 12th November 2010) – CAUAYAN to BANAUE

(cross posted on the main Philippines Forum)

INTRODUCTION

OK, back from our 8 weeks visiting Cambodia and parts of the Philippines in October/November/December 2010, and we had a great time. I promised to do a trip report as a thank you for the help received and hopefully to help others who follow in our footsteps. So here goes.

I will split into parts, as I tend to go into a great deal of detail and people may want to eat or get some sleep!! So you have been warned, the hint is in the title – they will be long reports.

BACKGROUND INFO AND GETTING THERE

If you are interested in knowing a little background information about my wife and I, ages, what food and transport options we prefer, the research we did and how we flew from the UK to the Far East, then have a look at the first part of my previous posts on the Cambodian forum

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293939-i9162-k4169606-l30645243-Very_Long_Trip_Report_Part_1_Prelude_Phnom_Penh-Cambodia.html

VISA EXTENSION (for UK residents)

We knew we would be exceeding the 21 day visa granted on arrival and decided to apply for additional 38 days extension (making 59 in total), from the UK Embassy. This would save us time whilst on holiday. We applied well in advance and the process was very smooth and only took about 3 days.

One point to note is that it states on the forms that they should signed by a Consular Official (only possible if visiting the embassy in London) or by a Notary Public. When we tried to find out how much a Notary Public would cost – we almost cancelled our plans to go. They wanted well in excess of £120! However note B4 on the General Visa Information page (http://philembassy-uk.org/consular_VISA.html) states it can be notarized by a Commissioner of Oaths. Also, on the rear page of the application, under note IV. It states it can be notarised by a Solicitor who is authorised to legalise signatures. This is what we did and it only cost £5 for each of us.

Just one final point is that when we got our passports back – the visa expired 3 days after we were due to leave the Philippines. I’m not sure if this was coincidence or if they simply grant the 59 days from when they receive your passport. So don’t apply too soon, or the visa could lapse.

Application Form links

Front - http://philembassy-uk.org/forms/visaform2a.pdf

Back - http://philembassy-uk.org/forms/visaform2a-backpage.pdf

Day 1 (11th – 12th November 2010) – CAUAYAN to BANAUE

Well we made it from Cambodia to the Philippines in one piece. It was a 24 hour slog, but all went well.

We left Phnom Pehn on our $46 each (£29.58) (incl. extra luggage add on), and after 1hours 45 minutes we landed into Kuala Lumpur LCCT airport at 5:20 pm.

There, we had a 6 hour layover, as our flight to Manila with Cebu Pacific didn't leave until 1:20 am. This however gave us plenty of time to trundle our luggage over to the foodcourt and fill our bellies. They also provided two hours free internet, which helped to pass the time, as we had our netbook with us.

Our destination in the Philippines was to be the rice terraces of Banaue. Now most people use the overnight bus from Manila to get there, which, I think departs at 10:00 pm and takes about 10 hours. However as our flight was arriving into Manila at 5:00 am, it would mean a substantial wait to catch it. This would mean hanging around a city we had no interest in visiting and having to lug our luggage with us. We had also read that the bus was akin to travelling in a refrigerator, with the air con cranked up to max cold. This was indeed borne out by the people we met.

So we had researched, as best we could, a different route via Cauayan and had booked a through flight with Cebu Pacific for KL to Manila and onto Cauayan, for £49.48 each. On all our other flights we had paid for an increase in luggage allowance up to 20kgs. But on this leg the extra charge was almost as much as the flight. We therefore had to redistribute 5 kgs into our day sacks (which were already very heavy) and the rest around and on our bodies. That meant wearing our heaviest trousers, walking boots and having fleeces and raincoats (pockets full of books etc) draped around our waist. We even tied our trekking sandals inside the arms of our raincoats. We looked like a pair of Bactrian camels!

Our flight from KL went smoothly and we even managed to grab a little sleep on the 3hour 40 minute journey. That is, in between screaming babies. I don't know how it happens, planes are quite big and not that many people travel with young children. But wherever we sit, we always seem to be in a crèche. We just have to accept that we must be baby magnets.

Arriving into Manila Terminal 3, at 05.00am, we spent a good hour or so trying out all the cash machines. We knew that maybe our Mastercard would not be accepted at the airport ATM's, so had a Visa card as back up. However the machines did accept the Mastercard. It just wouldn't tell you how much you could withdraw. Each machine had different withdrawal fees and we had to keep going round them trying to get the maximum out of them. But they just kept saying the amount exceeded the limit of our card and to try another amount. It would have been so much easier if they just told you the amount you could withdraw. But I suppose that would have spoilt the game!! Anyway we eventually found out the maximum was 10,000 pesos, so stocked up. As where we were headed, we wouldn't be seeing banks for a while. For information we found the best machine for Mastercard was the BPI machine on the ground floor by some exit doors – it charged 200 pesos fee. For Visa cards it was the machine to the very far right (facing the exit) on the ground floor - 150 pesos fee.

We managed to grab a sandwich for breakfast from one of the shops on the first floor and bought a “Smart” sim card for our phone, from the ground floor, and it wasn't too long until we were checking in to catch our 09.20 am flight up to Cauayan.

The security queues were segregated into male and female and I sailed through. However my wife got stopped. She had a problem with the small folding umbrella that we both carry in our day sacks. They simply refused to let her through with it. Even though we’d just flown with Cebu Pacific internationally and hadn’t had a problem. Also I had mine in my bags’ side pocket and I’d not been stopped. In fact we’ve flown many flights with our brollies and never had problems. I did however notice there were a few umbrellas that had been confiscated in the ladies queue and my wife’s joined them.

A good tip I have since read is to simply break it before handing it over. That way no one is going to benefit.

Anyhow it wasn’t going to ruin our trip and this was where we left the normal tourist route as we forged our own way. On board our plane were a group of volunteers from the UK based charity Shelterbox. They were heading on to the Isabella Province to provide relief work after Super Typhoon Megi, known locally as Juan, had hit there on the morning of October 18th. It had left a trail of destruction and we wondered what lay ahead of us, as it was only 3 weeks since it had passed.

We arrived at the airport shed at 10:10 – 10 minutes early, and waited in a hut whilst our luggage was ferried across the concrete runway. A gate was opened and we piled in to retrieve our luggage. We had a guy next to us the whole time asking where we were headed. When we declined his offer of a van, he said he’d take to the bus station in his trike, for an over priced 100 pesos. We couldn't get him down and we weren't exactly being swamped by other drivers, so had no option. We’d used trikes before, in Bohol, when we last visited the Philippines. But we weren't ready for the North Luzon trikes. They were tiny. They were basically a motorbike with a cage covered in plastic to shield the driver and a sidecar, with a roof over it for the passengers. When I say sidecar, I really mean enlarged thimble!!

How we managed to get both our packs onto the rear shelf without the thing tipping over, I don't know. We then had to try and squeeze two European bottoms and daypacks into the interior. This was just not possible and the wife ended up travelling with her knees hanging out the door!

It's not possible to tell you what Cauayan or the bus station was like, as we never made it. The trike driver was just out of the airport and on the main road, when he spotted a bus going in our direction. He stopped and flagged it down for us. Much to the amusement of the passengers, two tourists boarded the bus and off we sped. The bus, we assume was headed back to Manila, but we only wanted to get to a town called Solano, where we hoped we could catch a jeepney to Banaue, which was our destination. We also had read that there was the option of getting off at a place called Bagabag Junction, where the jeepneys passed. But we were uncertain of the reliability, of this info. Also we had read that the jeepneys only left when full. So we worried that if we got down at Bagabag, then when they went past, they may not have room for us two with our big bags. Solano was our choice, as if we missed the last jeepney, then we knew there was somewhere to stay overnight. We did try to ascertain from the bus driver how long it took from Bagabag to Solano, but didn’t really get anywhere.

Arriving into Santiago City, we stopped for a 20 minute rest break. We managed to grab some dumplings from a stall and got our luggage out of the bus hold, to try and re organise, as we still had that 5kgs of luggage distributed all over our bodies. Just as we got our packs open, the bus driver beeped his horn. We quickly stuffed as much as we could into them and jumped back on the bus, with only seconds to spare. We had read that there may be the possibility of catching public transport from here to Banaue. But when we spoke to the locals at the bus station and told them where we were headed, they didn’t mention this as an option.

An hour and a half later the bus suddenly stopped and the driver told us this is where we were to get off. Was this Solano? No – he told us we were at Bagabag Junction., so the decision had been made for us. It was now only about 12:30 and I had made a note that the sun set at 17.45, so worst case we would have to find somewhere to stay overnight, if a jeepney never turned up.

However this was not going to be a problem. We had no sooner got our bags out of the bus, when a jeepney screeched to a halt and the driver shouted "Lagawe". This was halfway to where we wanted to go. So we had only waited 15 seconds and we were off. Luckily the jeepney wasn’t full and we had just had enough room for us to squeeze inside. So we didn't have to sit up on the roof, or topload, as we thought we may have to. However, jeepneys are made for Filipinos (strange that isn't it), who are generally smaller in height than Europeans. So the windows are not as high as we would expect. Of course at 5’ 7” I was fine, but my wife, being taller, had a good view of the roof lining. The jeepneys stop for anyone waiting and drop off anywhere. So for the next 1hour 30 minutes, we had an exchange of passengers to share our 49 pesos journey with. When it did get too full, some people did climb onto the roof and some just hung off the rear steps. At one point every available space was occupied (or so we thought). It was then that a plank of wood was produced and placed across the opening of the rear doors. Hey Presto - room for 2 more!

We finally arrived into Lagawe, which for tourists is just really a change over point. We were directed to another jeepney heading to Banaue and our main packs were simply transferred from one roof to another. We had to wait for about 15 minutes before the driver decreed he had enough punters to make his journey worthwhile, and we set off at 2:15 pm. This leg of the journey cost us 47 pesos each and took us higher into the mountain regions. The jeepney started to struggle slightly on the steeper gradients. We knew it was struggling, as a big black cloud of diesel smoke was pouring out the rear. This at least ensured that nobody could overtake us as they couldn't get past our smokescreen! So we slowly polluted our way uphill. We past through a lot of landslides that had recently occurred due to the super typhoon. It must have been chaos before they were cleared.

Anyway, this journey only lasted 1 hour and we arrived into Banaue at 3:15 pm. We were tired and hungry, but we’d made it, almost exactly 24 hours after leaving our hotel in Cambodia!!

As soon as we got our bags - there was a lady standing next to us, who said she would be our guide. Errr - no thanks. We checked out Peoples Lodge and Green View Lodge, which are next to each other and also the Sanafe Lodge. The lady was difficult to shake off and followed us everywhere. At the Sanafe when we asked to see a double room, the owner pointed out the window at the lady and said "What about your friend"!!

We thought that the Peoples Lodge was the best bet at 750 pesos, as it had private bathroom with hot water plus a view of the rice terraces from the balcony. However, the terraces weren't as stunning as we thought they would be and the view, whilst ok, wasn’t what we had expected.

In our room we finally managed to redistribute the 5kgs back into our luggage and decided to explore.

Once out of the hotel we were cornered by the lady guide again, but finally managed to explain that we wouldn't need a guide and we did eventually get rid of our Siamese twin. It was then time to see the town. Ten minutes later and we were done. We'd explored almost every nook and cranny of this mountain town and thought it to be more like Alice Springs, as all the roads and pavements were stained red. Not through dirt or dust, but because all the locals chew what is known as "Momma". This is a combination of beetle nut, sometimes tobacco and what they call cocaine! They say however that it is really powdered lime. Anyway they chew it a then spit out the red fluid - nice. The jeepney drivers even slow down and stop, just so they can spit out. The result however is that most of the men and some of the women have red lips and teeth.

We looked around for some local eating places, but couldn’t really find any. Don’t know if it was because we’d arrived during a brownout or not. But we ended up grabbing a couple of burgers and fries from the Franks mobile stall at the end of town just past the fire station and opposite the Town Hall.

But more importantly, the wife bought a cheap 200 peso folding umbrella and I found the local beer shop. Here I stocked up on the San Miquel brew (which back in the UK is a Spanish beer) and we retired to the lodge’s balcony for drinks and crisps.

We ate that night out on the chilly verandah of the lodge’s restaurant. My wife’s veggie meal was ok, but small portions and they brought me the wrong dish. When I told them that it wasn't what I'd ordered, they said sorry I’d have to eat it as they couldn't change it!! Yes you can or we are going somewhere else. Surprisingly, they then decided they could change it. Not a good start.

Now, again due to the research we had done before hand, we knew that Banaue didn’t sound like the sort of town we wanted to spend much time in. So we were only going to overnight there before moving on, the following day. Banaue, for us, was just the gateway to the more remote villages and therefore, a necessary evil. However, we were surprised at the lack of tourists in the town, until we were told it was still the rainy season and more would arrive in late December.

That night we slept soundly even though it was cold and we needed to, as the next day we were heading to Batad.

PHOTOS HERE

http://s1101.photobucket.com/albums/g426/infoaddict/Philippines%202010/01%20Cayauan%20to%20Banaue/?albumview=slideshow

clare,ireland
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1. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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since the first is so long -we wont bother reading this.

Melbourne, Australia
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for Philippines, Kuala Lumpur
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2. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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infoaddict . Thanks for sharing.

Tommo

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3. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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Funny. The trick with the Luzon trikes, is, one set of European butts in the cab, the other on the back of the driver.

Muscat, Oman
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4. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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I got a nice tip about over luggage and what will I do... Hehehehe!

Bolton, UK
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5. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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One thing I missed from the above, which may be of help to others, is:

Before we could enter departures at Terminal 3 we had to fork out 200 pesos each departure tax or terminal fee. We both went to different windows and handed over a 500 pesos note each, which the ATM’s had given us. There were a couple of complaints about the size, but it was a great way to break the large notes down. If we had trouble with them here – imagine what would happen in Banaue/Batad etc.

Edited: 9 years ago
Portland, OR
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6. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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Clareirishman, speak for yourself. I am loving the details in this report!

It would help to keep Part 2, 3, 4... all in this thread as they are bound to get separated if you post them all separately.

Bolton, UK
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7. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue
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Part 2 now posted

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g294249-i10488-k4436158-Very_Long_Trip_Report_Part_2_Batad-Banaue_Luzon.html

8. Re: Very Long Trip Report: Part 1 - Cauayan to Banue

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