After fixing our things at Luplupa Riverside Inn, we asked for a guide to help us explore the place. Going to Tinglayan, we actually don't have any itinerary, all I know is I want to see the remaining women with native Filipino tattoos. Upon asking at the riverside inn, German, a son of one of the guides of the Inn, volunteered to show us around the villages of Luplupa, Old Tinglayan and Ambato-Legleg. So, what's to see in Tinglayan?
Being a mountain side community, we prepared ourselves for hours of trekking. We only thought we will be seeing rice paddies, river and mountains, but we experienced more.
We started the trek at the back side of the inn, we walked on rice paddies while enjoying the majestic mountain view on our right and the view of the mighty Chico river famous for white water rafting on our left. We also saw some locals just enjoying their afternoon.
We passed by a small bridge where there is a mini falls. We made our way to the falls and had a quick rest.
Until we reached a community. If I remember it right, this is the village of Ambato-Legleg. Wooden Kalinga houses greeted us. The houses has elevated floors as they use the lower portion of the house to store their woods, tools and crops. We were also gladly welcomed by the locals and some kids shouting "Americano, Americano, Candy! Candy!". I guess they got used to foreign visitors and maybe they thought we were foreigners (?). Hahaha! Too bad, we didn't bring anything for the kids.
Native pigs are common sights here. They are free to roam around and they live with the community as if they are pets. So don't be bother is you meet them along the way.
We stopped at one house to rest. Our guide knows the people living here. They are so accommodating and offered us freshly brewed Kalinga coffee. It was delicious. We were also got the chance to interact with them while sipping on our hot coffee.
Good thing we have our guide to translate to us everything and made conversing with them easy. This is also were we met an old tattooed tribes woman. I will tell you more about it on my next post.
After spending about an hour at the house, we said our thank yous, bade goodbye and continued exploring the place.
Tombs are also common sights in the community. They bury their departed love ones near their homes.
Until we passed by a group of men having some drinking session. They invited us, so we stopped for a while and had some drinks with them.
We ended our trek crossing a hanging bridge that leads to the main road of Tinglayan. Then we went back to the Inn to have our dinner.
HOW TO GET THERE
Option 1: Via Banaue and Bontoc
From Manila, take a bus bound for Banaue. Travel time is 8-9 hours, fare is 450 pesos. Ohayami bus offers daily trips to Banaue, their terminal is located in Lacson Avenue, corner Fajardo St., Sampaloc Manila (near University of Sto. Tomas). From Banaue, take a jeepney bound for Bontoc, travel time is about 3 hours and fare is around 200 pesos. At Bontoc, take a bus bound for Tabuk that passes by the town of Tinglayan. The bus leaves at 9:00 AM and their terminal is found near Mountain Province State Polytechnic College. Travel time is around 2.5 to 3 hours, fare is 110 pesos.
Option 2: Via Tabuk
From Manila, take a bus bound for Tabuk via Victory Liner in Kamias. Fare is around 570 pesos and travel time is 12 hours. Alternatively, you can take a Tuguegarao bound bus and then take a van bound for Tabuk. In Tabuk, take a jeepney or an ordinary bus bound for Bontoc which passes by the town of Tinglayan. Terminal can be found in front of the police station across St. William’s Cathedral. Travel time is about 2.5 to 3 hours and fare is around 110 pesos.
| This is part of my Holy Week and Araw ng Kagitingan long weekend holiday trip in Ifugao, Mt. Province and Kalinga last April 5-9, 2012. Kalinga, a landlocked province in the Cordillera Administrative Region is the 60th province on my list. Join me as I continue my journey to visit all 80 provinces in the Philippines! | |
 Map By: Wikipedia |
|
Nice of you to hang-out with the locals. Pero bakit ang lapit mga tomb sa mga bahay nila?
ReplyDeleteNice of you to hangout with the locals. Pero bakit ang lapit ng mga tomb sa bahay nila? :)
ReplyDeletemaybe it's their tradition to bury their departed near their homes...
DeletePupunta kami dyan next week! Yeeee so exciting! Thanks to this post mas lalo akong naexcite. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteganda ng lugar pati mga tao makikita mo ung saya sa mga ngiti nila
ReplyDeleteHoping I could travel to these places for 2013... Time to detox myself from our stressful workplace :)
ReplyDeleteVisions of a Color Blind Photographer
masaya talaga sa tinglayan kaya nakakamiss na rin at di pa rin ako makakabalik this year. next year. sisiguraduhin ko makabalik. ang sarap ng kape at bait ng mga tao.
ReplyDeleteexcited ako makabalik dyan sa kalinga next year. it was in 1984 i think when i first visited the place. i want to go back to lubuagan and also check out tinglayan- and do water rafting at chico river.
ReplyDelete