The road from Batad to Bontoc

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Getting out of Batad was almost more of an adventure than getting in. We awoke around 7 because we knew we had to catch the public jeepney back to Banaue. The only problem was that we kept getting conflicting information about when it left. 8-9, or 9-10. What can we do??


Rahima and I met our other 2 friends, and we began the hike up the saddle. It wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet, but the sun was already becoming fierce. Moving fast, we arrive 45 minutes later only to discover the jeepney had just left us. Boo. As we wondered what to do, some jeepney drivers offered their services for only 2000pesos. What?! We thought it’d be a good idea to hike back to the Junction and see if any tricycles were there. We started down the hill as arriving jeepneys passed us every few minutes. One almost careened into us as the driver leaned out the door to shout “You need jeepney? Only 150 peso each! Wait me here!” And then sped off to deliver his crew. What luck! Seriously, he told us how lucky we were about 10 times, and as we arrived at the junction to find NO tricycles, we admitted he was right. He was quite smug.


In Banaue, we picked up our packs and waited for the next jeepney to Bontoc. Again, the times were patchy. Around 12-1, they said, but we ended up leaving at 11:15. Guess you better be ready for whatever, whenever! Two hours later the four of us arrived in Bontoc, which is a larger mountain town on the main road. Our two friends immediately caught their third jeepney of the day to continue onwards to Sagada (our final destination), but Rahima and I wanted to stay in Bontoc for a couple hours so we could see the Bontoc Museum.


The museum is considered the best in the Cordillera region, and I have to agree it was well worth stopping for. Inside were dozens of photographs of the town and tribes dating back one hundred years. It was so interesting to see the tribal members going about their daily lives while some British guy took their pictures. The museum contained many artifacts from the past, including woven baskets, tools, jewelry and even head hunting axes and battle spears! The museum also had an outdoor village, so you could understand the layout of the town and even go inside the native nipa huts.


Rahima was a little grossed out by the pictures of a head-hunting raid, and I admit it was strange to realize that that used to occur only a few decades ago. It was a huge honor for a man to take a head during battle, and the more heads they had, the more respect and power as well. Men who took heads had their chest covered in an elaborate tattoo to show their success. If you weren’t a headhunter, you were not allowed to have a tattoo on the chest. Apparently, the body of the victim was well cared for, and many prayers and offerings of thanks were given to the gods and to the one who lost his head. However, if their own tribal member lost his head, the body was unceremoniously dumped in disgrace. Big difference, huh?


From the museum we went back to the station and caught a jeepney for the hour long ride to Sagada.

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