Jordan brought us to the last viewing deck at Banaue. I was surprised to see that this wasn’t the same viewpoint that I been to the last time. This viewpoint was the similar to the Engineer’s Viewpoint. I was half expecting to see more tourists here, however it was the opposite just like the other viewpoints. I was glad to have the viewpoint all to myself. It was fortunate that the rice terraces are so spread out that you will never find the place crowded.
At this viewpoint, you can see the postcard view of the Banaue Rice Terraces. I realized that we were travelling along the ridge on top of the terraces. This is probably the last point of the ridge before going out of the town of Banaue. Incidentally, this is the same road we took on the way to Bontoc a few days before. I really love this place. Looking at the rice terraces, I saw a tourist being led by a guide exploring the terraces on food. There are a lot of stairs criss-crossing the terraces and they seem to be wide enough that visitors would not accidentally fall into the fields.
This tour was certainly more rewarding than my previous trip, which consisted only of going to the one single viewpoint filled with souvenir shops. Without actually exploring the terraces on foot we got to see different aspects of the rice terraces. By far, they are the most massive I know. Yes, northern Luzon is probably littered with hundreds of rice terraces but these deservedly are the most spectacular ones. It does show some sign of deterioration, however with government and UNESCO support they have been holding up quite well. Not bad for something over two thousand years old.
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