Banaue -- Second of Five Groups

The ancient Filipinos started constructing these terraces some 2000 years ago, we were told. They likely came from China and brought the rice paddy industry with them, but had to adapt it to the mountainous terrain. So they took advantage of the abundant water springing in the mountains and the rich valcanic soil. The problem was finding level places to build the paddies. The terraces were the solution. Thousands and thousands of them stretch up and down the hillsides.

Here you can see the intricate patterns created by the terraces. Each paddy needs to be level to hold the water, so a rock wall is built and the area behind it was leveled. Sometimes the spot is only a few yards wide and a few yards long, but they took advantage of every square inch.

The season for planting was just beginning -- starts in January. So, some of the paddies looked dried up. The bright green sections are the seedlings. These will be dug up and moved to the flooded paddies, planted about six or eight inches apart. Although you can't see it here, occasionally there were red plants at the edges of the terraces here and there. We were told these red plants marked the boundaries showing which terraces belonged to whom. The terraces went for miles all up and down the hillside and down the valleys.

Sister Roundy with the terrances in the background -- just to prove "we were there." Lookin' good!

It was foggy and raining all the while we were in Banaue, and it was cool. We even wore our jackets at times. The fog would be in the bottom of the valley and rise up to the tops of the mountains. Just when you thought it might not raining any more, it would start again.