“It is said that if the steps are put end to end it would encircle half the globe”

I’m leaving at midnight tonight for a trip to the Banaue Rice Terraces; a 10 hour bus ride heading into the heart of Luzon. I’ll be there for four days, hiking around and working with students in the indigenous schools. Really looking forward to the trip, but wish I wasn’t sick with a bad “Man Cold“. I’m not great at sleeping in moving vehicles, much less a bus, so I’ve loaded up the Mac with a bunch of documentaries I’ve been meaning to watch.

I stocked up on a couple of dry sacks in the event of rainy weather (which I’ve heard is the norm up there). Will bring my camera gear and hope to have a chance to get some shots. I’m always hesitant to bring the gear with wet weather, but the reality is, why spend so much on equipment if you never use it?

Here’s an excerpt from an article on Wikipedia regarding Banaue:

“The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the “Eighth Wonder of the World“.^[1][2][3] It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1500 meters (5000 ft) above sea level and cover 10,360 square kilometers (about 4000 square miles) of mountainside. They are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces. It is said that if the steps are put end to end it would encircle half the globe^.”