Best 11 Days Manila to Batad - Trekking Beach Holiday Package

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Mabuhay ! Welcome to Manila. An intriguing, bustling and overwhelmingly chaotic city, Manila is the worthy capital of the Philippines. With contradictions and surprises around every corner, Manila is packed full of things to see, do, taste and experience. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm tonight check with hotel reception for more information and have your insurance details and next of kin information ready for collection.

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It/’s an early start today as you leave Manila by private van and travel to Banaue, settling in for a 10 hour drive get out your book, get to know your fellow travelers, listen to your new favorite album, or watch out the window for your first taste of the Philippines outside of the metropolis. The isolated and quaint town of Banaue features markets and a local museum, but the main draw card of the area is the rice terraces. Referred to by some as an Eighth Wonder of the World, the stunning Banaue rice terraces were constructed over 2,000 years ago by the native Ifugao people.

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Leave you main luggage in Banaue and pack a day pack with your necessities for the next few days, then drive 40 minutes to the start of the trek. Over the next 3 days and 2 nights, you/’ll hike through rice fields, forest and villages, staying overnight in local Ifugao villages where people farm rice the way their ancestors did 2,000 years ago. On this first day of the trek, you/’ll walk for approximately 4 hours on a mixture of up and down, but mostly flat terrain. Start from Kinakin and we take a short drive up a paved road to get to our start of the trail.

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With the sound of animals as your alarm clock, wake up to a fueling breakfast, and then begin the second day of your walk. Walk a total of approximately 3 hours to Batad Village, where you/’ll spend the night. Today involves some serious walking and can be especially challenging for those with limited experience in hiking. The trail is a combination of up and downhill, and there are sections where you/’ll walk on the edge of steep rice terraces, balancing on narrow edges of concrete or natural stone.

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You/’ll start the third day of the trek with a short final walk of approximately 30 minutes up to Sadel. Then you/’ll probably be happy to not use your legs for a bit as you/’re transported back to Banaue by road (approximately 1 hour). Here you/’ll be reunited with your main luggage back at the guesthouse. Enjoy plenty of time to freshen up, then later in the afternoon head out to the Hiwang Village. Here you/’ll find wonderful views overlooking the rice terraces, Banaue town, and the Cordillera Mountains.

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Leave the rice terraces behind and travel into scenic alpine mountains by Jeepney. There/’ll be plenty of time to stop off at the many viewpoints along the way and capture those priceless photos of the rice terraces below. Along the way you/’ll also pause at Bontoc, the capital of the Mountain Province (2 hours from Banaue). Here there/’ll be time for some lunch and a visit to the Bontoc Museum. This wonderful museum, laid out in the style of a traditional Ifuago house, is packed with captivating memories from the past of each of the region/’s main tribes.

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Today you/’ll get trekking again with a 3 hour walk to the Hanging Coffins in Echo Valley. Pass by the town cemetery, the American Anglican St. Mary/’s Cathedral built by missionaries, then continue into Echo Valley. Trek down the side of some cliffs, maybe testing out the valley/’s name, before reaching an unusual burial site. Dangling high up on the limestone cliffs, the coffins are both mystifying and eerie in their presence.

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Hop on a private mini bus heading towards Baguio City. This journey takes approximately 7 hours through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Philippines. Travelling through the Cordillera Central, the highest and largest mountain range in the Philippines, pass peaks of incredible heights (and drops), dotted all over with small villages and terrace upon terrace of rice and other crops. This is one journey you don/’t want to sleep through. Baguio City was established by American troops in 1900 and has become a popular destination for both travelers and local tourists seeking a retreat from the heat of the lowlands.

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An early start by private mini bus (it can get cold on the bus so pack a light warm layer) takes you to the small town of Capas (approximately 5 hours). Here you/’ll meet your guides and prepare for the trek to stunning Mt Pinatubo, which erupted as recently as 1991. By the time the explosions had finished, the top of the mountain was gone, replaced by a large lake-filled crater. Jump in a 4 x 4 and travel along a bumpy, dusty road (bring a scarf and sunglasses to protect your eyes) for around an hour before disembarking and starting your trek.

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Wake up in unique surroundings, soak up the views across the lake, then trek around 2.5 hours back from the campsite down the mountain. Get back in the 4 x 4 for an hour, and then transfer to a private bus to swap mountains of rock for mountains of buildings as you return to Manila (approximately 3 hours). Depending on traffic you/’ll arrive in the city in the late afternoon, around 5 to 6 pm.

There are no activities planned for today, and you are free to depart at any time. There/’s much more to see and do in and around Manila, so perhaps stay a couple of extra days.