Location: Barangay Bila, Bauko, Mountain Province, Philippines
Overlooking Pandey Rice Terraces upon descending Mount Bato
When one searches in Google of rice terraces, it identifies two grouped major terrace clusters of the provinces of Ifugao and Mountain Province. Meanwhile, it divides the Mountain Province terraces into three major clusters, namely: Maligcong, Bontoc & Sagada and Sabangan. However, Bauko is not a part of the three aforementioned major terracess clusters in Mountain Province where it is located. Bauko is a distinct municipality from Bontoc. It only mean that Google has not updated yet its major terrace clusters in the Mountain Province.
Descending Mount Bato with my guide (Tom Sudaypan) completing the Bauko 7 Peaks Climb
Visiting Pandey Rice Terraces was just a side trip after my Bauko 7 Peaks Climb with my guide, Tom Sudaypan, a native of Bauko. This 7-peak climb was indeed very rewarding as the trail is dominantly grown with pine trees. Our exit to Pandey Rice Terraces was from Mount Bato, which completed my Bauko 7 Peaks Climb. Mount Bato is a minor climb with an elevation of 1,872 MASL or 6,141.73 feet.
Clearing heading to Pandey Rice Terraces
Pandey Rice Terraces can be reached via local trekking paths and rustic stone steps from Barangay Bila often referred to by visitors as a steep "stairway to heaven" climb past local streams and traditional viewpoints. This is just 650 meters away from my rustic accommodation in Iyaman Farm Resort.
The rice thresher against its backdrop of the slopes of Mount Bato
It was Tom, my guide, who has idea for us to head towards Pandey Rice Terraces instead of trekking directly to my accommodation in Iyaman Farm Resort. It just happened that by the time we were here, it was harvest time for rice.
Harvesting rice using sickle or kumpay in local language
I got excited to join the rice harvesting when I saw the locals harvesting rice. A local lend me a sickle to use for harvesting rice stalks. Locally, this sickle is called "kumpay" which is used for cutting whole rice stalks, or a small finger-mounted blade ---- often called a ani-ani knife, rakem, or lakem --- used to snip individual rice panicles by hand. A kumpay is a handheld, curved nd metal blade attached to a short wooden handle. It is used to swing or slice through multiple rice stalks close to the base.
The lower part of Pandey Rice Terraces
From the point where I harvested rice, we moved to the lower part of the terraces. We happened to see a mountain resort near a rushing stream, but it was already abandoned. By the time we were here, there was no single tourist or visitor on sight.
The other parts of the terraces
This terraces cover an area of approximately 61 hectares (with the broader combined communal irrigation network span reaching up to 146 hectares). They sit at an elevation of about 1,363 meters above sea level.
Zooming in the other parts of the terraces
This location is connected towards a non-concrete road enough for vehicles to pass since harvests are being transported to the town. The average temperature in this location ranges from 19 degrees Celsius to 23 degrees Celsius year-round, reflecting the cool, high-elevation climate of the Cordillera mountain region. The weather patterns here is prone to mist, cloudy skies, and frequent mountain showers or rain.
For both Bauko 7 Peaks Climb and Bauko tours, you can count on the expertise of Angela Andrada and she can be contacted at 0928392662.
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