Bangaan Rice Terraces

Bangaan is the terrace cluster you can take in at a glance, which is why it is on every Banaue itinerary: the road along the ridge passes a viewpoint where the whole village sits below in a hollow, its cluster of houses tight together and the terraces wrapped around and beneath them in a way that makes the relationship between the settlement and the fields immediately legible. It is one of the five inscribed clusters in the UNESCO listing and among the best preserved. A path drops from the viewpoint into the village in about twenty minutes - steeper coming back - where the traditional Ifugao houses on posts, with their pyramidal thatch and the rat guards on the supports, can be seen close up. Some families accept visitors and sell woodcarvings. The village is a working farming settlement, so the usual courtesies about photographing people and entering houses apply.

What you actually see

• The whole-village view - the settlement and terraces from the road.
• The houses on posts - Ifugao dwellings with thatched roofs.
• The wrapped terraces - fields curving under and around the hamlet.
• The descent path - the twenty-minute walk down and back.

When to go

April to June for green fields; December to February for the flooded paddies. The viewpoint works any time the cloud is off the valley.

Honest expectations

The climb back up from the village is steep. It is a working village, not a display - ask before photographing people or entering houses. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Batad is over the ridge; Banaue's viewpoints and the Mayoyao road are on the same route.