MANILA, Philippines—Mayoyao, the eastern-most and fourth-largest town of Ifugao province in the more pristine part of the region, bills itself as the new tourism hub of the Cordillera.

It could be, if the local government would have the gumption to first overhaul its transportation system. We don’t really mean the roadways, because it might take moving heaven and earth to sort out that kind of terrain, but we’re thinking of the mode of transportation and the conduct of the bus drivers, which can, at least, be systematized.

Upon invitation of Columbia Sportswear Co., which co-sponsored the 23rd Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines Congress on Oct. 22-26 in Mayoyao, we accompanied a team from Digital Photographer Philippines, which partnered with Columbia to document the sights and activities.

Lying 536 km from Metro Manila, Mayoyao is accessible by mini-bus through Solano in Nueva Vizcaya, Santiago City in Isabela, and several Ifugao towns. Because most of the roads are one-way, the buses are scheduled to leave in the morning while those from Mayoyao leave in the afternoon. As it is, the way to this mountain paradise is hellish.

The road condition is a given, and the ramshackle state of the vehicle can be forgiven. What confounds us is the way the driver makes a stopover almost every 15 minutes for a stretch that extends to six hours (four hours from Santiago in normal speed).

Amazing habits

The bus stops to load gasoline, then later water—why couldn’t they have that done before starting at Santiago? Along the way it would stop to load something or other as “pakisuyo” (request) by Mayoyao residents, from LPG tanks to sacks of cement, from grocery items to a puppy (?!) in a box.

At one time the driver, conductor and their barkada (peer) went down the bus, sat in a shade and had a 30-minute nga-nga session while the passengers were quietly simmering inside the bus.

Most amazing of all, sometimes the driver would navigate a sharp narrow incline on an escarpment while blithely passing or handing tobacco, betel nut and lime to and from his companions standing behind him. We have nothing against cultural habits, but shouldn’t a driver be, at least, mindful of the safety of his passengers?

If you’re trying to lure tourists, we don’t think this is the way to do it. The only trip we can remember just as hellish was the way to Kabayan in Benguet in search of the caves of the mummies some years ago.

In alternating weather conditions, you either suffocate with dust while baking in the heat and congestion, with both your butt and head knocking against the hard seat and equally hard roof of the bumpy jeepney, or you slide on the mud or gravel in narrow paths on vertiginous cliffs, while blinded by fog and chilled to uncontrollable chattering by the wind.

That may appeal to more adventurous travelers who take pleasure in risking life and limb, but what about tourists of more delicate constitution? Should they be deprived of the outlandish pleasures that this place has to offer?

Because Mayoyao has so much to offer—and Mayor Romeo Chulana is justly trumpeting his town, now that tourist destinations such as well-trodden Banaue and Sagada have slowly deflated their novelty, diminishing their charm.

Cultural wonders

First, of course, are the rice terraces, inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List as “Living Cultural Landscape” along with those in Banaue, Hungduan and Kiangan.

Stretching from the mountain barangay of Chaya down to the bank of the legendary Penangah River, the Mayoyao Rice Terraces can be seen from various angles at several viewpoints: Saddle Point, Chu’it, Chuman, Akakoy Park, Mt. Nagchajan, Tomó.

Dotting these terraces and making them look unique in the region are the native houses, a tetrahedronal or pyramidal structure perched on four wooden posts and steeper than other Cordillera huts. Anthropologist Otley Beyer called it the first prefabricated house in the world, and compared it to the igloo in uniqueness.

Also unique are the Apfo’or burial tombs, stone domes containing the remains of the town’s ancient warriors and elite. These can be found only in Mayoyao, and only seven exist in several barangays.

Mt. Amuyao, at 8,865 ft above sea level, is one of the country’s highest mountains. From its summit, climbers can get a breathtaking panorama of Ifugao, Mountain Province, Kalinga, Apayao and Isabela. Legend says the first man and woman fled there during the Great Flood, and became the ancestors of the Mayoyao people.

The Lumagig Stone is a boulder supported by a smaller stone perching precariously on a rock, looking as if it would roll down at the breath of a wind. Legend says the deities had placed it there, and it is believed it holds the future of the town. So long as it stands, the people will stay strong and happy.

History and fables

The wilds are dotted with caves with cultural or historical significance, as well as entrancing waterfalls with equally entrancing names: Muntuytuy-ub, O’pfaw Mahencha, Tenogtog, Liwo.

They’re not just onomatopoeic, they’re also fabled. Tenogtog was where hunters in the olden days stopped by to skin, gut, wash and chop their catch before proceeding to the village, thus the sound.

Mahencha was a lovely bather who leaped 15 meters into a pool to retrieve her necklace, her spreading hair transforming into a waterfall.

The town also has several historical sites, such as the Spanish Trail cutting through cogon grass across several hills, which the friars traversed when they started Christianizing this part of the Cordillera in the 19th century.

The Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Stopover is a small hut in Tallimpog, Balangbang, where Aguinaldo rested for two days while escaping the Americans in 1889.

Mt. Nagchajan was where the troops of Gen. Yamashita made a last stand against American bombers and Filipino soldiers. The site has several caves, stone-walled trenches, foxholes, and a metal plate as testimony to the fall of the Japanese Imperial Army and the liberation of Northern Luzon.

Mini festival

This, then, was the land the 116 participants, guests and sponsors of the MFPI Congress tried to explore for four days.

Participants were divided into groups that would climb the mountains, traverse the rice terraces, trek to the waterfalls. Some guests stayed in Mayoyao Hostel while most of the mountaineers and trekkers camped out in the surrounding area.

The activities at base camp resembled a mini version of Igkhumtad ad Majawjaw, the town’s festival held April 25-27 to welcome the summer season when the work in the field is done.

Festivities consisted of the opening cultural presentation and the closing concert; ethnic games, native songs and dances; exhibits of native arts and crafts, tools, traditional attires, local produce (from root crops to rice varieties to indigenous fishes); rituals such as the making of tapuy (rice brew), the assembly of the native hut, the planting and harvesting of rice.

To these were added a forum on Mayoyao culture; basic mountaineering courses; wilderness first-aid lecture; digital outdoor-photography workshop; photo competition and exhibit.

But pictures can hardly capture, words can barely express, and the place is as yet largely unexplored. After the visitors have left, the land lies still, holding on to its mystique.