At one of the viewpoints of the famous Banaue Rice Terraces, an old man suddenly asked donations for the children who swept the floor every morning. “O sige po, basta papicture tayo.” I was planning to get his picture and report him to the tourism office.
(Left) Kuya Kevin, our tricycle driver; (Center) Man asking donations; (Right) Me
Pointing to the metal plate
Since I got a picture and will be “donating” some of my hard earned money I might as well get some information. I asked his name, he answered “Aguian (Agi – an)” and pointed to one of the metal plates.
(Left) Metal Plate; (Right) List of names on the plate
THERE’S NO AGUIAN ON THE LIST! Does he really think he can fool me to get some of my hard earned money?
He continued pointing and I continued looking. “Wala naman po kayo sa listahan.” “Tingin ka sa may taas.”
Aguian Viewdeck
THE VIEWPOINT WAS NAMED AFTER HIM!!!
I bombarded him with questions. You own the viewpoint? You own the rice terraces nearby? You stated the names of your ancestors before getting this land? He answered YES on all questions! Kuya Kevin (out tricycle driver) also confirmed it. He was definitely the owner of the viewpoint and the large rice terraces nearby.
I quickly changed my mindset from the cautious and doubting to the humbled and interested.
Asking details of the Rice Terraces
I asked a lot of questions and he was eager to answer them all. Here’s a list of what I found out about him and the rice terraces.
- Not all rice terraces have walls made of rocks. If the soil is compact and strong there is no need to put riprap to support it. Surprisingly, a large part of the famous Banaue Rice Terraces are one of them.
- The red plant is planted every after harvest to know that they have harvested on that time. Why are they few? Some wither and many are uprooted by the children.
They plant on a small patch of land in one of the terraces for the seedlings, then they get it and plant the many rice terraces.
Seedlings
- They hire people to plant and harvest the rice terraces.
- His wife was the one we saw planting rice sprouts in the terraces.
- The view printed on the Old 1,000 Peso Bill was actually from Manong Aguian’s View Point
The view at the Old 1,000 Peso Bill
Donation: 50 Pesos. Talk with one of the owners of the famous Banaue Rice Terraces, Priceless! π
awww… talagang priceless yan! woohoo
Nice one!, it’s like meeting a celebrity already. Did you get his autograph? π
Unfortunately, I didn’t get his autograph. But hey, it was still worthwhile. π
thumbs up for this article! Having worked “behind the scenes”, I bet mas interesting si Mr. Aguian than other celebrities out there π Priceless ang makilala ang mga taong tulad nila
You work pala “behind the scenes”. coool! π
Yup! I find people like Mr. Aguian to be much cooler than celebrities because I learn the culture, history and problems of the local people and environment.
haha! Aguian pala, not Aguid. π Great post!
San ba galing yang Aguid na yan? May naaalala rin akong Aguid dun sa trip natin pero hindi ko alam kung pangalan ng tao, lugar, hayop o bagay. β
Aguid ay yung sa Northern Sagada, remember the halu-halo-over-over-sarap-with-marshmallows-apple-avocado? Yun yun! π
Γ’β¬ΕO sige po, basta papicture tayo.Γ’β¬Β I was planning to get his picture and report him to the tourism office.” — tsk, tsk sobra.
Medyo harsh nga yung naisip ko nung time na yun. π
it’s a humbling experience, ayt? nice post! i read it from start to finish… i would love to meet Aguian soon…
Thanks for reading from start to finish.
Yup! It was truly a humbling experience. Sana mameet mo siya when you get to Banaue. Madalas daw siya sa viewdeck according to my friend, amihan. π
Hello! what a nice travel blog… I will surely visit you here regularly :)Can I put you in my blog list?
Hi Rizza. Thanks for visiting my blog and it was nice to meet you yesterday. π
Sure you can! Thanks π
Ang bongga ni kuya! Gusto ko rin magkaroon ng view deck na nakapangalan sa ‘kin… pero masagwa pakinggan. “Gay View Deck π
Hahaha panalo! Sabihan mo kami kapag meron ka ng view deck, papicture kami kasama mo. π
we have also a view deck here in bukidnon. hindi lang rice terraces. magandang idea na ipangalan sa isang legendary people, owner of the land. Josiah, you gave an idea on this one. I will suggest this one to the people of DPWH. Ang sa amin dito, DPWH View Deck. Ang sagwa. Bakit? hmmmmmm. secret. hehehe.:-).
Taga-Bukidnon ka pala. Swerte! Ngayon ko lang din na-realize na mas-ok nga ang pangalan ng may-ari or isang legendary na tao na related sa viewpoint. It gives a snippet of the history and culture of the place. π
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Good thing your Banaue experience is great, mine too except i got bamboozled quite a few times. what mighty zoom lens you have!!!! π
Aww… I hope to know from your blog how you were bamboozled in Banaue so we can avoid such an experience. π
for everything else there’s a master card… hehehe…. nice one… gusto ko pumunta jan!!! =) galeng!
Thanks Sir Ian. π
wow! it was really a priceless experience. I thought that Banaue Rice Terraces is overrated that’s why I didnt even pay much attention to go there. But because of the unexpected landslides in Benguet and Baguio, My way back from Sagada to baguio was re-routed to Sagada-Bontoc-Banaue, and I was really speechless when I had the glimpse of the majestic rice terraces. And guess what, Im planning my trip there.
what an experience! would like to commend you also for having a very informative and interesting blogs. hope u would always update your website each time you visit a place in pinas. great pictures too!
Thanks Arjoy! π
Sayang, we didn’t catch him when we were there. We based our Banaue trip on your blog.
Rowena speaks highly of you, by the way. ;p
Sayang! Dibali pwede pa naman balikan. π
I’m glad you met Ate Rowena in Hungduan. π
Keep on traveling!