Cordillera Sculpture Museum in Banaue, Ifugao

We had a lot of time to waste since we arrived early in Banaue, Ifugao for the jeep going to Batad. What we did first was to go to the Banaue Tourist Information Center and check out what other things we could do in the town center of Banaue.

Banaue is famous for its rice terraces so visiting the viewpoints was on our list. But Bibang wanted to try something new first before we do the viewpoints as she has done it before. We tried looking at the brochure that the information center gave us and the Banaue Museum came up.

We wanted to go to the Banaue Museum but I remembered this blue with yellow lettering and a blue background when we were nearing the town of Banaue at the bus from Manila. I remembered it well as Cordillera Sculpture Museum. I was really curious about as it was still not written in the brochure so we decided to give it a try.

After 15 minutes of walking continuously uphill on the road from the market we were finally at the sign. And the next is a small path going uphill!!!

Greeted by a native house and a barking dog we were looking for the entrance of the museum and when we found it, it says that we had to pay a hundred pesos for the entrance fee. I hesitated in entering the museum as 100 Pesos is already big for someone who travels with a budget like me. But I thought of going back to Banaue some other time to visit the museum again and that would be a much more expensive way to get in. How much more for someone who will be coming from a foreign country, it would still be too expensive even he rides one of the cheap flights. So I paid hesitantly the entrance fee and went in.

Upon our entry I knew then that the 100 Pesos entrance fee was worth it. There were so many Cordilleran Tribal Sculptures! It was my first time seeing so many Bululs in one location. And that was only the first floor, the second floor even had more carved sculptures.

Even the stairs has Bululs.

There were necklaces and staffs that has Bululs on it.

There were also utensils and armor that the natives used.

What I like about the museum is that each piece of art was not just placed there without a label. Every item has a small paper beneath or beside it explaining what it is. That’s how we found out about the secret of this sculpture.

To know the secret of this sculpture visit the Cordillera Sculpture Museum in Banaue, Ifugao. 😉

Another great thing about this museum is that not only does it show the past sculptures of the farmer-carvers of Northern Luzon it also features what they are doing now and how the international market influences to make other designs.

And so after 50 minutes of checking out the museum, we were out of the museum walking back to the market while I was wondering on how much I would have missed if I hadn’t paid the 100 Pesos entrance fee. I’m glad I did because I do not like to regret.

Banaue Sculpture Museum Details

Entrance Fee: 100 Pesos/person

How to get there

1. Get to Banaue, Ifugao. Know more on my post on How To Get to Banaue, Ifugao.
2. From the terminal or the market of Banaue, ride a tricycle and say to the driver to take you to Cordillera Sculpture Museum. Fare is 10 Pesos/person. Estimated Travel Time is 5 minutes.

Alternatively, you can do what we did. We walked from the market to the Cordillera Sculpture Museum for approximately 15 minutes. UPHILL!!!

How to get out of there

Just backtrack on how you got there.

Something you should not know
I found out that the Cordillera Sculpture Museum was inside the brochure of the Banaue Tourist Information Center. I wasn’t reading well enough. 😛