The first long night after two short ones didn’t feel long at all. But the fantastic breakfast could have motivated even the most sleepy traveller: fried sweet potatoes, noodle soup and a choice of tea, coffee or Milo was presented to us. After eating we packed our bags, payed our bill and thanked our hosts for the great stay. At 7:30, we hit the road again.
Our change of plan the day before forced us to take a shorter route, directly to the village of Kinakin on the “main road”, where our Jeepney would pick us up. That is, if we managed to reach a place where the cellphone signal is strong enough to send a message to the driver. But don’t worry, it all went well, and the Jeepney awaited us on our arrival in Kinakin.
Before that, however, there was a four hours hike. The way was less exciting than the day before. The start was steep and narrow, with a great view back on the village of Cambulo. But then we walked past a bulldozer, idly waiting for more supplies so it could continue building a road that would link Cambulo to the rest of the Jeepney-accessible world. Our guide told us that the project had started two years ago and that it’s yet unsure when the road will be finished… For us it meant that for the second half of the way, our path was broad and muddy. From time to time we had to cross a bridge over a small stream, and we marvelled at the waterfalls above and below the road. There were moments when the clouds lightened and allowed us to see the green hills and more rice fields. Overall the trek was much less scenic than the day before, though, and we regretted our slowliness which had forced us to take this way.
We enriched some of the walking time by solving riddles and puzzles, such as one I recently discovered on a friend’s blog: The Pirate Game. Thus before long we arrived back to Banaue. The afternoon saw a short ride to Banaue Viewpoint, where we had another impressive view of cloud-covered rice fields. On the way back, we took another shower and exchanged our wet clothes against dry ones, so we wouldn’t freeze too much in the bus which, once again, carried us through the night to Manila.