Places to visit in Bontoc

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon
(Francis B. Degay writes this week’s column)

One time on my way from Manila to Baguio, I was seated with an American traveler. We were exchanging views about the global financial crisis when he suddenly diverted our pleasantries on what places to visit in Bontoc. Since I advocate promoting our Bontoc ay kalaychan, I shared with him the following account.

To reach Bontoc from Baguio, you have to ride the early trips of the GL Lizardo Trans, Dangwa (Jack Dulnuan) Tranco or the D’Rising Sun through the 146-km. winding and bumpy Halsema highway. When in Bontoc, one has to find a hotel where to check in and enjoy a short rest before visiting the sceneries around the town. A local guide may be contacted by any of the hotel frontline crew.

The first to see is the palikot aso (sleeping dog), a rock formation where the shape of a sleeping dog, a scratch of a chicken and a hole were inscribed when Lumawig, the god of the Igorots, was resting and overlooking Sitio Lanao. At a distance are the Kadchug rice terraces.

Downhill are the Kadchug hanging bridge and the flood control where one can pass and follow the famous Chico River until the jumbo bridge that connects the other three central barangays (Poblacion, Bontoc Ili, Caluttit and Samoki. The air is cool there although the river is now getting polluted with waste.

Toward interior Samoki is the loomweaving industry. Indigenous native attires and finished woven products are manufactured there such as tapis (wrap around skirt), g-strings, shoulder bags, back packs, purses, wallets, head gears, etc.

Back at downtown is the Bontoc museum which is housed within the St. Vincent’s Elementary School compound. It is here where one can peek at the different antiquated gadgets or implements and photographs of the Cordillera tribes. Behind the building is the replica of the ato. An ato is where the elders conduct assemblies, resolutions of disputes, chitchats and sleeping quarters for the men in the ili.

A few meters down the gigantic stairs are the Mountain Province trade center, the government commercial center and the Bontoc public market where indigenous products are displayed for sale. Just a stone throw away are banks with automotive teller machines where one can withdraw cash.

After wearisome activities, an unwinding may be done by singing at the karaoke bars or listening to live folk music. But if one prefers fresh air, one can wander, sit or lie back on the river control beside the Chico riverside. The sound of the cascading water relaxes tired muscles and neutralizes one’s mind and soul.

As early as 6 a.m., visitors may attend the morning mass either at the Cathedral of All Saints (Anglican) or the Santa Rita Cathedral (Roman Catholic). After the mass at a little past 7 a.m., the most interesting activity is to join the folks drink sizzling native coffee and bite a piece or two of patopat (cooked glutinous rice wrapped with a banana leaf) or hot pancake along the stretch of the national road or at the public market. While in the company of coffee sippers, one hears the latest news or tsismis in town.

The next exciting schedule is trekking from Bontoc-Maligcong-Guina-ang-Mainit. A few meters before Barangay Maligcong are organic citrus and vegetables planted in mountain terraces. In Maligcong are beautifully stoned-walled rice terraces and a few native houses. After a few hours of roving exercise, the traveler hikes through the Spanish trail that leads to Guina-ang and Mainit where many century-old rice paddies were artistically built.

Mainit has its mineral hot springs and two mineral resorts. A drench in one of the pools relaxes one’s body and mind. It leads one to a soothing sleep. Early in the morning, one can cook a very simple and cheap breakfast meal by putting an egg or two in a tin can and place it on the boiling mineral spring for a few minutes.

By 7 a.m., the trekker starts for Guina-ang and then to Dalican where a mountain lake, rice terraces and a burial cave are located. The cave is not as popular as the Sagada caves because it is not often visited. While one goes down Balitian. The smell of pine and fresh whistling wind re-invigorate the exhausted body.

With a public utility tricycle, van, jeepney or bus, one can reach Alab Oriente. A strenuous hike takes about two hours from the national road to the Ganga cave and petro glyph.

After Alab Oriente is a few minutes walk to Balili, where the White Mountain or Kaman Otek, a mountain that was splashed with whitish brain (otek) like particles, is located. Above it is a wide cave called the Imelda cave, which is still an issue if it belongs to Sagada or Bontoc.

Up is the famous and frequented tourist municipality of Sagada which could be an exit point after touring the capital town of Bontoc. From Sagada to Banaue via Bontoc are the barangays of Talubin and Bayyo, where one can view the rice terraces and faliling, an art of planting camote or sweet potato. Between the two barangays are the plummeting Baybay falls and Ab-ab creek.