Mountain Province

Alab Petroglyphs: 3,500-Year-Old Philippine Rock Art is Vanishing

Posted on December 14, 2023

Mountain Province in northern Luzon is best known for Sagada, a highland tourist destination known for its laid-back town atmosphere and outdoor adventures like hiking and caving. Unknown to most, however, is that the province also harbors a rare cultural treasure at risk of disappearing. Alab Petroglyphs are prehistoric rock art carved on a remote outcrop in the provincial capital of Bontoc. Discovered by science in 1972, it is only one of two documented ancient petroglyphs or rock engravings foundRead More→

Race Across The Terrace: Sagada (Part Three)

Posted on February 28, 2012

The Applai people of Sagada entombed their dead in hanging coffins propped along limestone cliffs  I never knew walking amidst the dead could be a pleasing experience. After all, Sagada is indeed the gateway to paradise.To get to this highland Shangri-la rediscovered by European backpackers in the 1960s, the route departing Banaue surmounted rougher terrain where pine trees soon replaced tree ferns, as it ascended higher into the Cordilleran interior. Not surprisingly, a gazillion more terraces flanked the way, butRead More→

ROAM Issue No. 2: Race Across the Terrace

Posted on July 13, 2009

Swoosh! Another tree branch barely missed my head. It’s been 11 hours since I left Manila, with the last hour’s ride proving to be a branch-dodging, butt-bruising and utterly hair-raising experience not inside but atop a jeepney overloaded with young boys spitting red moma, sacks of fresh greens, and a black native pig kept cool with some large leaves. While we bore the summer’s heat, the wide-eyed swine was comfily bound for slaughter on first class. As the four-wheeled circusRead More→