Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION
Municipal Guesthouse Near the Municipal Hall
T 0917 521 5830, E mysticalkabayan@yahoo.com.
Small guesthouse with just two single-sex dorms (sleeping
six) with pinewood beds and shared bathrooms (no hot
water). The walls are dotted with pictures of mumm ies and
the surrounding area. There's a guest kitchen. P200
Pine Cone Lodge Main road, Kabayan T 0929 327
7749. As the name suggests, this lodge is decked out in
pine; the clean tiled rooms are spacious and all have
private bath, and t he liv ing area with fireplace gives the
place a cosy touch. P500
EATING AND DRINKING
There are half a dozen sari-sari stores in Kabayan where you can get snacks, but only a couple of places to eat a meal. Local
o cials have banned the sale (but not the consumption) of alcohol.
Brookside Café Main road, Kabayan. The friendly
owner at this pleasant café with wooden benches rustles
up simple dishes including soups, noodles and rice and
meat (P80), as well as sugary Benguet coffee that is just the
thing on a cold Cordillera morning. Mon-Sat 6am-6pm,
Sun 6-8am & noon-6pm.
Torena's Main road, Kabayan. This family-run place
makes breakfast to order; otherwise, meals are prepared
daily and laid out on the table, with customers picking and
choosing what they fancy. They can happily oblige any
dietary request - just let them know in advance. Meals
P80. Daily 7am-8pm.
3
Mount Pulag
Standing 2922m above sea level, Mount Pulag is the highest mountain in Luzon and
even experienced climbers are required to take a guide. The terrain is steep, there are
gorges and ravines, and in the heat of the valleys below, it's easy to forget it can be
bitterly cold and foggy on top. Despite what villagers may flippantly say, don't
underestimate the di culty of this mountain. It's essential to treat the area with
respect: a number of indigenous communities including the Ibaloi, Kalanguya,
Kankanay and Karaos live on Pulag's slopes and regard the mountain as a sacred place.
They have a rich folklore about ancestral spirits inhabiting trees, lakes and mountains,
and while they're friendly towards climbers you should stick to the trails.
he two best trails start from Ambangeg and Kabayan . Less used are the Mountain
Lakes Trail , an hour's drive north of Kabayan, where you ascend Mount Tabayok and
camp at the lakeside, and the Enchanted Trail starting in Tawangan, a two-hour drive
THE IGOROTS
The tribes of the Cordillera - often collectively known as the Igorots (“mountaineers”) - resisted
assimilation into the Spanish Empire for three centuries. Although the colonizers brought some
material improvements, such as to the local diet, they also forced the poor to work to pay off
debts, burned houses, cut down crops and introduced smallpox. The saddest long-term result
of the attempts to subjugate the Igorots was subtler, however - the creation of a distinction
between highland and lowland Filipinos. The peoples of the Cordillera became minorities in
their own country, still struggling today for representation and recognition of a lifestyle that the
Spanish tried to discredit as unChristian and depraved. The word Igorot was regarded as
derogatory in some quarters, although in the twentieth century there were moves to “reclaim”
the term and it is still commonly used.
Though some Igorots did convert to Christianity, many are still at least partly animists and
pray to a hierarchy of anitos . These include deities that possess shamans and speak to them
during seances, spirits that inhabit sacred groves or forests, personified forces of nature and
generally any supernatural apparition. Offerings are made to benevolent anitos for fertility,
good health, prosperity, fair weather and success in business (or, in the olden days, tribal war).
Evil anitos are propitiated to avoid illness, crop failure, storms, accidents and death. Omens are
also carefully observed: a particular bird seen upon leaving the house might herald sickness,
for example, requiring that appropriate ceremonies are conducted to forestall its portent. If the
bird returns, the house may be abandoned.
 
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