Spanish-era mansions, cobblestone streets and kalesa (horse-drawn carriages) are the hallmarks of historic Vigan. Miraculously spared bombing in WWII, the city is considered the finest surviving example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia. In 1999, Vigan was designated a Unesco World Heritage site.
To many travellers, North Luzon simply is the Cordillera, with everything else fading into insignificance. These spiny mountains, which top out at 2900m, are beloved, worshipped and feared in equal doses by those who witness them and those who live among them.
The absence of noise and pollution are probably the first things you’ll appreciate about Sagada, a tranquil mountaintop town where you can walk down the middle of the road and only occasionally be disturbed by a passing vehicle. Backpackers have been flocking here for years to enjoy the incredible mountain scenery, cheap dope and companionship of like-minded travellers.
Generalisations fall short when describing this vast region of misty mountains, sprawling plains and endless coastline, whose population is as diverse and unique as the landscape.
Batad’s amphitheatre-like stone-walled rice terraces are widely considered the world’s most striking. The recent arrival of electricity has brightened things up a bit, and the completion of a road nearby has brought it a bit closer to civilisation, but Batad remains your quintessential backpacker mecca, a place where you can lose yourself amid stunning scenery and the serene aura of isolation.
Banaue is synonymous with Luzon’s most famous icon, the Unesco World Heritage–listed Ifugao rice terraces, etched out of the hillsides using primitive tools and an ingenious irrigation system over 2000 years ago. The Ifugao by no means had a monopoly on rice terraces in the Cordillera, but they were arguably the best sculptors, as the mesmerizing display overlooking Banaue suggests.
Vibrant, woodsy and cool by Philippine standards, Baguio (bah-gee-oh) is the undisputed nerve centre of the Cordillera. For Filipinos, it’s the escape of choice from the stifling heat of the lowlands. For foreigners, it’s the primary gateway to backpacker bliss up north in Sagada, Banaue and Kalinga.