Banaue to Sagada - Nature Photos


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Sagada, Northern Luzon - Cordillera Mountains - Philippines

Going to Sagada - we have 2 options, directly from Banaue or from Baguio. Many combine both and thus first visit Banaue with the beautiful rice terraces then go onward to Sagada on the dirt road across the mountains. The road from Banaue to Sagada is sometimes closed due to landslides. This is specially the case during rainy season but also may occur during dry season. High up in the Cordillera mountains even in dry season you may have extended periods of heavy rain.

When looking at the Banaue rice terraces and the entire Banaue neighborhood and moving toward Sagada, the first apparent change is the landscape, nature - more precisely the missing green! It is apparent that just a few dozen kilometers away from the rice terraces of Banaue a totally different people has been living during the past thousands of years. Different valley - different mentality - different attitude!

While Banaue is the result of huge human efforts, loving care and loving work by humans - approaching Sagada shows more and more dry unmaintained, uncared landscape. The result of carelessless and laziness! To understand the difference in todays appearance, you have to keep in mind that many thousand years ago both areas potentially looked alike. All the visual difference in today's vegetation, green and agriculture productivity is due to difference attitude of different people living in this 2 nearby areas.

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Nature photos from Banaue to Sagada - traveling by car

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Leaving Banaue by car - a last look at the beautiful rice terraces	Banaue architects had a perfect understanding of water management
Travel continues on dirt road along the heights of Cordillera mountains with beautiful wild mountain vegetation.	Many small blossoming bushes and flowers on the way to Sagada
High up in the Cordillera mountains the nature is mostly untouched and wild	Dry season in Cordillera mountains - cloudy and foggy - we are traveling in the clouds
After a while - another valley - another village - new rice terraces	These mountains are dry - the existing water is unmanaged and uncared for - the total opposite from Banaue!
Small rice terraces amidst dry nature	Mountain view Cordillera
Hilltop house	Most of these mountains never have been cultivated nor irrigated
Pine trees - Cordillera mountains	Pine trees - at high altitude Cordillera mountains
Pine trees often is the only tree in the mountains between Banaue and Sagada	Small rice terraces on an otherwise empty mountain
Everything here looks much less colorful, less tropical than in Banaue	Weak growth in the rice terraces
Compare this above photo with a comparable Banaue photo to see the difference in loving care between the 2 adjacent regions. A difference entirely resulting from different human attitude.	No ornamental plants or flowers are found around the rice terraces here
Village with rice terraces	Village with rice terraces
Small mountain river with rice terraces	Rice terraces surrounded by empty hills, pine trees instead of fruit trees.Drought instead of flowers and blossoming bushes.
Small mountain river	Village with rice terraces
Road from Banaue to Sagada is mostly dirt road	The lack of dense low bushes and grass increases the danger of landslides during heavy rains
Without active work done by humans, nothing is ever going to happen or change here. To be truly prosperous in life, large projects require active help and active work by ALL.	Pine trees on dry mountain sloop
Without water no life	Even rice fields look less fertile
Rice field	Waterfall - water flows without being used for fields
Cordillera mountains	Near desert like mountains
Small river	Mountain river with crystal clear water
Village along a river	Sagada - Passionfruit flower
Tropical fruits	Red blossom
Sagada village view	Sagada's different nature
Sagada's rocky nature	Sagada - Yellow blossoming bush
Sagada - wild lilac orchids

In above pictures covering the short travel from Banaue to Sagada you should have an impression on the human impact on nature. Humans create a paradise out of a once near desert looking mountain region in Banaue. Others leave all as desert like as it always was ... in Sagada. Without persistent human efforts all nature may die or remain empty - empty of love and empty of life. It thus is up to us to create our own paradise. All we need is given by God: Rain, sunshine, wind, earth and fertile plants, fruit trees, etc. Love however needs to flow as freely as water. Without freely flowing love no healing, no beauty in our loved ones. Without free flowing water no beauty in our nature.