THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

 [Photo: Banaue Rice Terraces as seen from the NFA Viewpoint]

The Banaue Rice Terraces as a World Heritage Site and Eighth Wonder of the World

From Sanafelodge:

The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras have been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995. These include the Rice Terrace Clusters of Banaue - Batad, Banaue - Bangaan, Mayoyao, Kiangan - Nagacadan and Hungduan.  There are 3 viewpoints in Banaue: NFA View Point, Dayanarra View Point (named after former Ms. Universe, Dayanarra Torres) and the Banaue View Point.

From: The Department of Tourism

One of the nine (9) towns of Ifugao Province, Banaue, is world-famous and a must-see place. Its Rice Terraces considered as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and declared as a World Heritage Site, are beautiful stairways to the sky that ascend steep mountain sides. The guest in this hiker's paradise will have an outstanding preview of the beautiful countryside, surrounded by mountains and tribal villages. These rice terraces were built by the Ifugao tribes 2000 years ago using only their bare hands and the most primitive tools. It is said that the length of the terraces, if connected end to end would encircle half of the globe.

Who Owns the Rice Terraces

From: A Travel Guide for Banaue and the Ifugao Rice Terraces

There is no land ownership around the terraces as such, but only the right to till, plant, harvest and maintain their family plots. Once the family ceases to do this, ‘ownership’ of the land passes to another, be it a neighboring farmer or relative of the original ‘owners’.

[Photo: The obverse of the old P1000 peso bill showing the Banaue Rice Terraces. See excerpt from Biyaherong Barat below.]

The Rice Terraces and the P1000 Bill

From Biyaherong Barat:

I kind of enjoyed the non-perspiring walk to the most notable among the three view points, NFA-Aguian View Deck, also known as the “1000 Peso bill view deck”. Printed in the Philippines’ largest usable banknote (the old banknote) is the picture-perfect image of the Banaue cluster viewed from the NFA vantage point.