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My jeepney to Tinglayan

Tonight for dinner I had steamed frog legs and carrots dipped in a blended sauce of chili, vinegar and soy, and it was delicious.

I am far off the beaten path, and about to go farther. When I told my guide in Sagada that I wanted to go trekking in Kalinga, his eyes momentarily widened and he went “ooooh.” Two days later, he slipped me a piece of paper with the name of a guide that could take me there. “Be careful,” he said.

Kalinga is headhunter country. Although the practice has mostly died out, there are still tribal battles between villages, and during the 80s there was open warfare between the tribes and President Marcos’ government, who wanted to dam up the valley for power. The tribes won.

In Bontoc, as I was sipping a Coke to help rid myself of a queasy stomach, one of the locals chatted me up. When he heard of my plan to venture north to Tinglayan and into neighboring villages, he looked concerned. “You need to go with guide,” he said. I solemnly agreed.

I inquired about the guide Francis at the police station. The police captain and one of his lieutenants personally walked me across town (given how the locals gaped, they probably thought I was under arrest), and helped me locate him. Two hours later, Francis and I were on a jeepney headed north, into some of the most remote mountain tribal areas of the Philippines.

The small, single-lane road through the mountains was muddy and bumpy, crossing streams and skirting cliffs and snaking its way north along the path of the Chico river. Several hours of bone rattling travel, but all easily ignored by the sheer lush beauty of the mountains. Hills so green they almost defied the sense of color, rich with foliage, sparkling wet from a constant light drizzle, a soft cloud cover caressing the hilltops and occasionally drifting in and out of valleys.

And at last, right before dark, the tiny little village of Tinglayan on the banks of the Chico river, as far as the road can take me in this remote territory. From here, it’s on foot the rest of the way to the tribal villages. But first, a few more frog legs for dinner.