Kiangan, Ifugao. Exploring its Natural, Historical and Heritage Attractions.

Описание: There’s something about Kiangan that usually hit first time visitors: it isn’t ethnic enough as the rest of the Cordilleras. This was how I felt when I first visited it in 1998. I was travelling in Sagada in 1998 when a group of friends invited me to come with them to Kiangan. I had no idea where Kiangan was, but I was expecting that it would be as interesting as Sagada. However, when we arrived, I saw no native houses, no rice terraces and no one in G-Strings. I saw modern houses and people in cowboy outfits, and the rice terraces that I saw were those on the pictures at the museum.
Fast forward many years later to 2012. I was forced to make a stop-over in Kiangan as driving under a heavy rain made it difficult for me to continue to Banaue. That sudden detour turned out to be the passage to rediscovering Kiangan. I stayed for two days, eventually skipping Banaue. After that sojourn, I was hooked on Kiangan.
Now, I enjoy coming back to Kiangan. There's something about its laidback charm and friendly people.
My latest visit got us on a bus from Cubao to Lagawe, and from Lagawe, a tricycle to Kiangan, and explored Nagacadan Rice Terraces (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and the Kiangan Shrine compound with the Peace Memorial and the Cordillera branch of the National Museum with its latest exhibit on Cordillera weaving. We also knocked at the door of the Ifugao IPED Center to see the extensive display of Cordillera artifacts and also visited the school building where General Yamashita surredered in 1945.
Every visit to Kiangan is a visit of discovery!