Friday 1 July 2011

Rice terraces, Philippines


First created over 2000 years ago, these rice terraces in Banaue in the Philippines are still in use today, although tourism is proving to be increasingly important as a source of income in the region.

Although you can't see any in this picture, apparently this area was excluded from the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing which covers the rice terraces of Batad, Bangaan, Hungduan, Mayoyao Central and Nagacadan because of a number of modern buildings.  It is, however, a National Cultural Treasure in the Philippines, and rightly so.

It is amazing how humans have managed to carve out the land to plant crops.  Not only here in the Philippines, but also Vietnam, Bali, China, Peru, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and no doubt many others I haven't yet come across.  It has been suggested that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have been built on an artificial mountain with terracing.  A fascinating subject.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, which is hosted by Beth Niquette at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

10 comments:

  1. Makes me think back to 1968 when I actually landed in the Philippines on my way to Viet Nam

    ReplyDelete
  2. awww...it's very nice of you to post this. This is my father's hometown, just in case you did not know yet, Philippines is my home country.And it is really sadden me because as of now,the fields are not in use anymore and all you could see is the dry land. :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Odie, how I would love to see the Philippines! Vietnam too, come to that. I don't suppose you felt quite the same in those days.

    @Willa, I didn't realise they don't use the fields any more. That's really sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful and it is amazing how people and the land merge. Happy PFF.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting post. The indigenous people who built the rice terraces are very amazing. My Postcard Friendship Friday ENTRY is up. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What lush green land. Sad that it is not the same anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely indeed and it was really sad to know that they are not taking care of this anymore. I believe it was once included in the wonders of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Greetings from Japan!

    I'm very happy to have read your post about the Philippines,it's my home country^_^

    http://www.mylifesgallery.com/2011/07/masskara-festival-postcard/

    Happy PFF!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I last got a glimpse of these rice terraces three years ago. Indeed, there are a lot of modern buildings already, but the terraces still look magnificent. View the photo I took here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fascinating! I had no idea the rice could be grown in this way.

    Happy PFF!

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...