luplupa tinglayan

"yuka... yuka... yukishhh..." uttering these words to get the attention of the black-skinned pigs while i was on top of a 3-feet-high house fence in the small village of Luplupa in Kalinga. this was how the locals gather their pigs which were freely roaming around the village.it was unusual to see swines out of fences living along with dogs and chickens. there were dozens including piglets each resembling to one another. i wonder how the residents determine which ones they own. simple. like dogs, the pigs knew where to go home and recognizes their master's call.the entire village is composed of just about a hundred and twenty houses and is located across the Chico river opposite the highway. thus, one needs to cross the long hanging bridge to get to the village.
though Poblacion already holds Tinglayan's town church, the church in Luplupa is the town's old church. settled behind the village in an elevated open area in between century old Acacia trees. as a tradition, the largest tree in the village has a ribbon tied to signify as the heritage tree. the village's main gathering area has a stage with a local phrase written on it "mataku ta-u losan" which meant "we will all live". which also reflects the locals take on positivity and living a good and simple life.to reach the main village area, one has to walk more steps up. immediately i noticed that there were several water faucets within the village with water freely flowing. clean water was abundant that they just leave the faucets open and everyone can freely get water for daily use and even drink from it.if there was something which we didn't notice, it was those graves just along the cemented walkway. at some instance, one can actually step over it. but as we stayed there on the third day, we became more familiar to the village.
it was just in 2005 when the village was connected with electricity. but despite the village rusticity and isolation, several houses has satellite dish. disconnected from the web world but is in tune with the world's happenings through the television. with this, i expect the village to evolve in years time but with the hope that they will still embrace the culture.
how to get there:
via Banaue-Bontoc:
take the bus (Florida Bus, Ohayami, or Autobus) from Manila to Banaue. regular trips to Banaue usually are between 9:00pm - 11:00pm for a nine-hour road trip.
from Banaue, take a jeep or van to Bontoc (about 2hours). regular trips are usually the whole morning till early afternoon.
from Bontoc, look for the jeep or bus that leaves Bontoc usually just once a day. jeepney travel time is 4hours.
via Tabuk:
take a bus (Victory) from Manila to Tabuk. regular trips to Tabuk are available everyday. mostly around 9:00pm - 11:00pm for a 13-hour roadtrip.
from Tabuk, a jeepney that has an irregular schedule to Tinglayan. usually trips are in the morning. you can also take bus trips to Bontoc which will pass by Tinglayan. road trip will take about 3hours (with 2hours paved highway and about an hour of roads under development).

escape factor:
accessibility: 2.5
isolation: 4.5
rural village: 4.0
immersion experience: 4.5
overall: 4.0