The Farm and Garden Eco Trail Tour at BenCab Museum

One of the highlights of our tour to the BenCab Museum we "exhaustingly" enjoyed is the Farm and Garden Eco Trail Tour. We couldn't pass on the chance to do this guided tour because we were curious about the natural wonders that lies on the other side of the mountain (where part of the tour will be).

Apart from the entrance fee to the museum, you have to pay an extra PhP 100 each for the adults and PhP 80 each for the kids and senior citizens. I hope they could come up with a package tour of the BenCab Museum and the Farm and Garden Eco Trail Tour soon.

Right after we're done with the museum tour, our friendly tour guide Max (who I kept calling Mar for some unknown reason) greeted us warmly and showed us where the trail starts.

One of the three Ifugao houses or fale on the property. Though relatively small, an Ifugao house is intricately designed and made. Each house was built without using nails or hardware.

This one has been modernized a little. There's a bedroom which doubles as a dining room on the second floor. Yes! It has a second floor!

Wooden effigies called Bulol (or bulul) are carved on top of the ladder and on the door. Notice the thick wooden discs encircling the posts below the house? They're called oliang and the purpose of which is to keep rats at bay.

Pictured below is the Dap-ay. It is a multi-purpose gathering place used for worship, rituals, settlement of disputes, and activities.

Organic farming method is used throughout the whole farm. Everyone living here eat organically grown vegetables everyday! Lucky! The produce are also served at Café Sabel. They also have ponds with different kinds of fishes and lobsters! 

Different variety of vegetables are planted in this greenhouse. 

I had to take a picture of this areca palm tree (above) because I had the worst kind of memory with its fruits. The fruits are used by the Filipino elders for nganga - a Filipino version of chewing tobacco. Elders would smear an apog or slaked lime over the fruit and wrap them all with betel leaf then chew. My great grandmother would chew nganga all day with so much gusto that I got curious and tried one. Big mistake! A terrible mix of bitter, spicy, and probably human dung. Disgusting, really. 

I was actually amazed at how clean the water in this stream is! I live in the city, so seeing something like this is a phenomenon for me. 

You have to cross this hanging bridge to get to the other side of the mountain. Although smiling, my sister was seriously trembling and screaming on the inside. Wimp.

The red arrow points to the stubborn senior citizen (my Aunt) who refused to be left behind. This' already on the other side of the mountain. By this time, my energy level was at 30%.

I couldn't help but take a few glances every now and then at these two amazing buildings. On the left is Ben Cab's abode and on the right is the museum. 

Alright, back on the trail. It was already almost 1pm when we got to this breathtaking falls. While Max was talking about the reason why Ben Cab bought this falls, I couldn't ignore the V12-engine-like sound inside my stomach! My sister's face was distorted and she looked like she was about to throw a hissy fit and the senior citizen's left eye was involuntarily twitching like crazy! We were famished!

I told Max that we had to cut our tour short because we were so close to eating the leaves on the trees around us and The Artist wouldn't like that! The only area we didn't go to was near the top of the mountain which was a viewing deck of some sort.

On our way back to the top, we saw this building which serves as a guest house. It is right beside the falls. Lovely! My son commented that it's like a dojo house due to the sign posted on the sliding doors reminding the guests to take off their shoes first before entering.

The tour was very interesting. You'll learn important facts about the Ifugao's way of life and about the BenCab Farm and Garden as well. I wouldn't recommend the tour for kids younger than 10 years old though because the trail can be very slippery and some parts are extremely narrow.

BenCab Museum's Farm and Garden Eco Trail Tour

www.bencabmuseum.org

Km. 6 Asin Road, Tadiangan Tuba, Benguet, Philippines

Tel. No.: (074) 442-7165

Mobile No.: (0920) 530-1954

Facebook: BenCab Museum

E-mail: bencabartfoundation@gmail.com

Museum Hours: 9am-6pm Tuesdays to Sundays 

                         Closed on Mondays, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day

HOW TO GET THERE: From Naguilian Rd., go straight until you see this sign...

The sloping road that the red arrow's pointing at is Asin Rd. You'll pass by lots of wood furniture shops and after which, you'll see the BenCab Museum on your left side. The road going to the museum is long and narrow and seemed like it took us forever to reach our destination but it was really worth it.