Bfukhay Tour

"Experience the interplay of culture in harmony with nature:Join the Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Association’s, a.k.a. Pochon Group, Bfukhay Tour (Rice Planting) and discover one of the Ifugao's majestic Rice Terraces and the Land of Eternal Spring - Mayoyao!"

The Bfukhay Tour aims to bring tourists to join and experience rice planting at the Mayoyao Rice Terraces, interact with the locals to get to know more of the village's cultures, witness rituals and tribal ceremonies, and discover every scenic sites the municipality boasts...

This tour helps the Mayoyao Rice Terraces by bringing tourists to better understand the Mayoyao Rice Terraces culture and share the tourism income with the community. It will help encourage community participation in the restoration and conservation of our ancestral domain. Part of the proceeds of the tour goes to the community heritage trust fund to help promote their indigenous culture.

Bfukhay Package Tour
February 10-11, 2007
Mayoyao, Ifugao

Package Cost: Php2,200.00 per participant

Inclusions:
Transportation within the province

Tour Guide Fee

Meals (2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 snack for day 1 only)

Cultural night

Environmental Fee

Lodging (Inn accommodations and homestays)

Entrance Fee

Exclusions:

Transportation to Ifugao from Manila or Baguio

Travel Insurance

Travel to Mayoyao is a three-hour ride, be it from Banaue or Santiago City (Isabela) along a road system which dips and climbs hundred of meters among picturesque terraced hills, forests, and villages. The views of the rice terraces in Mayoyao are awesome: literally, the municipality sits on top of the rice terraces! The native houses, with roofs shaped like the pyramids of Gaza, are strategically placed within the rice terraces. No nails or glue were used but the typical native house can withstand even the strongest of typhoons.

Day 1 of the tour brings the participants to trek Mayoyao proper and explore the rice terraces, join the planting in the rice terraces, or can just observe how the planting is being done. They can also interact with the locals of the community about rice farming, the customs and traditions, among others. After lunch, the participants will proceed to Abfo’or, where the Igloo-type burial tombs containing bodies of the ancient warriors can be found. The rest of the afternoon will be spent at the Marian Center, a place suitable for meditation and relaxation, situated beside the Hecheng Falls. When there's plenty of water, the waterfalls form an image resembling the Mama Mary…local folks call it the Hidden Madonna.

As for Day 2, the participants will proceed to Chu’it Viewpoint where one can see the Mayoyao Rice Terraces in its entirety. The afternoon will be spent in Banaue for more views of the famous Ifugao Rice Terraces and for the participants to have their shopping for souvenirs.

Itinerary

Day 1
8 a.m. Breakfast
9-12 nn Trekking to Mayoyao Proper Rice Terraces
Rice Planting

12-1 p.m. Lunch with the community
Interaction with locals about farming, cultures, etc.

1-3 p.m. To Abfo’or Burial Tombs

3-5 p.m. Visit to Marian Center (with falls)

7-8 p.m. Dinner

8-10 p.m. Community gathering and cultural show

Day 2

6 a.m. Early Breakfast

7-11 a.m. Trek to Chu’it Viewpoint (with 45 minute trek)

11a.m.-3 p.m. Travel to Banaue (with lunch at Midway)

3-5:30 p.m. Sightseeing and shopping in Banaue

5:30 p.m. Departure of visitors (earlier for those from Manila)

For reservation and inquiries, contact us:

Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Association, Inc.

Poblacion, Mayoyao, Ifugao

Mobile: +639064826300, +639214524262

E-mail: acer098@gmail.com, pmcba98@gmail.com

Deadline for reservations will be on February 5, 2007.

about pochon group

The Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Association, Inc.

(a.k.a POCHON GROUP)

The Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Association, Inc. (Pochon Group) is a youth organization formed last December 28, 2005 and was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, 2006. The concept of organizing such a group came about when the high school batch 1998 of Assumption Academy, Mayoyao, Ifugao, met and decided to pro-actively work together for the purposes of helping the Mayoyao Community engage in income-generating activities and livelihood programs, to draw training designs for transfer of technology and skills to enable the underprivileged engage in self-employment, and to engage in social actions programs aimed at developing the Mayoyao Community as a whole, without sacrificing the town’s natural resources and at the same time preserving the many cultures of the Mayoyao People. The Pochon Group is an organization of the younger generation in Mayoyao who were “left” behind, while the rest go abroad or to the cities.

The PMCBA is also a member of the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement or the SITMo (see http://www.sitmo.ueuo.com), the biggest NGO in the Ifugao Province, and is actively assisting in the Movement’s aim of preserving and saving the Ifugao Terraces in the municipal level, particularly in Mayoyao.