Olketa Step wea Go Ap Long Skae
FROM MAN WEA RAET FOR WEKAP! LONG PHILIPPINES
OLKETA sei long bilong hem hem ten taem winim Great Wall bilong China. Samfala sei sapos olketa joinim evriwan tugeta, hem bae kasem 20,000 kilometer—or haf wei raonem earth! Samfala kolem olsem mek-eit “spesol samting bilong world.” Nomata olsem, planti pipol nating herem eni samting abaotem disfala naesfala samting long Philippines. Wanem nao diswan? Datfala step wea go ap long skae, datfala rice terrace bilong Cordillera Central. Hem stap haed insaed olketa maunten bilong Luzon, and olketa terrace hia barava luk naes and showimaot kleva tingting.
Why nao olketa buildim? Olketa maunten bilong Cordilleras hem steep tumas so olketa no savve iusim for farming. Steep bilong samfala hem winim 50 percent. Bat diswan nating stopem olketa farmer bifor. Nomata hae bilong 1,200 meter or winim datwan, olketa wakem planti thousand terrace long saed bilong olketa green maunten. Samfala taem 25, 30, or winim datwan laen ap olsem olketa step wea kasem skae. And long evri terrace olketa wakem garden wea fulap witim wata, wea olketa sat raonem witim graon and stone wall. Rice nao main samting olketa plantim long olketa terrace hia, wea followim hae bilong olketa maunten; samfala raon insaed, samfala raon aotsaed.
Tru, no Philippines seleva nomoa garem olketa agriculture terrace. Olketa terrace garden olsem stap long nara kantri tu, olsem long Southeast Asia, South America, and samfala part bilong Africa. Bat olketa rice terrace bilong Philippines hem spesol long planti wei. Mario Movillon, bilong International Rice Research Institute, talem Wekap!: “Olketa rice terrace long Philippines hem big tumas winim olketa bilong nara kantri. Hem kavarem big part bilong olketa Cordillera maunten.” Bigfala part hem long Ifugao Province. Man bae barava sapraes hao olketa terrace hia staka tumas. Samting wea olketa wakem mekem datfala maunten luk naes.
Wanfala “Spesol Samting Bilong World?”
Waswe, hem ova tumas for kolem olketa olsem mek-eit “spesol samting bilong world.” Tingim disfala tru samting: Maet hem nao barava bigfala agriculture project long history bilong man. Long December 1995, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization disaed for putim disfala Ifugao rice terrace insaed long World Heritage List bilong hem. From diswan, olketa terrace hia kamap semsem witim olketa nara bigfala samting bilong history and kastom, olsem Taj Mahal long India, olketa Galapagos Island bilong Ecuador, datfala Great Wall bilong China, and Angkor Wat bilong Cambodia. Bat long wei wea difren from olketa nara construction project bifor, olsem olketa pyramid bilong Egypt, luk olsem community nao buildim datfala terrace—no hard waka bilong slave. And tu, hem no ples wea olketa lusim finis bat olketa Ifugao still iusim.
Sapos iu visitim olketa terrace hia, iu savve lukim seleva disfala naesfala samting. Iu bae lukim pipol waka long olketa terrace, from samfala square meter go kasem 10,000 square meter. Samfala wakman savve pokem hol long graon mekem wata go insaed long hem, and olketa singsing taem olketa waka. Olketa narawan plantim rice, transplantim olketa plant, or harvestim crop bilong olketa. Sapos iu visit taem olketa niu rice start for kamaot, lukluk bilong olketa terrace hem difren kaen naes green colour.
Olketa difren kaen wet rice no savve laef sapos no staka wata stap. So olketa mekem wanfala wei for supplyim go wata. Olketa kasem wata from olketa maunten stream, and tanem go long olketa terrace thru long olketa drain and bambu. Bikos long gravity, wata supply hem evritaem kasem olketa terrace. No olsem samting wea isi for forgetim, disfala terrace evritaem mekem man sapraes!
Hu Nao Buildim Olketa?
Iumi luksavve hao planti thousand terrace hia hem no samting wea olketa buildim kwiktaem, or insaed samfala year nomoa. Remember, olketa no iusim eni tul or machine bilong distaem for wakem diswan. So olketa bilivim hao waka for buildim datfala terrace maet start winim samfala handred year bifor.
Pipol wea studyim olketa old samting bilivim hao waka hia start long samting olsem 2,000 year bifor. Pipol wea studyim race bilong man sei olketa man wea build hia tekem kam kastom for wakem terrace bilong wet rice from northern Indochina or from Indonesia and settle long Luzon. Taem olketa buildim finis samfala terrace, then olketa addim go samfala niu wan moa.
Hao for Enjoyim Olketa
Let iumi tourim disfala terrace witim mind bilong iumi. First samting iumi tekem wanfala air-condition bas from Manila for go long taon bilong Banaue, Ifugao. Disfala gogo tekem samting olsem naen hour. Then tu-thri samting nao iumi savve duim. Iumi savve disaed for wakabaot, go long thri-wheel motorbike, or go long spesol jeep for go long olketa difren interesting ples hia. And sapos iumi laekem and strong, iumi maet want for followim wanfala road, wea fitim baeleg nomoa, wea go insaed olketa maunten area. Diswan bae mekem iu lukim gud olketa terrace hia and minim disfala barava bigfala “spesol samting bilong world” wea man wakem.
Mifala chus for tekem spesol jeep for go long datfala vilij bilong Batad. Hem tekem mifala winim wan hour for go long raf maunten road for kasem datfala 12-kilometer point. Start from hia, mifala baeleg go followim wanfala bush road. Mifala wakabaot midolwan long olketa difren kaen plant and tree bilong maunten taem mifala isisi klaem go ap long wanfala ridge midolwan long tufala point wea moa hae. (Wanfala short-kat stap, bat hem steep tumas and olketa sei hem no mas gud for olketa wea no strong for klae.) From ridge hia mifala isisi go daon long wanfala smol road for Batad.
Bihaen mifala wakabaot for tufala hour, and enjoyim naes air bilong datfala maunten, mifala kasem nao ples wea mifala gogo for hem. From hia, hem naes tumas for lukim datfala terrace. From wanfala maunten hem raonem Batad, olketa terrace hem sheip olsem wanfala maeti stadium. Iu savve lukim interesting laen, wanfala level antap narawan, olsem olketa step wea go ap long skae. Taem mifala go klosap long vilij, mifala lukim olketa old-stael Ifugao haos, wea stap evriwea long datfala vilij olsem olketa maeti mushroom wea grass kavarem.
Olketa pipol fren gud tumas and sei hello taem mifala go pasim olketa waka long olketa terrace. Iu bae sapraes taem iu lukim pipol wakabaot long antap bilong terrace wall, wea olketa iusim olsem road for go from wanfala ples go long nara ples. Samfala pipol klaem from wan level go long narawan olsem olketa maunten goat, olketa iusim stone wea olketa putim olsem step. Taem mifala lukluk gud long olketa mifala lukim hao olketa no werem shoe. And disfala maunten terrace hem stap raonem olketa—wanfala spesol building waka bilong man wea luk naes and fitim environment.
Waswe, hem here interesting? Then, sapos iu visitim Philippines, no missim chance for lukim olketa step wea go ap long skae, wanfala “spesol samting bilong world” wea hem hard for forgetim.
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Sevem Olketa Terrace
Nomata disfala terrace hem luk naes tumas distaem, wei wea hem bae go hed for stap hem long danger. Planti long olketa young genereson wea stap long olketa maunten les for plantim rice so olketa lukaotem narafala waka. Diswan savve kosim wei for short long olketa farmer wea garem savve for keepim gud disfala terrace.
Aurora International Rice ?Research Institute, ?talem Wekap! narafala danger: “Olketa terrace shud wet evritaem, bat distaem wata hem short from wei wea pipol katem daon bush.” Wei wea wata drae ap bae spoelem disfala terrace.
Samtaem olketa natural disaster tu kosim problem. Long 1990 wanfala earthquake distroem samfala sekson bilong olketa terrace taem full saed bilong olketa maunten hem foldaon.
Bat olketa duim samfala samting mekem ?olketa terrace hia no finis. Olketa?givim?aot wanfala order long 1996 for startim datfala ?Ifugao Terraces Commission. Waka bilong hem? For keepim gud datfala terrace, wea insaed diswan hem for saportim wata system and kastom bilong datfala area, and for buildim bak olketa ples wea samfala samting spoelem.
Wei wea olketa terrace hia stap long World Heritage List bilong United Nations Educa?tional, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ?(UNESCO) muvim gavman bilong Philippine for?protectim disfala ples. Olsem Jean ?Tuason, deputy executive director long office bilong ?UNESCO long Manila, hem talem, “UNESCO maet givim help saed long selen and savve long hao for?protectim and keepim olketa rice terrace.”
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(Lukim pablikeson for olketa nara information)
Cordillera Central
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