Banaue Rice Terraces – The “Eighth Wonder of the World”

The Banaue Rice Terraces are terraces that were carved into the mountains of Banaue, Ifugao, in the Philippines, by the ancestors of the indigenous people. The terraces are often called the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level. These are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces. It is said that if the steps were put end to end, it would encircle half of the globe. The building of the rice terraces entails constructing retaining walls with stones and rammed earth which are designed to draw water from a main irrigation canal above the terrace clusters. The rice terraces have helped to create a landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between the people and the environment.
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Cabajar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

User: (WT-shared) Roundtheworld at wts wikivoyage, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Agricmarketing, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cabajar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jophel Botero Ybiosa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A worker maintaining the wall of a rice terrace. John.and.Steven, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Billy Palatino, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons