The municipality of Banaue in the Philippines is widely known for its famous rice terraces, but few people know it’s also the setting of a traditional race that has daredevils riding wooden scooters downhill at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour – without any kind of protective gears.
The wooden scooter has long been the preferred means of transportation for Ifugao in Banaue, and is still used today, as a cheaper alternative to gas-powered motorcycles and scooters. Ifugaos are wet-rice agriculturalists occupying the mountainous area of northern Luzon in the Philippines.
They were created centuries ago to help people travel downhill faster – because the men-folk had to walk up the surrounding hills almost every day to collect firewood and tend to their rice crops, and carrying the load back down was an grueling task that took them hours to complete.
That is the main reason people started making light scooters almost entirely out of wood, and pushed them uphill whenever they had something to transport back to their village. At the top, they would simply strap the load on both sides of the vehicle and let gravity take them back down in a matter of minutes.
In time, making wooden scooters became an art form, and masters of the craft began decorating them with all kinds of designs, from local animals and birds to human heads.
Every year, during the Imbayah Festival, Banaue’s woodcarving artisans showcase their most intricate wooden scooters in a traditional race that attracts visitors from all around the world.
Today, the Ifugao still celebrate this amazing invention by participating in a seven-kilometer wooden scooter race down a steep road along the renowned Banaue Rice Terraces powered only by the force of gravity – barefoot and wearing their ethnic attire.
But, they still need to be extra careful – because even though their home-made scooters can reach speeds up to 50 kph, one wrong move could seriously cost their lives.
SHARE. INFORM. AMAZE.
[Source]
0 comments:
Post a Comment