"Yes. Both. These Igorot terraces are nothing. Wait until you see the terraces at Banaue."
Three pairs of eyes scanned the road ahead. It was deserted.
"Tell us about rice," Rick asked. "There was rice below when we flew to Baguio, too."
"Yes. A great deal of rice. You passed over Pampanga Province, which is called the rice bowl of the Philippines. That rice is grown in paddies, which are fields with little earth walls around them called dikes. The paddies can be flooded. Rice needs much water. Down there, though, the land is flat."
Scotty pointed to a razorback ridge. "This land sure isn't flat."
"No, but the Igorot and Ifugao workers make it flat by building terraces. Each terrace is like a little paddy. It can be flooded, just as the lowland paddies are. The water comes from the mountains in pipes made of bamboo."
"It must be quite a water system," Rick observed.
"Yes. There are miles of bamboo pipes, but no water is wasted. The water is put into the upper terraces, then it runs by itself through openings down to the lower terraces."
"Is the rice the same?"
"Nearly. There is another kind called highland rice that is planted like wheat. We have a little wheat, too, but not enough to feed many people. The highland rice is not very good. Paddy rice is better."