Whang-od Buscalan Tattoo Village

I spent long hours of travel just to get here. It took me 12 hours to get here from Metro Manila. You will experience a kind of rollercoaster ride from Baguio to Buscalan, Kalinga. If you are a person who is experiencing motion sickness, better to take your bonamine first before travel. It's worth it.

It took my friend and I almost 20 hours to arrive here, but it was all worth it. Pro(s): • Very straightforward commute (from Cubao, Metro Manila via Coda Lines) • Affordable: Per person - Entrance (PHP 100), tattoo registrstion (PHP 100), Homestay (PHP 400 per night), tour guide (PHP 1,500 per 5 pax), Meal (PHP 100-200) • You get to see the legend Apo Whang-Od • Lots of beautiful sceneries (rice terraces and a nearby waterfall) and local people • You get to be immersed with the culture (especially at the basketball court where kids play and where the adults hang out) Con(s) • If you miss the jeep going to Tabuk at 9 AM, you will need to pay PHP 1,500 to hire a tricycle (if you're pressed with time) or ride the next jeep ride at 1 PM • Painstaking hours of commute • During my time, it was raining hard so my friend and I mostly stayed in our homestay • My friend and I bought food/ingredients from Manila and brought it with us to cook at the homestay. There's not a lot of places to eat and there's not a lot of ingredients in the area. • Make sure to buy souvenirs in the Kalinga village because this place, Bontoc, and online don't offer that much • If you plan to get a tattoo from Whang-Od, make sure to do it in the morning or just before noon as her wrist would start to hurt in the afternoon Other notes: • Best to go on Sunday to Wednesday as weekends tend to be packed • My homestay's page on FB is "Zendaya's Buscalan Homestay". It offers wifi too. Look for Mai Agod • My tour guide is the mother of Mai Agod, Cecil Agod • Mai Agod does traditional tattoos also (Attached are the photos of my homestay, the ID of Cecil Agod, and the available tattoos.)

My 4year old son got the chance to meet the World's oldest tattoo artist, a living legendary mambabatok of Kalinga, Buscalan village Apo Whang-Od. She's 107yo as of 2024

You’ll get to enjoy the Breathtaking views! Fresh cool air! The villager is living a simple life, very welcoming to the tourist. No phone signal, very few have an internet access since Buscalan is in the top of the mountain.

Amazing and peaceful place to spend a few days and disconnect from the world. We went from Manila and the journey is just over 12 hours by car. The stretch from Baguio is slower, but the views are spectacular. From where you leave the car to the village it is about 30 minutes walking, first downhill and finally uphill. They are building a bridge to reduce this time. We stayed in a guesthouse run by Apo Wang-od's family and the treatment was wonderful. We felt at home. The coffee is really good in this area and it was a pleasure to wake up and have freshly brewed coffee to drink for breakfast. We will definitely return to meet again such friendly and hospitable locals. If you are a tattoo lover, you can't leave without getting a traditional tattoo, the tattoo process is really beautiful. Grace is a great artist and it was a pleasure to spend a day with her, chatting and sharing experiences while getting tattooed. Thanks a lot to all the people of Buscalan !!!!!

Had the famous 3dots on the back of my ear. Apo Whang Od is now 107, but still strong. Very accommodating and always smiling when talked to.

Home to over 7,640 islands, the Philippines is popular for its beautiful white sand beaches. But beyond popular destinations like Boracay and Palawan, you can find scenic mountain destinations and a rich and diverse cultural heritage scattered across the archipelago. In recent years, a remote destination in the Philippines has gained worldwide popularity: Buscalan in the Province of Kalinga, located in North Luzon. Buscalan is a small mountain village that is home to Apo Whang-Od, the oldest traditional tattoo artist in the Philippines, having been born in 1917.

Three dots tattoo: 300, Picture 100, armband tattoos range around 4.5k to 6k, Homestay + Mandatory Tourguide: 765, Food + Thorn thing for tattoo + Host Fee: 510

I've known about Apo Whang Od (aka Maria Oggay) way before she became popular and I have always wanted to make the trek to see her. (In all honesty, I just really wanted to see/meet her. The ink was was nothing more than a secondary bonus.) It shouldn't have taken this long even most especially since home is only 6 hours away (far better than the 13-15 coming from Manila.) But something always got in the way every time I visit the Philippines - more specifically the limits of time! (Ahhh, time can be so very VERY cruel!) So I promised myself that should I be given one more shot at it (more especially now that she's a young 106 years old): I AM THERE! A promise I kept. It really is like a rite of passage. Getting to her village is no joke. The drive alone isn't easy: the long and winding mountainous roads - some one way due to landslides - and then that 20-30 minute treacherous hike down and up mountains and crossing rivers with no safety protocols in place. There's danger lurking everywhere! But once my eyes set on her, none of that mattered. She really is stunning in person. I'm not sure if I was just star struck or honored, or...? Anyway. I was just happy to see her! And for the bargain price of 300PHP (approximately $5.50USD), Apo herself will ink you with her famous three dots of Kalinga. (It's the only one she does now.) One might be wondering what is there to expect and if I have any tips!? Here they are: 1) Go on a weekday. Weekends, I'm told, are incredibly busy and if you don't have a reservation, you most likely won't be seen until the next day (or two!) I went on a Thursday (no reservations.) Left home at 3am, got there at 9am, we were all good and done by noon. 2) Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. They don't need to be hiking shoes, but they need to be extra comfy. That hike is no joke - take as much breaks and time as you need during. 3) Bring bottled water. One should be good, no need to carry extra weight during the hike. You can always buy more when you get to her village. 4) Bring CASH. Cards are very useless here. When I went, it's 1kPHP (about $20USD) for registration and for the guide, another 100PHP (AROUND $2) per person once you get to the village, 300PHP per person for the ink (as mentioned earlier), of course you have to tip her AND your guide, and then moolah for souvenirs. Better to have too much money than never enough. 5) Try not to piss Apo off. She's known to deny inking people for reasons exclusively known only to her. 6) She does not use normal ink. It's a mix of charcoal and water. She does not use needles either: she uses a thorn from a pomelo tree. (This is the way it's been done for hundreds of years.) You get to keep the thorn she uses on you. So yes, an infection is very possible, so take good care of your ink as well as you can. (Let me know if you have any more questions about this and I'll try my best to answer 'em!) FUN FACT: Apo Whang Od/Maria Oggay is the oldest person to grace the cover of ANY Vogue magazine. (The Vogue article is available for your reading pleasure online. Just simply Google it.) She has also been deemed one of Philippines' National Treasures. Our guide, Wan-Nay, was a total BOSS. I think she can hike these mountains blindfolded. She put all of us to shame. One good thing that made me glad I waited is that the hike is much easier now compared to, let's say, a few years ago. The hike used to take 2-3 hours, trying to make climbs using ropes and the like. I was told no part of the route to her is cemented back then: some of it is now. Whew! It truly is an experience and a story to tell. I'm so glad I finally got to go. If you're planning on going, DO IT NOW. She isn't getting any younger. Although she still moves like a spring chicken, at 106, there's never any guarantees. (But like millions of others, I wish her a longer and more prosperous life!) One of my proudest moments... so happy and so honored I got to finally meet her!

very great experience into the wilds of Northern Luzon. Takes planning and possible dangers related to landslides and politics between neighboring tribes.

Tattoos no longer have a taboo status in our country, and almost everyone has one these days. I think it is commendable for our society to have moved on from the medieval thinking that equates tattoos to hooliganism and thuggery, and it has become more socially acceptable for people to have tattoos, even visible ones. While some companies still reserve the right to tell their employees to cover up tattoos while in a professional environment, emerging industries like the IT and creatives industry don't even have "look policies" anymore, so it has become a free-for-all: dress however you want, color your hair a shocking shade of pink, get a sleeve tattoo -- nobody really cares as much anymore. If you are into tattoos, culture and history all at the same time, you will find that Kalinga's last surviving tattoo artist is very interesting and fascinating. There is a whole culture to it, and the tattoo art that has survived in the Butbut Tribe of Buscalan for centuries carries a whole lot of symbolism and significance. I'll leave it to Google to explain the bulk of its history, but you get the gist: Whang-od (now 96 years old.. or 98, nobody can say for sure) was trained by her father in the art of Cordilleran indigenous tattooing, and the tattoos used to be branded on the warriors for their valor and courage, and on the women, as a standard of beauty. The formidable chest tattoos, for instance, were symbols of the soldier's skill in the battlefield, as it is a reward for headhunting - the practice of bringing back an enemy's severed head back to the village after the fight. The tradition has been passed along for years, and it was nearing its extinction when Whang-Od, the last surviving traditional artist, has found a worthy successor in her grand-niece, Grace. The tattoos are done in a traditional hand-tapped method, with a citrus thorn for the stylus and pine tree soot for the ink. There is usually a ceremony, but these days, one can just pay for a "donation" for every tattoo. Thank God you no longer have to kill another person! These tattoos are beautiful and deeply rooted in Cordilleran history. They are symbolic of nature and the environment around the tribe, and it is surely one of the most intriguing forms of tribal art in our country. Whang-od is not getting any younger, so you might want to hurry and get your tattoos as soon as possible. The trip is definitely not easy as it takes about 15 hours to get there, but everything is worth it once you make the climb and settle down with the villagers. It is quite a sight seeing how the tribespeople live.