Visiting Gohang

rain is gone: I go now and tell everyone
Gohang makes
fine lemongrass wine


Gohang is not in the tourist map that a lady worker in a Banaue lodge and restaurant showed me last Thursday. She explained that only those places with tourist attractions are included in the map, and probably there’s nothing of such to see in Gohang. “It’s not far from here though.” she added. The next day, with the help of a number of people we met and asked along the way, we got to the place in less than an hour.

asked where Gohang is,
two girls point
in opposite directions


Manong Jun, our host, was waiting for us at the junction. We drove through a steep and narrow mountain road. Finally. a short walk to our meeting venue: his house which he earlier described as ‘mountain hut’ but, for me, it was more like a nice spacious log cabin.

Our meeting lasted for nearly seven hours, over cups of lemongrass tea. We paused for lunch, for which was served a chicken stuffed with lemongrass. After meal, he toured us in his backyard and showed us a lemongrass wine making facility run by a cooperative. Production, he explained, is not yet on a commercial scale. Just enough to make people busy. In my mind, though, it’s a promising industry. Most of all, the story and vision of the local people behind the project are worth any tourist’s time and attention.