Kabayan , Philippines Timbac Mummy Caves These sacred mountainous caves are filled with ritually preserved bodies in hollowed out logs. Hidden far off the beaten in the northern Philippines, the native Ibaloi community of Kabayan has been hiking up to the nearby Timbac caves to inter their dead for hundreds of years, but now the ever increasing tourist presence is threatening to endanger the practice. The villages of Kabayan are located miles from any major city but people are increasingly making the journey to the remote area to view their unique mummies. The Ibaloi burial ritual which has been observed for hundreds of years, involves placing the deceaseds corpse inside of a hollowed out log and then smoking the body (sometimes for months) until it is sufficiently desiccated. This dries out the remains while preserving a good portion of the flesh. Once this is complete the fetal mummy, log coffin and all, are trekked around four miles from town up to the sacred Timbac caves where they will remain forevermore. Locals still pay respects to these exposed mummies with offerings such as gin and regional chicken dishes, ensuring the dead are well fed and are having a good time in the afterlife. The region and its mummies have largely avoided encroaching modernity, but this is quickly changing as new roads and tourist accommodations are being constructed more than ever before. While the mummies of the Timbac caves certainly a draw, it may be this very popularity that leads to their destruction should too many carless tourists overrun the area.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:17:38 +0000
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