Dozens of people travel to Buscalan every day to get a tattoo right here.
Buscalan became famous thanks to Apo Whang-Od, probably the oldest tattoo artist in the world. According to her own information, she is 103 years old (as of April 2025) and is still active if you want to get a tattoo from her.

There are countless reports and information about Buscalan on the Internet, which is why we will limit ourselves here purely to how to get there.

Buscalan is not easy to travel to. Some routes seem very adventurous and are not without danger. The route via Baguio and the Halsema Highway, which is one of the 25 most dangerous mountain passes in the world, should be mentioned in this regard. Especially during the rainy season and even several days and weeks later, landslides and rockfalls (up to the size of a car) can occur.

A safer approach is via the Dalton Pass – which forms the border between the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya – to Bayombong, Bauang, Bontoc and then to Buscala. This route is safer but very long. Travel time from Manila by public transport is certainly more than 24 hours.

With both options, you have to transfer several times. Sometimes in not so comfortable transport vehicles.