In this Philippines travel vlog, I head to Kalinga in northern Luzon to find the tattoo artist legend Apo Whang Od. The last mambatok, a style of traditional tattoo found only in the Philippines.
The people of Kalinga were head hunters. Buscalan, the home of Wang Od was particularly famous for their strange tradition of tattooing. They thought tattoos were beautiful, and the women would cover themselves in full body tattoos to attract men. The men however, would have to earn their tattoos by bringing back the heads of rival tribes. The more ink, the greater the warrior.
After being featured recently in a documentary, and multiple TV shows, visiting Whang-Od and her granddaughters has become a tourist attraction. Many people make the trip from Manila to receive one.
It's about a 12h bus ride north of Manila to Sagada, from there, it's another 4 hours to the trail to Buscalan, then an hour walk.
To my filipino and filipina fans. Would do you get a tattoo from Apo Whang Od?
Big thanks to my friends Joan of Art, Ken's life Journey, and Hannah for all the help organizing this trip!
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That Grandma is a badass, Mike is showing off his tattoo then she takes her a shirt and shows him who’s the boss!!
It’s really crazy how lively and young the older women seem here
What a beautiful time to be with Whang-Od the oldest tattoo artist in the Mountain of Kalinga❤👍and amazing this vlog got more than 7M views👍
This channel for some reason is hidden in the deepest chambers in YT’s dungeon. This should have at least 1M Subs. This is what I call Quality Content!
A lot of people have said the same thing ,that he should have already a million subscribers ,, his videos are great 👍
This vlog is so informative I love it! Now I understand their culture. The way you interact with locals and know their culture is amazing man, kudos to you!
Damn…. that’s straight up one of the most hilarious videos if ever seen on yt. She a real savage (in a unbelievable funny way). Can’t tell u when i had to laugh the last time about about dirty jokes….😅 You guys are really the real deal for cheering her up on a day like it was
This was incredible man. Hyped to be a part of the notiiiiiii squaddddd now haha
Bro I love your channel.
DAMN, she does NOT look 101 years old!. she look’s way younger than that!
@Steve a well here I the Philippines we eat meat almost everyday it’s not about the vegetables it’s about the meat and not processed meat
No GMO’s, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, wifi or technologies to creep into and degrade the cells like in our ‘civilized’ countries. Pretty amazing.
She eats vegetables everyday
you live longer and look younger when you are away from society and technology
She’s 103 years old now
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA “it’s small” bahahahaha I love this woman
They’re such nice people god bless them
You were lucky you got to chat and chill with Apo. That’s way more better than just getting a tat from her.
@Areus Productions it is a thing that she dose
Wtf abran
Dads P. Na the best part she touch he’s pineis
This legit made me laugh out loud. This was a random and hilarious video. Loved it.
Glad you watched it.
She still IS a beautiful woman! True beauty never ages.
“those tattoos aren’t gonna look good once you get old” well after watching this video and seeing grandmas with full sleeves I say it looks pretty badass.
@ftwcp955 its kind of for decoration but also to show status or tell a history… like I know in a village called Uma Toos ( I think its in Indonesia) the woman there get tattooed when they get married… like one of the guys said in the video… when a warriot got back with a head, then he got a tattoo… and the woman got tattoo to look pretty.. + a little fact about the women in Uma Toos.. many unmarried girls/woman got tattoed under ww2 and that saved them from becoming comfort girls ( sex workers) for the japanese. and when you get older even though it doesnt look good, it still memories like a photograph.
I thought the exact same thing!! Interesting how western societies see tattoos differently then tribes in the Philippines!
@ftwcp955 they’re a symbol of beauty for the women of kalinga, the same way it represents valor to men
and she got those two sleeves Before she hit her twenties as a teenager Those are some really well aged tattoos shes got
@ftwcp955 you think when you older your skin will look good with no tatoos you dumbass
Thank you all so much for the love on this video! Let’s make Whang-Od world famous!! 👍
Currently on a road trip in Mindanao. Follow the adventure here: http://www.facebook.com/fearlessandfar
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Hahaha.I was laughing to Whang Od..when she is measuring how long is your’s Mike..
hahaha.Im a new here on ur channel glad to watch this vlog..Whang OD is the last Tatto Artist and pride of the philippines.thanknyou for visiting our country Philippines
😂😂😂😂😂😂
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So funny
Nice tattoo idol..
WE WANT MORE!!!!!
@Im Fatboy she us not just a old women she a legend of Kalinga
Putu Pramodia, spontaneous and unexpected moments can’t be replicated. It just don’t happen. Pre-meditated actions won’t generate the same reaction as what happened with Mike’s encounter with Whang Od.
we want more “gone wild” video
Bret Maverick how about you..we want to see u with Wang od
What him getting fondled by a old women
i love how respectful you are of cultures…. not a lot of people are decent and respectful when traveling. this made me happy af so i followed
Same here! Just found this Gem of a place 💜
Thanks so much for this comment. I really try to go in deep and be objective, even when things get weird, and even when I don’t understand what is going on. I want to show you guys the real world!