Batanes, Philippines (Day 2 and 3)

Though I had a little discomfort last night since the power was out, I was still feeling really energetic the next morning. B-) My friends and I were really excited since we were scheduled to see the island of Sabtang, where, as we were told, more traditional Ivatan houses and locals wearing Vakul may be seen, and the beaches there were safe to swim (meaning, not rocky unlike in Batan island). Swimsuits out! :D

Bad news came after we had breakfast when Kuya Tope, our driver, and Kuya Lando, our guide, came and said that no boats were allowed to sail by the coastguards since dawn because of a tropical depression. Our excitement just made a quick drop.

Kuya Lando told us that they would still monitor and follow-up with the coastguard to know whether maybe before noon, the prohibition would be lifted and we would be able to go to Sabtang. For the meantime, we went to the town proper of Basco. Here’s their capitol:

…the garden in front of the hall:

…and the road between the hall and the town plaza:

Surprisingly, it was actually the week of Ivatan Festival! Well, our guide forgot to share that one earlier. :P

The event that day was the showcasing of the harvests and products coming from the different islands and municipalities of Batanes. Booths were set-up at the plaza in front of the capitol.

Generally, the booths showcased the local produce of Batanes – like bananas, squash, sweet potato, and other root crops to name a few. Most of them we were already familiar with, so we focused on some other interesting finds like their turmeric-honey juice:

…their tomato wine:

…and some other things which I was not sure about the proper names.This one looked like some dried fish (?) I believe it was dried dorado, or dolphin fish – probably some catch from the Diura fishing village:

This one, on the other hand, was used to contain water. It looked like a huge, dried, hallowed upo. :P

That upo container was really huge! I could only imagine how they managed to remove its contents and dry it whole while maintaining its shape. Just amazing! :D

There was also this booth which displayed traditional utensils, pots, and bowls still used by some locals.

One colorful booth, meanwhile, exhibited paintings from local artists.

I would love to buy one painting as a souvenir, but they were a bit pricey for me. The paintings, and all other things displayed in all the booths in the plaza were for sale. Including these:

Looks yummy right? :D All these were local dishes of the Ivatans. That one at the upper left may look familiar – they were ubod balls, which we had tried during our first day in Batanes (see Batanes, Philippines [Day 1, Part 1]).

We didn’t try any of those dishes though, but we didn’t hesitate eat what was free – this Vudung! :D

Vudung was what Ivatans call a bread tree leaf with food inside. Instead of plastic or Styrofoam, Ivatans use bread tree leaf or katbayat to contain food during celebrations like fiestas, birthday parties, etc. Kuya Lando said that when you see someone with a vudung, it means he came from a celebration or a party. The vudung serves like pabalot for the Tagalogs.

The vudung we had that day came from Kuya Tope’s mom, who was manning one booth in the plaza. It contained the usual pansit bihon. ;)

After about two hours loitering in the plaza and waiting for news coming from the coastguards, we learned that they won’t be lifting the prohibition any time soon. It was all sunny that day, except for occasional drizzling in Batan island. We wouldn’t know what may be the condition in the open sea, or in Sabtang island. So we decided to give up that trip and proceed with the other must-see places in Batan instead.

We can always go for another trip to see Sabtang. B-)

Before we start another series of adventures in Batan, we went back to Hiro’s Restaurant for lunch. We had chicken curry:

Some fern salad:

And pork steak:

We also had some fresh buko juice! :D

After that one fine lunch, off we went to the Valugan Boulder Beach!

The ginormous boulders comprising this beach were actually andesite rocks emitted during the eruption of Mt. Iraya of Batan a long, long, long time ago (possibly few hundreds of years AD?). The rocks were smoothed by the rising and falling of tides over time.

It was a long stretch of beach covered with boulders! The sight was pretty interesting because it was unlike the usual sandy beaches we were very familiar with. In Valugan Boulder Beach, one really has to step from one boulder to the other. One wrong step and you’ll possibly get a sprain or a broken ankle.

Oh! And have you noticed the waves? :D

With waves like those, it would really be dangerous for anyone to sail, much more for pleasure. Indeed, we were not meant to go to Sabtang that day, and we were no longer complaining. :P

Second spot we visited was the Dipnaysupuan Japanese Tunnel in the hills of Tukon.

This tunnel was made as a shelter or a hide-out of Japanese soldiers during World War II. It was said that the locals, even the children, were forced to dig up this tunnel. Its chambers led to five doors, this one was where we entered:

Inside, we saw other small spaces which served as rooms. We didn’t stay too long inside – it was dark and a bit creepy. :P Besides, nothing else may be found inside.

The view once we were out was just as breath-taking as what we had seen earlier – hills, farms, that serene rural atmosphere.

Next in our itinerary was the Fundacion Pacita. Officially known as Fundacion Pacita Batanes Nature Lodge, it was considered as one of the best and/or most beautiful hotel in the Philippines, and definitely the most beautiful accommodation in Batanes.

Part of its beauty came from its unique architectural design inspired by the traditional houses of Ivatans. But what made it even more outstanding was its 270 degree view of the island as it stood on top of a hill.

We were not booked here, so we were not allowed to go inside the main hotel building. We didn’t mind because the landscaping of its garden was just amazing! No doubt it was once the residence/ gallery of Pacita Abad, a Filipino international artist/ painter.

I couldn’t keep myself from doing silly things sometimes. :P I paid my respect (did a mano) to the sculptures of Pacita Abad’s parents.

Their office, the first building we saw in the entrance, was a pretty sight too. :)

After taking as many pictures as we liked, we proceeded to the PAGASA weather station nearby.

We didn’t meet anyone who worked there when we arrived. We just went straight to the top of the tower to see the 360 degree view of Batan. Up there, we saw part of the Pacific Ocean as well as the West Philippine Sea. That was cool! :D

It really looked like a bad weather was coming because we could already see the big, dark, heavy-looking clouds. It was starting to rain before we left the station and went to Mt. Carmel Church.

Mt. Carmel Church was one beautiful church! :D Like the Fundacion Pacita, it was also designed similar to the traditional stone houses of the province. Its roof was made of red bricks – a good combination for the stone walls. The garden around it was also well maintained. It seemed to be a perfect church for an intimate ceremony such as a wedding! :)

Just look at this door – such a beauty in its simplicity.

This church was pretty small; it looked more like a chapel. The interior was just as pretty as the outside. :)

The ceiling was painted with portraits of patron saints of each municipality in Batan.

  

We had only few more hours before the sun sets, and we still had two more places to go. Once we were done marveling at the beautiful Mt. Carmel Church, we went our way to the famous Rolling Hills of Batanes.

This cow was caught scratching its ear right at the middle of the road! It made us laugh real well! :D

The car could only take us at a distance. We had to walk our way to the best spot.

Then, we saw these:

Further we walked until we reached the end of the hill (before we go rolling down its slopes):

We didn’t know why, but we couldn’t get tired looking at hills, mountains, clouds, shores, and waves even how many times we have seen them! Just imagine seeing them all in one place – we were really awed! :D Just the perfect place to take both group pics and selfies. ;)

We stayed a bit longer here. It was just a great place to sit down and relax. Our guide and driver seemed to think so too!

Last in our list, was the Naidi Hills Lighthouse.

We no longer climbed this lighthouse. We thought we had just enough of the views from the other places we visited. So, what did we do here? Take photos, of course! Lots of jump shots, silly shots, funny shots, all possible styles and angles we could think of. I particularly like this photo taken of me through a broken garden light stand:

Thanks to our trustee guide, KuyaLando, who really knew how to take the perfect angles. He would even lie down if necessary!

He seemed to be enjoying it though, as well as Kuya Tope. :P

When we finally had gotten tired, we just waited for the sun set.

We were all very satisfied to what this day had brought us. We weren’t able to go to Sabtang, but it just gave us more reasons to come back in Batanes. Moreover, the spots we visited this day were also noteworthy. We felt like we didn’t miss anything at all. :)

Back to our lodge for dinner, we had the same fern salad we also had for lunch,  nilagang baka (stewed beef in clear broth):

Chopseuy:

And coconut crabs said to be endemic in Batanes (so called because they eat coconuts: they have strong claws to do that):

Day 3 came. Our flight was scheduled really early so we really had no plan to visit other places that day. We simply ate breakfast and head straight to the airport.

We had too much fun during our two-day tour around Batan island that we forgot to buy pasalubong. Good thing that there were stores already open near the airport where we bought souvenir shirts and some local products like cassava and sweet potato chips. Each of us had a huge plastic full ofpasalubong! :)

It never occurred to me that I would be going to Batanes one day. Now, I am looking forward to seeing that wonderful province once more. :)

Thanks to my travel buddies Myca, Gia, and MB for the pictures. <3

Take time to travel and see the world. There are so much out there to see and experience. Feel free!

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Have a great day ahead!