Batanes Day 3: Back to Batan (part 1)

I actually had a good night's sleep in the Tourism Office in Sabtang.  This was unusual for me because I usually have difficulty sleeping when I spend the night in an unfamiliar place. It's probably a combination of fatigue from the tour and the excellently filling dinner I had the previous night.

Batan island as seen from the Tourism Office veranda

I woke up at around 6 am and walked around Centro.  I tried to do my usual exercise regimen but my aching joints seemingly protested even the easiest warm-up routines.  From my conversation with Joaquin the night before, we most likely would not be able to catch the first trip going back to Batan so that means I have enough time to walk around Centro before the second trip.  I used this time to take pictures of people going about their daily lives, as well as the surroundings.

interior of the Sabtang Church

In hindsight, I should have woken up earlier to catch the sunset by the Sabtang Lighthouse as Erwin had done.  As it is, the sun was already up when I woke up and in order to make the most out of my remaining time in Sabtang, I explored the interior of Sabtang Church and later on observed how the people went about their morning routines.

schoolgirls running late for the flag ceremony

Since Centro is dominated by school buildings (and since Day 3 was a Thursday) I got to observe a typical morning flag ceremony.  (One thing I observed about Ivatan schoolgirls is that the color pink is apparently a hot fashion item for them.  Go to any classroom and you will see pink sweaters, pink bags, pink hairbands, pink shoelaces, etc.  Everything's dotted with pink!)  Anyway, it's funny that I saw a lot of pupils running late for the flag ceremony.  Funny because these children live literally right next to the school buildings, so one would think it's not possible for them to be late anymore.

posing with the Elesterio Family before leaving Sabtang

While waiting for the second trip, I took the opportunity to talk to the locals.  The employees of the municipal office are a fun bunch and certainly know how to make their guests feel at home.  I think I've already talked about the Elesterios in one of my previous entries, but I just had to take a picture with them before I left.  They're probably the family that most Sabtang visitors would recognize by the sheer fact that everyone must have dined at one time or another in their canteen.

The Falowa finally arrived and after about an hour of unloading and loading - as well as wrangling with the Coast Guard representative (who was concerned about overloading) - we were on our way back to Batan.  The seas were a bit more rough than the last time, and as such also took a little longer.  I fell asleep a number of times probably due to dizziness brought about by the rocking motion of the Falowa as it went through the waves.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

So here was the plan for the afternoon: Joaquin and I would most likely arrive at the San Vicente port at around 11:00 am.  Then we'd catch a ride going back to Basco, and I'll be back at my inn at around 11:15.  I'd tell the inn restaurant to prepare lunch while take a shower in my room.  At the same time, I'll be charging my cellphone and camera batteries.  Joaquin, for his part, would take my flight booking information to his wife who works at the airport so she can schedule my return date a day later with the SEAir office.  He would then go back to my inn where we would have lunch prior to touring the southern half of Batan Island in the afternoon.

(I was a bit disappointed to discover that nobody texted me the whole time I was in Sabtang, but I guess that goes with one's Christmas vacation beginning a good 2 weeks before everybody else's in the office.)

Mahatao municipality marker

After a quick lunch, Joaquin and I proceeded to our first destination for the afternoon, which is the Diura Fishing Village in Mahatao.  From Basco, which is in the Northwest of of Batan Island, our route will cut through the municipality of Mahatao located around the island's narrow center and on through the east coast.

Diura fishermen constructing a Falowa

The Diura Fishing Village is even smaller than those far-flung villages in Sabtang, but a bit livelier.  I even saw some fishermen building a fishing boat.  I actually had the option to spend the night here as the local government rents out some fishing huts to tourists at very reasonable rates.  However, since I'm down to my third day, spending the night in this place will jeopardize my plans to go biking from Basco to Ivana the next day.

The "Spring of Youth" in Rakuh-a-idi

In any case, we were only passing through Diura to be able to reach Rakuh-a-idi, where the so-called "Spring of Youth" is located.  Rakuh-a-idi is the oldest part of Mahatao as it contains the site of an ancient Ivatan settlement.  The road to Rakuh-a-idi gradually narrows until it becomes a mere footpath so Joaquin and I had to alight from the motorbike and hiked a short but punishing distance to reach the Spring of Youth and the surrounding beach.

road to Rakuh-a-idi

beach in Rakuh-a-idi

When we were about to leave, Joaquin remembered that we had to pass by the local baranggay hall to pay a tourism fee.  It was during this momentary stop that I met up with Eunice and Lorraine who were on board a tricycle on the way to Rakuh-a-Idi.  Eunice was actually my seatmate on the flight from Manila to Basco, while Lorraine (who's French) was on the same flight.  They were both staying at Shanedel's Inn and Restaurant and decided to tour together to cut costs.

We "compared notes" on the places we've gone to so far, and Joaquin even gave them the telephone number of the Tourism Office in Sabtang because they planned on going there the next day.  For this day apparently, their route took them from Basco going by the National Road towards the southern municipalities of Ivana and Uyugan, then back northwards on the eastern coast of Batan.  For Joaquin and myself, our direction is the exact opposite, as we would go from eastern coast to western coast.  After saying our goodbyes, we then drove towards our next destination, which is Rakuh-a-payaman.

sign at the exit of Rakuh-a-payaman (there's another at the entrance)

Rakuh-a-Payaman literally means "big pastureland" in Ivatan.  (Notice that "Rakuh" is etymologically similar to the equivalent of the word "big" in many Philippine languages.)  As the signage above shows, the animals in this pastureland are non-domesticated, so they tend to be wary of any human being that comes nearer than, say, 100 feet.  When I was there, it was surreal the way an entire hillside dotted with cattle would just stop what they were doing and all stare at me and Joaquin.  It was a scene straight out of the Twilight Zone.  These animals are obviously not used to human beings.

carabaos grazing at Rakuh-a-payaman

This place is also popularly nicknamed "Marlboro Country".  Joaquin explains that a long time ago, horses still roamed this pastureland along with the carabaos, cows and goats.  A foreign tourist was the one who gave it this nickname, and it stuck even after the horses are gone.

carabao thinking about whether he should charge at me

It's not the animals that make Rakuh-a-payaman a tourist spot.  The place is known for its magnificent views of Batan's eastern coast.  Here you can run up and down the hills and scream to your heart's delight.  This place's terrain is very similar to the Rolling Hills near Basco, only that its range is much wider.  The hills are smooth, not rocky, and the slopes are not very steep.  Unfortunately, this being a pastureland, animal dung of varying states of freshness also litter the entire landscape.  but this is just a very small drawback.

sweeping view of the northeastern coast of Batan from Rakuh-a-payaman

Rakuh-a-payaman is actually directly above Rakuh-a-idi, and I was able to see the very small figures of Lorraine and Eunice taking a dip at the beach near the Spring of Youth.  After staying for a considerable amount of time, we then continued on our way southbound.

Batanes Day 2: Arriving at Sabtang (part 1)

I woke up at around 3:30 am on my second day in Batanes owing to the fact that the jeepney that would bring us to the port of San Vicente leaves Basco at around 5:30 am.  By 4:00am, I was already outside my inn and doing some stretching exercises while waiting for Joaquin.  Later on, he showed up and we made our way towards the jeepney stop.

Basco during the wee hours of the morning is very, very silent.  Whereas a typical Metro Manila town would still have a few vagrants walking around, or maybe a few drunkards singing a short distance away, Basco is so quiet to the point of eerie.  There's no sound, and no movement, except for the rustling of the leaves from the wind.  Heck, if ghosts existed in Basco, I doubt that they were even there. So it's just like a ghost town - but without the ghosts.

(Here's how the jeepney system works in Basco in the early morning:

Since jeepneys there don't have a fixed terminal (unlike their local TODA) a jeepney would start circling the town using mainly the Castillejos and Abad streets.  Occasionally, it would honk it's horn to announce itself to potential passengers.  After 30 minutes, or once it has accumulated enough passengers, it would then exit to the National Road on it's way south of the island.)

This exit to the National Road at the end of Abad St. just happens to be exactly where the front garden box of Shanedel's Inn and Restaurant is located.  And this is where Joaquin and I were seated while waiting for the jeepney.  (It was a short walking distance away from my inn.)  While waiting, I purchased and ate 9 pieces of piping-hot pan de sal from a kid vendor on a bicycle.

Anyway, the reason why we needed to get to the port of San Vicente was that it was where we would be able to board a falowa (boat) that would to take us to the island of Sabtang.

view of Sabtang island, as seen from the port at San Vicente

The island of Sabtang is the smallest inhabited island in the Batanes archipelago.  Since it is fairly near the main island of Batan (a mere 45-minute boat ride), close cultural, commercial and familial ties exist between the inhabitants of the two islands - unlike the faraway island of Itbayat (which, although part of Batanes and peopled by Ivatans, has a markedly different language.)

Although the boat normally leaves at around 6 or 6:30 am, we had to wait for a couple of hours more before we were finally able to board and set sail for Sabtang.  The reason for the delay was that there was not supposed to be a ride going to Sabtang owing to a local superstition regarding the supposed bad luck it brings whenever one sets sail on or near the feast day of the patron saint (the Immaculate Conception).  But since a lot of people wanted to go from Sabtang to Batan, a late trip was made and consequently, the trip going back to Sabtang using the same boat was also delayed.

view of from the rear part of the falowa while en route to Sabtang

So we finally set sail for Sabtang on the falowa.  I was seated on the rear edge of the boat, which Joaquin claims to be the best seat in the entire boat.  What was interpreted by experienced navigators as smooth seas was actually quite wavy in the middle of the trip.  I could only imagine how it is if the seas were actually rough.  Unlike the more-familiar outrigger-type seacraft found all throughout the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the falowa of Batanes is quite different in the sense that it is wide, round-bottomed and has no outriggers.  All boats in Batanes, regardless of the size, are constructed this way.

(Prior to all of this, I was so scared of the boat capsizing so I made it a point to ziplock all of my gadgets and put them all in a trash bag before packing them in my backpack.  Later however, after it became apparent that the boat was in no position to capsize, I had enough guts to take out my camera and shoot pictures while at sea.)

The Sabtang Lighthouse

More than the view of the town itself, one would see the Sabtang lighthouse as one approaches the seaport.  This lighthouse is not as aesthetically pleasing as the one in Basco  (in fact, it was being renovated during the time I was there) but it does cut an imposing figure as the cliff it stands on is much closer to the sea.

Disembarking at the Sabtang port was a lot easier than expected.  Various blogs are unanimous in saying that a falowa would have to dock at a shallow part of the shore and passengers would have to get their feet wet in knee-deep water just to walk to towards the dry land.  Fortunately, the new port (funded by Japanese official development assistance) is now operational and so we passengers were able to disembark very easily without getting our feet wet.

The Municipal Tourism Office

After paying P50 each to the boat "conductor", we slowly made our way to the Municipal Tourism Office to pay a tourism fee of P100.  (This fee only applies to non-Batanes residents.)  The employees were kind and offered helpful tips on how to go about traveling within Sabtang.  The office actually had rooms that they were renting out for P300 a night with clean bathrooms and running water.  I did not immediately get a room because I was hoping that I'd get to stay overnight in the far-flung village of Chavayan (more on this later), so Joaquin and I just informed them that we will just drop in if we change our minds.

(I will make a separate blog entry with tips on how to go about touring Sabtang, as well as Batan.  For the sake of continuity, I will go on with the narrative.)

At the entrance to Centro with fellow tourist Erwin

It bears mentioning that I made friends with a fellow tourist named Erwin Maique, whom I actually got to know in the port at San Vicente and who was on the boat with us going to Sabtang.  Erwin does not have a tour guide and instead rented a motorbike, which he used in touring Batanes.  He had to pay an extra P100 to have the motorbike boarded on the falowa.  Unlike me, Erwin immediately rented a room at the tourism office and almost immediately after went on his way to tour Sabtang.

The Sabtang Church

As a municipal entity, Sabtang actually covers its entire island (unlike Batan, which has four municipalities.)  The place where the port is located is called Centro - this is where the municipal government offices, schools and the Sabtang Church are situated.  Adjacent to Centro are the twin baranggays of Sinakan on one side and Malakdang on the other.  One would think that Centro gets its name from the fact that it's sandwiched between these two batanggays.

Walking around Centro while waiting for the "multicab" that we hired, I took advantage of the free time taking pictures of the surroundings and especially the Sabtang Church.  Joaquin and I also made arrangements with the Elesterio canteen to cook lunch for us.  (By the time we return to Centro after the first half of the tour, our lunch would already be cooked by then.)  I was given a choice of three viands but the only one that stuck to my mind was the Coconut Crab, so that's what I ordered.

It took a while before the multicab showed itself, and I regret that i took out some of my frustrations by appearing irritated to Joaquin and his older brother, who happens to be the postmaster of Sabtang and who actually helped us rent the multicab.  By 10:30, the multicab appeared and we were finally on our way to our first stop - the old village of Chavayan.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

So we were finally getting started with the tour of Sabtang.  The multicab we hired is like a small truck with its back open.  Joaquin and I were standing at the back and hanging on to the metal railings, which is a very good position if one wants to have a 360-degree view of the surroundings while one is on the road.  However, the drawback is that it would be very difficult to shoot nice pictures using a DSLR, given the roads in Sabtang alternate between smooth and atrocioiusly rough.  Good thing I could ask the driver to stop every now and then to take proper photos.

Hanging on at the back of the multicab

From Centro, we entered Brgy. Sinakan and followed the National Road all the way south.  Our destination was the two old towns of Savidug and Chavayan - both of which are famous for their traditional-style houses.  Of these two, Savidug is the nearer one, but I instructed the driver to take us first to Chavayan because it is the one which I deem as the more important stop.

Along the way, one passes by views of steep rocky cliffs, flat grazing lands, seascapes and even diverse fauna - both wild and domesticated.  I was particularly awed by the variety of birds that I've seen in Batanes, a lot of species of which I've only previously seen in Animal Planet or Nat Geo.  Throughout my stay, I must have seen at least three bayawak (monitor lizards) by the roadside.  It's in Sabtang where I saw the first one.

The terrain also is notable.  It's rare to see rocky mountains and cliff sides anywhere else in the Philippines.  In Batanes, they are everywhere.  And in my opinion - with my very limited exposure - I'd say that Sabtang has the most spectacular views of these.  There are no pure white sand beaches in Batanes.  What you see by the shore are volcanic debris with sizes ranging from a small stone to a boulder the size of an average Filipino house.  Everything looks so otherworldly and overwhelming.

It's also in Sabtang where you will see what the locals call the "sleeping lady" - a mountain formation that is actualy visible even if you're still on the boat going to the island.  The land tour however, affords one a closer view.

Can you see her?

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Here's a tip: On the way to Chavayan, one would pass by a welcome arch that at present still has no markings.  It's this one:


Then ask your driver/tour guide to stop here and get off your vehicle.  From the road, walk downhill to where the cows and goats are grazing.  Walk further until you reach the edge of the cliffs that show spectacular views of the sea and the mountain side.  Such as this one:

A near-typical view whenever the sea meets land in Batanes

or this one

Just be very, very careful as there are no handrails at all and one misstep could mean certain death at worst, or serious injury at the very least.

12/10/09 - Batanes Series 3.1

Day 3: Scenes in Centro while waiting for the trip back to Batan

Details of the morning of the third day are found on this blog entry:

http://deaconblue.multiply.com/journal/item/121/Batanes_Day_3_Back_to_Batan_part_1

If you have questions about specific pictures in this series, just post them in the comments section. Thanks!