Batanes Travel Tips

Since I promised not a few people that I would be sharing travel tips to Batanes, I'm finally making an entry just for that purpose after I've managed to finish my blogs.


GETTING THERE:

(I'm not even going to assume that any of you are interested in traveling to Batanes by ship, so I'll just confine my discussion on air travel.)

Air travel going to Batanes is generally very expensive.  I had to shell out P13,650 for a round-trip ticket last December.  The thing is, I traveled to Batanes during a time in the year when tourists visit the least and there was only one airline (SEAir) servicing the Manila-Basco route.  I hear that in summer (during peak tourist season), the air fare gets slashed by as much as 50%, but you'd have to stay tuned to various airline promos around 2 months before summer in order to avail yourselves of any special discounted rate.  In the summer during peak tourist season, I hear that PAL and ZestAir also travel to Basco - that's probably the reason why airfares aren't as expensive.

Personally, I'd highly recommend that you go there in December.  That way, you won't need to compete for picture space with other tourists traveling to Batanes.  (According to my tour guide, the tourist spots could get really packed in the summer.)  And also, it would just be the onset of winter, so it won't be as bitingly cold as, say, February.  When I was touring in Batanes, I frequently felt that I was the only tourist for miles and miles,  and it was great!

Here's the catch, since only SEAir travels to Batanes in December, the likelihood of flight delays and postponements is very high.  I myself experienced this when I got deceived by SEAir's promise of daily flights to Batanes in December.  What happened was that my flight got bumped off to the next day with only a 48-hour notice period.  I was lucky because I was on vacation for the whole of December, so the 1-day difference was just a slight adjustment on my part.  However, if you have a tight schedule, please make sure that you have a one- or two-day allowance for delays and postponements.


PLACES TO STAY:

For your entire stay in Batanes, the provincial capital of Basco in Batan island would essentially be your home base.  There are a number of inns and lodging houses within walking distance of each other in Basco (that's because if you're within the town proper, everything is walking distance - even the airport.)

the town of Basco, as seen from the top of the Basco Lighthouse

You'd have to do a lot of internet research in order to canvass for room rates.  In my case, I found the following link helpful and I suggest that you read it before going further in this blog:

http://www.ironwulf.net/2009/05/13/batanes-accommodations-and-places-to-stay-in-basco/

You'd have to make follow-up research though, as some numbers Ironwulf listed there aren't working anymore, and the prices might have gone up.  (*FYI, Ironwulf is something of a god among local travelers, and you can look up his website for information about traveling anywhere in the Philippines.)  The good thing about all these places listed is that they will send someone to pick you up from the airport as long as you inform them of your arrival date and time beforehand.  And most of them have their own canteens, so food is not really a problem.

Here are the places to stay that you might want to consider when staying in Basco (and I'll only be adding information that Ironwulf has not shared):

1.  DDD Habitat - This is the place where I stayed in at Basco.  It's a fairly new building, which was finished just May of 2009.  DDD has clean rooms and running water (no water heater though) and a multi-purpose roofdeck with which to view the town, and is perfect for inuman at night.  On the right is what my room looks like.  It's a fan room (because I really didn't need aircon in the Batanes winter) that has it's own restroom, but which was a bit too small for my purposes.  It cost P600 for each 24-hour period and you're given a towel and a small bar of soap.  It's cozy and spacious enough for two people.  The only disadvantage of DDD is the fact that it's relatively hidden, being located in obscure Llopes St., unlike the most of the others that are along the National Road.

The reason why I chose to stay here was because of its manager's (Noemi Cruz) persistence that I stay with them from the moment that I texted her number to inquire.  (This only goes to show that salestalk does work on me.)  She assured me that they have an in-house tour guide who is capable enough, which really figured a lot in my decision-making process. 

2.  Shanedel's Inn and Cafe - I saw for myself how Shanedel's is at the best possible location in Basco, i.e. the corner of Abad St. and the National Road, which means it's in the middle of where all the action is.  (picture it this way:  In Metro Manila terms, Abad St. is EDSA, and the National Road is SLEX).  Shanedel's is reputable mainly because of the reputably homely service of it's proprietress, Ma'am Dely, as well as the fact that it's the best in arranging tours in Batan and Sabtang.  However, I made friends with a number of fellow-tourists in Batanes who were staying in Shanedel's and they were not too impressed with the service and amenities, so you might want to take that into consideration.  When I contacted their number, they texted back a generic message with a price list of their room rates.

3.  Ivatan Lodge - This is one of the older lodging houses in Basco and was once the site of the local NAPOCOR office.  Nothing much to say about this except that it's one of the cheaper lodging houses in Basco, and that it's a few meters away from Shanedel's.  When I contacted their number, Mrs. Margarita Varga texted back and was accommodating enough to keep me interested.  What made me decide not to stay with them, however, was the fact that they don't seem to have a permanent tourist guide contact when I was inquiring about it.  Overall, I don't have anything bad to say about this place, and I'd recommend it to budget travelers.

4.  Brandon Lodge - One thing good about this place is that it is built on a hill within Basco, which gives anyone who stays here a unique elevated vantage point with which to view the entire town.  Rates are comparable to Shanedel's.  It's also closer to both the town Plaza and the airport than the previous two.  I didn't try to contact this place though, so you'd have to text or call them to see how much they're accommodating to tourists.

5.  Batanes Seaside Lodge and Restaurant - A bit more expensive room rates, from what I hear.  The building looks modern enough, and is a stone's throw away from Shanedel's along the National Road.  I didn't try to contact the numbers listed in Ironwulf's blog as I specifically was looking for a cheap lodging house.  However, for those who can spend a few more hundred pesos, this place is still very accessible.

6.  Batanes Resort - This resort is run by the Basco Municipal Government and has the best views among the Basco-based lodging houses.  Rather than rooms in one building, the arrangement here is via separate seaside stone huts.  I originally wanted to stay here because of the good reviews and the presence of Nards Garcia, who is reputedly the best tour guide in Batan. But unfortunately ALL of their telephone numbers were not working at the time I was canvassing for room rates. (Not even the phone number of their Manila office and Nards Garcia's personal cellphone number).  Upon reaching Basco, I discovered the probable reason why - there was a Christmas party for municipal employees and that Batanes Resort was the place where the party was being held.  I later on learned that Nards Garcia was no longer connected with Batanes Resort, and was instead directly employed by the municipal government.

7. Fundacion Pacita - This is undoubtedly the most expensive place to stay in at Batanes, with rooms costing at the very least P4,000 a night, and with a minimum of 2 nights.  It's located far from the town center in Tukon, and is perfect for honeymooners, or simply for people who desire a genuine hotel experience with a majestic view of the Pacific Ocean.  Since it's a long way off from the town proper, you'd have to spend more to go from place to place for an in-house vehicle as jeeps and tricycles don't normally go here.  (It's pretty isolated.)  But hey, if you can spend P4,000 a night, then you probably won't mind the extra transpo expenses.  I didn't even try to contact them, but you certainly can, if you have money to burn. ;-) 

But even if you are not staying here, the place is picturesque enough to be on most Batanes travel itineraries.  Although one can no longer go inside the building ever since it has been converted to a hotel, one can still take pictures of it's surroundings.  (The picture on the right was taken when I was already leaving the place and approaching the PAG-ASA weather station in Tukon.)


GETTING AROUND (Batan):

If it's your first time to travel to Batanes, I highly recommend that you hire the services of a tour guide.  Most inns and lodging houses have their contacts.  From my research, the standard rate is P800 per day.  But that's just the tour guide fee.  My guide and I had to hire a motorcycle for P1,000 per day.  That's expensive if you are traveling alone.  Luckily, it fit right into my budget as I had money to spend.  It would really do you a lot of good if you travel in groups, as the cost would be divided into smaller amounts - whether you're talking about transportation fees, tour guide fees, or lodging fees.

It might be that I was limited by what DDD was offering, so if you want, you can go ask directions going to the tricycle terminal.  If you are solo or in a small group, you can probably make arrangements with any tricycle driver to hire his services for the whole day.  The friends I made in Batanes - Eunice and Lorraine - were able to hire a tricycle for P150 per hour, all in.  I'm sure tricycle drivers know the places as much as the tour guides do, but I'm not sure they would be able to give additional information.

My tour guide is named Joaquin Cantor.  His telephone number is 09155552747.  He's an able-enough tourguide for first-time visitors who want to tour Batan in 3-4 days.  If, however, one wants to reach other less accessible places of interest in Batanes, such as archaeological sites and idjangs, I'm afraid Joaquin might not be able to help you in that regard.

Another option for solo travelers is to hire a motorcycle and explore Batanes on your own.  The advantage here is that you can bring the motorcycle everywhere, and pass through even the narrowest dirt roads to get to the interior.  You can also bring the motorcycle to Sabtang island (more on this later).  However, this is only recommended for travelers who have already been to Batanes.  If it's your first time, you might spend a lot of time just figuring out where to go, or worse, get lost in the interior paths.

In my previous two blogs, I talked about how I rented a bicycle to visit other towns in Batan island.  If you wish to also do this, you can rent a bicycle at F.V. Amboy Gen. Merchandise at Nuñez St., Basco.  Mr. Amboy has different kinds of bicycles that he rents out.  If you intend to just bike around Basco town proper, then rent a regular bike.  If however you plan to visit other towns, then better take a mountain bike with you.  For both types of bikes, the rental fee is P25/hour.


GETTING AROUND (Sabtang):

I think I already posted in this blog on how to get to the port of San Vicente in order to reach Sabtang.

The boat ride is P50 and will reach Sabtang in around 45 minutes in favorable sea conditions.  If you are bringing a motorcycle with you, there is an additional fee of P100 or P150 (I forgot exactly what amount Erwin paid for having the motorcycle loaded onto the falowa.)  As sea conditions are pretty unpredictable in Batanes, it would do you good to wrap your gadgets and other stuff in plastic bags before putting them in your bag.  In my case, I was so scared of the falowa capsizing that I ziplocked all of my gadgets and wallet, and put them all in a knotted trash bag before placing them in my backpack.

Once docking in Sabtang, tourists must walk a short distance towards the Municipal Tourism Office to register and pay a one-time fee of P100 per head.  The office also has rooms that they rent out to tourists for P300 per head per night.  The staff here can help you get in touch with a vehicle with which to tour Sabtang.  Unfortunately, unlike Batan, there are no tricycles here.  The flat rate for hiring a vehicle for the whole day is P2,000, which is the same whether you manage to rent a van, a jeepney, or a multicab. 

You can ask your lodge or inn personnel in Batan for the telephone number of this tourism office in order to let them know a day or two before that you will be arriving.  That will enable them to prepare for your arrival and touring arrangements so that everything is ready and waiting for you when you arrive.  This is particularly useful if you want to spend the night in Chavayan - an old traditional village at the southernmost point of Sabtang island - which a lot of bloggers recommend.

I do not recommend doing a day trip of Sabtang, you'd see far too little for the effort of going there to be satisfactory.  I'd recommend staying overnight in Sabtang for this reason: Sometimes, the boat rides are delayed.  In my case, what was supposed to be a TOA of 7:00 am in Sabtang became 9:00am.  You arrive at that hour, you have too little time to have a satisfactory tour of Sabtang because the last trip leaves at around 4:00pm.

WHERE TO EAT in Sabtang:

There really is just one place where tourists can dine at Sabtang, and this is the Elesterio Canteen.  This one's really easy to find.  Just ask anyone where the canteen of Bgy. Kagawad Milfa Elesterio is located, and they'll direct you to a small canteen right behind the water purifying station.  Here, she can prepare meals good for 2-3 people for only P300.  The thing with this canteen though is that you'd have to inform her around 2-3 hours prior if you are having lunch there, as they only cook meals on a per-request basis.  She'd let you choose from available viands, and I'd strongly suggest that you order the Coconut Crab if it's available.

If you made arrangements to tour Sabtang with Shanedel's back in Batan, then you might not need to find the Elesterio Canteen as from what I know, former Sabtang Mayor Romy Cielo would handle everything and they have their own different cooking arrangements and tour arrangements.  I've heard however that meals as arranged by Mayor Cielo costs more than double than that being prepared by the Elesterios.


THE PEOPLE:

The Ivatans are generally kind and helpful people.  They speak Tagalog with a Metro Manilan accent, which completely erases any language barrier if you are from Metro Manila.  Also, similar to most Metro Manilans, they speak the sort of bad English that we always consider "fluent", so English-speaking tourists won't have a problem communicating with them.  Like most people, however, they have their own idiosyncracies:

1.  Like I remarked in a previous blog, Ivatans are the gods of Filipino time.  There was never any need for them to rush from one place to another, unlike us who are living in more urbanized areas.  To them, everything is a short distance away.  Don't resent them if they seem laid back and relaxed, especially during the boat ride to and from Sabtang.  In day-to-day commerce, Ivatans don't make use of on-the-dot time deadlines.  What I observed was that any task that is done in the morning is on time for them as long as it does not cross over into the afternoon.  For tasks in the afternoon, it's okay as long as it's done as long as there's daylight.

2.  In Basco, I discovered that people are notoriously ignorant of street names.  I must have asked three bystanders looking for the F.V. Amboy General Merchandise along Nuñez St to rent a bicycle.  I thought that knowing the street name would make things easier.  But amazingly none of them knew where Nuñez St. was.  Eventually, I managed to find it by trial and error, because I know that it was one of the streets that criss-crossed Abad St.  Another example, is when I asked my tour guide and the front desk personnel the name of the street where my inn was located, they didn't know (!!!)

I think there's an explanation for this.  Since Basco (and any other town in Batanes) is so small, there's really no need for street names to help people remember where a particular place is.  People there have a visual map of Basco that they probably have memorized by the age of, say, five.


MY EXPENSES:

Plane ticket expense (roundtrip) - P13,650.00
Lodging expenses (P600 x 4 nights) - P2,400
Tour guide fee (P800 x 2.5 days) - P2,000
Motorcycle rental (P1,000 x 2 half days) - P1,000
Jeepney fare going to San Vicente (P30 x 2) - P60
Falowa fare to and from Sabtang (P50 x 2) - P100
Tourism fee in Sabtang - P100
Lodging fee in Sabtang (P300 per night X 2 people) - P600
Multicab rental - P2,000
Van fare going back to Basco (P30 x 2) - P60
Environmental fee in Diura - P50
Bicycle rental (P25 x 9 hours) - P225
Meal expenses in Sabtang (P300 x 2 meals) - P600
Meal expenses in Batan (approx. P120 x 7 meals) - P840
Other incidental expenses (approx) - P2,000

TOTAL - P25,685 for the whole 5 days

Note: It seems like a lot because I traveled solo.  A group outing would effectively lower expenses.

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Okay, I hope this helps.  If there's any other details that you need, then leave a comment and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.  ;-)  I'll also be updating this whenever I add stuff.

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.

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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: Touring Sabtang (part 3)

Stomachs bursting with a very filling lunch, we resumed our tour towards the other side of Sabtang to visit the towns of Sumnanga and Nakanmuan.  For this, we had to enter Baranggay Malakdang (one of the twin baranggays that compose Centro).  The first stop was the nearby Nakabuang Beach.  This was a white sand beach that is famous for a natural rock formation which resembles a 15-foot high arch.

The Nakabuang Beach

The Nakabuang Arch

The sand is definitely not near Boracay-fine, but there's no beach rental here and no business establishments.  This is the closest to pristine as you can get that is nearby and very accessible from the town center.  Tourists usually arrange to have lunch here near one of the rock formations.  I spent some time here just soaking in the view and taking some pictures.  I unfortunately did not get to take nice photos of the arch because of the position of the sun in the early afternoon in this beach meant there would be too much shadow in the arch and too much light in the background.

Bayawak in the middle of the road (as shot by Erwin)

Along the way to the town of Sumnanga, and just leaving Nakabuang Beach, I saw a wild bayawak by the roadside for the very first time.  Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of it, because the multicab was very noisy and fast, so before I could aim for a shot, it had already scampered away in the low bush.  Erwin is lucky because he was actually able to shoot a large on in the middle of the road in basically the same area - he was no less helped by the fact that he was riding a motorcycle, which was considerably less-threatening and a lot more quiet than a multicab.

So on to Sumnanga.  It was a particularly rough journey going there as the road was seemingly just built for the sake of having a road, without regard for the steepness of the paths taken.  Sumnanga and Nakanmuan are on the western coast of Sabtang island while Centro and Nakabuang Beach are on the east.  That means one would have to traverse the entire northern coast of Sabtang to get to those two western villages.

The northern coast of Sabtang has it's own share of spectacular views, the best of which is this particular rock formation by the sea:

Beautiful, isn't it?

After passing the difficult path of the northern coast, the terrain becomes level by the time one reaches the western coast of Sabtang.  There, the road is closer to the sea and entire stretches of the road are lined with coconut trees.  Same as in the morning, we went straight to the farther destination of Nakanmuan, passing by Sumnanga.

The road to Sunmanga and Nakanmuan

Nakanmuan and Sumnanga basically have the same layout as Chavayan and Savidug.  The towns are elongated and the National Road either cuts through it or is adjacent to it.  The only difference is that Nakanmuan and Sumnanga are fishing villages and are much closer to the shore.  They are also a lot more populous than Chavayan and Savidug - closer to the population density of Centro.

Nakanmuan welcome arch

A traditional house in Nakanmuan

Nakanmuan is where Joaquin's brother (the Sabtang Postmaster) resides, and I was thinking of staying here for the evening as daylight was close to fading already.  The village is populous enough for me to be able to observe how the people go about their daily lives.  All thoughts of this came crashing down however when I remembered that I already paid for my lodgings back in the Tourism office and, worse, I already made arrangements with the Elesterio canteen to cook lobster for my dinner.

A young girl with a deaf and partially-blind old lady in Nakanmuan

The western coast of Sabtang also also allows one to view two other islands of Batanes - Ivujus and Dequey.  These two islands are uninhabited by people but can be visited as they are relatively close.  Joaquin told me that the sizable island of Ivujus is used by cattle ranchers as a communal pastureland.  They bring in cows through ships and basically set them free there to graze, and only coming back at certain days of the year when they need to take some for slaughtering.

A fisherman in Nakanmuan

Unfortunately, daylight was fading fast and any prospect of watching the sunset at Nakanmuan was dashed by the realization that I really haven't even visited Sumnanga, and the fact that stretches of the National Road between the towns had absolutely no streetlamps - which makes the possibility of the multicab falling off a cliff on the way back very much possible.  So we started on our ride back to Centro passing through Sumnanga.

Along the way, the driver probably remembered that we had difficulty (and in fact were not able to) buy cold softdrinks in Nakanmuan so he stopped by the roadside and chopped off two coconuts from a roadside tree.  Later on, when we reached Sumnanga, he prepared two of these coconuts for us to drink from.  Initially was hesitant when I saw the bolo used in chopping off the skin of the coconut because it looked dirty and rusty.  However, the act of chopping off the tough skin actually cleaned the blade so that by the time a hole was already made from the coconut, the blade's edge was like new.

After having a much needed drink and exchanging pleasantries with the villagefolk in Sumnanga (who turned out to be friends and family of our multicab driver) we worked on our way back to Centro.  It seems like our driver was conscious of the rapidly-fading daylight so he drove the multicab faster and we had a few scary moments where it seems like he was driving straight for a cliff, only to turn at the last moment.  Along the way, we saw came across the sorry remains of a bayawak that got run over by a vehicle (not ours).

It was already dark when we reached Centro. Upon paying our driver, we went straight for the Elesterio canteen for our dinner.  Erwin was already waiting there and he apparently also ordered lobster.  So here's what we ended up eating:

Batanes-style adobo, locally called "Lunyis"

The ubiquitous Yellow Rice

Seaweed with calamansi

And of course, Lobster

All these, plus the Dalagang Bukid (which I did not take a photo of) were good for 2-3 people and only cost a mind-boggling P300.  Joaquin and I had difficulty finishing the food, but Erwin (who ordered the same set) somehow finished everything on his end all by his lonesome.  We ended the night by exchanging stories with Erwin - who is a very funny guy - and Mr. and Mrs. Elesterio, who probably witnessed a lot of nights like these and probably have met every single traveler in Sabtang.

At some point in the day, my phone went dead so I worried a bit as to whether people have been trying to contact me.  This worrying period lasted for about 5 minutes before sleep overtook me back in the rented room at the Municipal Tourism Office.

Batanes Day 2: Touring Sabtang (part 2)

Most blogs are near-unanimous in referring to Chavayan as the town that is closest to what the old Ivatan culture was like before the onslaught of modernity hit Batanes.  Even the province's official website recommends staying overnight in this old village to complete one's Batanes experience.  It is on the strength of this recommendation that I initially wanted to find lodgings here for the night.

The Chavayan town marker

The town, however was something of a disappointment to me.  While the architecture of the homes was what I expected, there was far too many homes abandoned and crumbling to the ravages of time and neglect.  The encroachment of modernity also lessened the charm of the place with the overhead power lines and sattelite dishes dotting most homes, as well as the building of modern-style houses.  I personally had a hard time shooting the houses at an angle that would hide the power lines.

A row of traditional cogon-roofed stone houses

I also found Chavayan to be a very sleepy town, which is only a few desertions away from being a ghost town.  I later on learned that the village has a population of less than 100.  That is why I did not hesitate to take pictures of people, lest they go back into their houses and I won't see them again.  And I didn't even see any vakul-clad women walking around - which is quite understandable since it was already nearing noon when I reached this village.

Some locals by the village plaza

Chavayan is the site of the only remaining church in Batanes that has a cogon roof.  It used to be that the larger centuries-old churches in Batan and Sabtang also had cogon for their roofs, but they eventually switched to metal roofing by the 20th century.  I'm thinking that since this church is actually just chapel-sized, it's easier for it to retain a cogon roofing.

The Chavayan Church

One funny thing about the Chavayan Church is that once one steps out of it, one will immediately see a seemingly obscene rock formation in the distant mountains.  Here it is:



Which upon looking closely....



The locals are apparently proud of it.  It's nice that this old village hasn't lost its humor. ;-)

It was apparent that I won't be staying here for the night as there was apparently no compelling reason for me to do so.  I was thinking that I would be experiencing the local culture, but apparently what was in store for me was a display of how culture slowly dies due to the unavoidable march towards progress.  Thus, we made our way back towards Centro.

The roadside view on the way to Chavayan

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Chavayan is actually the southernmost village in Sabtang and as I mentioned in the previous blog, we actually passed by the likewise-old village of Savidug.  It is then our next destination before we get back to Centro for our lunch.

An old house by a tree in Savidug

I found Savidug to be just a few notches livelier than Chavayan.  Still a sleepy town by Metro Manila standards, but what I liked about it was that the homes were better-maintained.  There were however still some scenes of neglected homes that were left to decay and crumble, with only the sturdy stone walls left standing.

a row of abandoned houses

We asked around and apparently the lots where the houses are standing still have owners, who are most likely residing in the more populous Centro.  There have been efforts by the government to subsidize the maintenance of these old houses but so far, nothing has resulted beyond the planning stage.

a Savidug local

It is a misconception to say that the use of concrete with stone and coral is an indigenous Ivatan innovation.  It was actually the Spanish that introduced the use of concrete in Batanes.  Prior to the development of these old stone houses, Ivatans lived in huts made of wood and cogon. What we therefore see now is still an entirely Ivatan style of house-building, but with the adoption of foreign technology.

There are, however far older dwelling places than wood and cogon huts that the Ivatans lived in before they settled in villages near the shore, and these are the Idjang.  These are ancient hilltop fortresses that were built on natural rock formations when the first Austronesian tribes settled Batanes coming in from southern Taiwan (the indigenous people of which are culturally related to the Ivatans and still maintain language similarities.)

The Savidug Idjang

There is an Idjang near Savidug that still maintains a visible form.  I wish I had the time to explore it.  As it is, I was running late for lunch and I still had two more towns to explore.

So we drove back all the way to Centro to have lunch at the Elesterio Canteen before embarking onthe second half of our tour of the island.  I was also excited to finally get a taste of the famous Coconut Crab, but was kind of disappointed when I saw that it was already chopped up.  In hindsight, I realize they actually did me a great favor because I don't really eat crab and I wouldn't know how to get to the soft parts under the hard shell.

Coconut Crab (chopped)

Coconut Crab aligue

I actually have a digestive disorder that gives me stomach pains whenever I eat crab or shrimp.  So I was in fact taking a risk in eating the Coconut Crab.  It turns out that for this particular instance, my condition did not act up so I had a fairly enjoyable time eating.  Milfa (Elesterio) - the canteen proprietess - prepared a feast for myself and Joaquin that aside from the crab included fried Dorado fish, dried pork adobo, one bandehado of rice and unlimited bowls of Coconut Crab broth that perfectly complemented the meal.  All of these would be enough to fill the stomachs of 3 grown men, and they were all for only P300 (!)

After lunch and before leaving to continue our tour, we made arrangements for our dinner once we return in the evening.  We were once again given a choice of viands.  This time, I chose lobster.

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.

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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?

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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.