Friday, April 27, 2012

Batanes

Oh Batanes, it has been three years since my first solo trip to the country's northernmost province and I realized I haven't written about this gem of a place.


I was in Batanes in the summer 2009 in my first solo trip. 

On the first day, I hired a tricycle driver to take me around town. I went to Valugan beach, Fundacion Pacita, the lighthouse near the town center.

Valugan beach has a unique shoreline with huge rocks of volcanic origin.


Valugan Beach with its boulders along the beach

Fundacion Pacita,a house owned by the Abads, set amid rolling hills and cliffs facing the sea, is one of the most picturesque place I have ever seen.


With my new found friend in front of Fundacion Pacita

The lighthouse, whose name escapes me, is close to the town center where I enjoyed watching the sunset and regular townfolks getting ready to go home after a day out in the field.


the lighthouse near town center

On the second day, I decided to join a jeepney tour around Batan Island. In the tour, I was with a big family from lolo, lola, siblings to the apos. We visited the house of Dakay Ilongga who moved to Batanes in the early 20th century. We visited the many sites around Batan, one highlight is the windy Marlboro country where I felt like anytime the strong breeze would carry me. We also visited a fishing village which thankfully had a mini sari sari store which sold the emergency stuff I needed.

Phew, thank God for our sari-sari stores. Although, the brand was not of good quality, a girl in the middle of nowhere, where electricity has just arrived, can't be choosy.



small fishing village
On the third day, I decided to go to Sabtang. I went with Lucky, the son of Ate Tess, the owner of the cafeteria which I frequented near the guesthouse where I'm staying. He and his friends were going to Sabtang to attend the town fiesta. So I went with the my new found gang.

When we got to the pier, the touring family I was with the day before, was also there. Our tour guide recognized me and put a life jacket on me, thinking I was still part of the tour. The ride to and from Sabtang is an adventure in itself. After one of the longest twenty-minute boat ride of my life, we got to Sabtang in one of the most exciting boat docking I have ever seen. Actually, your boat doesn't really dock like average boats do. Instead, men would try to hold the boat steady amid big crashing waves, and assist each passenger trying their best to balance in the makeshift platform. So there is no pier to speak of. Just people serving as temporary anchors as our boat gets slammed by one big wave after the other. 

Sabtang Lighthouse as seen from the pier

On that day, I was thankful Ate Tess, the cafeteria owner, offered his son as guide, because he ended up renting a motorbike which we took and I ended up riding a motor bike all over Sabtang island in one of my most scenic rides ever.

taken while I was on a motorbike on our way to the last barangay, Chavayan


Sabtang is a smaller island compared with Batan, thus everybody knows everybody.  Walking around town, I bumped into a college friend's kababayan, I met 102-year old man who had four kids who died, met a chatty lady who told me there's someone from Iloilo in Savidug, the man is from Banate, Iloilo! (Check out the similarities with Batanes). But he had chicken pox so I entered their house and he was all wrapped in blanket but we chatted, I took a picture of him and his family.

Kids hanging out in an unused window in Sabtang

After going around Sabtang, the boys wanted to go with Lucky and I to Nakabuang beach, and Lucky said it was walking distance, yeah it was about 5 kilometers one-way.

walking from Nakabuang to Sabtang town proper

I did not realize I dropped my shades on our way to the beach, until I saw the familiar object in the middle of the road on our way back to town. That’s how few vehicles pass by or passersby pass through that road the whole afternoon. 

Just when I thought the day's adventures were about to end, the boys got invited by the town’s mayor, so we ate at the mayor’s place. Then our gang decided to part for the day, so I decided walk around Sabtang, then the mayor saw me and invited me to a tour of the town. He took me to the top of the hill overlooking Sabtang. Then he took me to the light house, then the finale, he took me back to Nakabuang beach, on the motorbike. It was a moonless night so it was really dark. There were a lot of cows blocking the road. Looking back, I can't figure out how I was able to go through that. While I was riding with the mayor, I was thinking to myself, what am I doing, riding with a total stranger to a deserted beach. Anyway, I guess I just trusted my instincts with people and so far, most haven't disappointed. It was a moonless night, thus, it was too dark. So we just looked at the arch and left after a few minutes. When he dropped me off the canteen, the principal of the only school in town, saw me and invited me over to his sister's place. I had dinner where I ate ube and gabe as the rice substitute. This has been one of most surpising days of this trip for me.

looking over the town of Sabtang

On my fourth day in Batanes, I decided to have a good lunch in Fundacion Pacita. They were fully booked at that time but since I managed to establish rapport when I visited on the first day (Thanks to good friends), they accommodated me.
view for lunch
I had a sumptuous lunch with probably one the best cliffside views in the country. I enjoyed eating while "eavesdropping" on the big group composed of who’s who in Philippine society, discussing their trips to Paris and Barcelona. Added to the mix are the anecdotes of a friend who brings her dog to long haul flights in the cabin with special carriage privileges. The friend they say would rather bring the dog than her kids. I was not really eavesropping, I couldn’t help but hear  their conversations since we were the only occupants in the dining area.  

After they left, the owner noticed me and asked me if I was classmate of her son since I look familiar. Then she asked why I chose to go to Batanes when some would prefer going abroad since it is more expensive. I forgot what I said maybe because I wanted to go somewhere special on my 30th birthday. Then, she lovingly replied “Anyone who chooses Batanes over an overseas trip, is special.”

After lunch, I decided to walk a bit and enjoy the scenery. Afterwhich, Kuya the driver fetched and took me to rolling hills, a place I almost skipped but am glad to go to. Rolling hills is my last stop for the day in an awesome journey to an awesome place.



rolling hills
On my last morning in Batanes, I decided to walk to the next town which I figured to be a few kilometers away. When I got to walk a few kilometers, I decided to hitchhike for the first time in my life. It was something that didn’t turn out that well. (My second attempt in hitchhiking was a successful one and it was in a totally different place.) When I got to the next town, people already know me as the girl who was walking from Basco to the next town.
This first solo trip felt like that, I feel like a girl who is walking towards the next chapter.


jumping in Marlboro country