12/04/2018
Batanes (this is not a travel guide) 😊
I wanted to write something about my recent travel in Batanes, but I have this feeling of inadequacy. I’m afraid I will not be able to give justice to what I saw and experienced out there. The same feeling I got when I took pictures of the place, I can’t seem to frame the picturesque place.
The people we have interacted with will always say, “Please share the beauty of Batanes, in that way others will be encourage to visit our place”.
And I realised there’s no need to describe everything, because I’m sure most of us are aware of its beauty. But what I wanted to give emphasis with is the experience we had with the tour guides and the homestays and with its people the Ivatans.
I have been to a handful of place, usually when we travel we don’t do joiners, or guided tours, most of the time it’s just us figuring out our way in, finding the best spots and what is best for our taste buds. I would say different place different experience.
Ms. Jinky, Sir Joel, Ate Ewing, Kuya Pending, Rayver, Kuya Jason, Nanay Maria, Kuya Christian
These are names of the people who made Batanes more memorable, with all the places I visited this is the first time I remember names of the people who helped us out. ( I was with the owner of TIDOY Travel and Tours when I went there).
First thing I noticed, the Ivatans have the most genuine smile, they look straight to your eyes and smile from their hearts. It sounded so cheesy, but I never experienced such thing because it’s not just the tour guides or people who offers the tour services but from the locals as well. I have this feeling that we are most welcome in their place.
The homestays are literally a home away from home. One of my travel goal is to be able to experience homestay in Batanes and we were fortunate enough to experience this for P300 per person per night. In Sabtang, Batanes we were able to stay in a local stonehouse which was fantastic, though it wasn’t really in our plan to stay overnight it turned out well because we didn’t worry about our food and some of our needs. The homestay owner will actually assist you with that. Same in Itbayat, Batanes the Tour guide will actually assist you in everything, from the food and even the water we have to bring for the short hikes, give in to crazy ideas that will come up to our minds, like staging a cultural dance while Kuya Jason the tour guide is playing the stone bell at Rapang Cliff, Itbayat, Batanes, I have to say they are the most accommodating people. And if you’re lucky your tour guide will actually give you braided native organic garlic for souvenir. Good for decoration and good for the heart, just like the laughter we shared.
After the tour when the sun is still up and when we are looking for some things to do, we will just stroll around Basco, most of the time we will end up in a local restaurant or cafés. Here are some of the places we have visited; Phil's Brew, this café is a one woman show meaning Ms. Aimee, the wonder woman owner of this cafe runs everything. She maintains the garden, the house and the kitchen and still manages to stay charming in between. Then there was also Ate Doque with the best Bulalo in Basco. Then the best pizza in Gino’s. The Wakay flan(which is a leche flan infused with sweet potato) in Ivatan Pension. After satisfying our cravings we would stroll around the streets of Basco. The busiest would be in Abad St., where you can find the stores selling local produce, SM stores….. Segunda Mano (I can still remember the jokes of the guide) and souvenirs. Talking about souvenirs, there’s this store called Creative hub where you can find artfully hand crafted items like T-shirts, keychains and even affordable paintings. You’ll never ran out of things to do in this “nature’s playground”. You can “mooh!” back to the cow or “Meh! Meh! Meh!” back to the goat, be silly, be free its totally fine.
But why do I love Batanes?
Fundacion Pacita, My story with Batanes started because of this place. It all started in simple wallpaper from my desktop, it was the picture of Fundacion Pacita in Tukon Hills. Way back then I can’t afford to travel to this place it was so EXPENSIVE! And airline companies haven’t come up with promo tickets for this place yet. So I settled with the thought that someday I’ll be able to visit this place. And indeed, those wishes that we keep in the deepest part of our hearts will somehow, someday will be granted. (My seems to always work on it ) not right away but in time. When we did the North Batan tour we did not include it in our IT but what we did was made an arrangement with Ms. Jinky (AAB Travel and Tours) for the reservation. So it was like a day use since it was fully booked, (but the truth is we can’t afford the room rate ). We really intended that day for Fundacion Pacita alone. We went there by trike for P300 BF. We arrived early so we got plenty of time to roam around plus it wasn’t flooded with tourist yet , we have this feeling that we got it for ourselves (simple treat, thanks ). Since tourists are granted access to the garden so we went there. I have this feeling of familiarity, maybe that was the effect of looking at the picture from my desktop from a long time ago. Everything just came to life. I felt the connection right away. Nature has painted it green and man painted the chairs blue. Closer to heaven than hell I would say. Serenity, that’s what it brought me plus a satiated tummy. The food is simply the best.
We go to places to discover new things, to unwind and sometimes buy a little freedom from the hustle and bustle of life. We go home relieved, renewed ready to face life’s challenge. My experience in Batanes went beyond my expectations, beyond what I imagined it to be. It was 7 day full of bliss. I was so satisfied to the point of not planning my next trip for a period of time. Would it be Siargao or Coron?.... 😊😊😊can’t resist.
