The photo above does not do Batanes any justice at all. Even the best of the best cameras out there could never capture how amazingly beautiful the island is. You can never truly appreciate its charm unless you see it for yourself- and that’s what I did. I am quite excited to share to everyone  my 4- day itinerary in Batanes though I stayed there for almost 10 days, especially this is my first time travelling solo for that long!

Day 1- North Batan Tour

I arrived at the airport around 5:00 am-ish was was quite surprised that there weren’t much of passengers at the terminal considering Christmas Day is just around the corner. I went to the usual check-in routine until the boarding gate, got myself some good coffee as I await to hop in the plane. Then they announced that it was time for boarding, all of us were already in queue, but then they had to hold entrance because of the unpredictable weather in Basco. We had to wait for not more than 30 minutes before we could actually board on the plane. The trip took about 2 hours and 10 minutes. All- in- all, the plane ride to Basco was smooth.

Upon arrival in their humble airport, a girl greeted me at the arrival area who happens to be a service crew from the hotel. I was very pleased to know that the lodge was only 5 minutes away from the airport. Walking distance! How cool is that! I was with a fellow solo traveller, Emar. We arrived at the lodge a few minutes before 10:00 am. We were asked to settle first before heading out for the tour. Our tour guide, Kuya Nelson, fetched us at the hotel around 12:30 pm. He took us at Jin Panda, a local restaurant, for a hearty lunch. We had spicy squid menudo, Binagoongan, Bulalo and the ever famous Dibang (Flying fish).

After eating lunch, we proceeded to the tour. Our first stop was at the Tukon Church followed by the Fundacion Pacita. Afterwards, we proceeded to the Valugan Boulder Beach. It was said that the boulders were thrown out by the dormant volcano nearby, the Mount Irayat. I must say I enjoyed the place. It somehow had this “healing effect” by just just enjoying the views and the waves. I was quite surprised when our tour guide can take really good photos! I know for a fact that I rarely have my photo taken on trips, but Batanes my friend, is an exemption. I remember one documentary video I saw that said: “In Batanes, there’s this curse- that wherever you point your camera to, you’ll still get good photos.” I would like to believe so because here I am trying it for myself!

We then dropped by at the Dipnaysuypayan Japanese Tunnel. History tells that the tunnel was built by the locals for the Japanese as a hideout place from the American troops.

It was raining and was very windy when we reached the Vayang Rolling Hills. I was greatly captivated by the beauty of the scenery that I wanted to cry! It was surreal! Despite the blustery weather, we still managed to reach the farthest end of the rolling hills and took really great photos. Batanes, indeed, is the home of the winds. Last stop for this day’s tour was the Basco Light House. It is one of the two functioning lighthouse in the province that guides the ship at night.

We headed back to the Lodge around 5:00 pm to freshen up and have dinner at Pension Ivatan to try their famous Luñis, their version of adobo, Vunis and Uved. It did not disappoint us at all. The next day will be a long day. Call time as per Kuya Nelson is at 6:00 am and our itinerary will be exploring the island of Sabtang!

….. to be continued