The news on television says there is a storm about to cross the country that week. It is the country's first typhoon for the year and it's already late in jumpstarting the rainy season as it was almost July then. As I watched the news, I was at the edge of my seat because earlier that day I have booked myself on a flight going to the province-frequently-visited-by-typhoons and my parents didn't know about it. All they know is that I have an approved leave-of-absence from work and I'll be out of the house for four days that mid-July. They thought I am still thinking of where I would be taking my R&R.
Lucky for me, the tropical depression (international code name, Man-yi) was exactly exiting my place of destination on the night before my flight. I left our house around nine in the evening with an alibi (but it's true!) that I will be dropping by at the birthday party of a friend and another friend would be dropping me off at the Victory Bus station at midnight. Little did my parents know, that same friend would not drop me off at a bus station at midnight but would be fetching me at another friend's house in the wee hours of the morning to take me to the domestic airport.
By 5:30 in the morning, I was phoning my Mom with a white lie of "Mama, I'm already here…" and she was surprised for me to have traveled so fast. She taught I was already in Baguio City and currently having breakfast before I board another bus bound for Sagada. Little did she know then that "here" meant domestic airport, "bus" meant the shuttle bus that would ferry me and the other Asian Spirit passengers from the departure gate to the twin-engine jet plane parked near the runway, and "breakfast" meant the butterflies that started to flutter inside my stomach. I have taken several plane trips before but it was my first time to fly alone and at a destination unknown to my family.The Ivatans
The people of Batanes are very friendly and helpful. I had just set foot and was not even an hour old in Batan Island when a retired teacher, Mr. Reynaldo Donato, pitied me for not seeing my host's daughter at the airport and offered to drop me off at the Vinalays' home. The traditional Filipino hospitality is still very much alive in them even in this age of commercialism. Nanay Anita Vinalay generously offered me her home just as I was greeting her that morning. They are very courteous. When the children (young ones as well as high school and college-aged) saw m
e talking to their parents, they would approach me and take my hand to "bless". They would address me as "Auntie" and would always be ending their sentences in "po" or "opo". They are God-loving folks. The Vinalays prayed the rosary together and they say grace before meals. The cathedral was filled with churchgoers who are truly attentive to the homily of the priest. I never saw anyone chatting or sleeping while mass is being said, nor did I hear a single ring from a mobile phone during the entire mass. And the Ivatans were very generous folks. When I left, I had a bayong filled with chayi and fish given by my host family and guide as pasalubong to family and friends back home.Batanes Land, Weather and Communities
The province of Batanes is nearer to Taiwan than any part of the Philippines. It is 190 kilometers south of Taiwan; 230 kilometers from Aparri, the nearest point in mainland Luzon; and 860 kilometers away from Manila. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the east, the China Sea on the west, the Balintang Channel on the south, and Bashi Channel on the north. The total land area of Batanes Province is approximately 23,000 hectares or 230 square kilometers.
Batanes Province is the province most frequently visited by typhoons. Most of the typhoons that visit our country would "pass by" or exit in Batanes, thus the province is almost always in the national weather news bulletins. Man-yi was already out of the Philippines' area of responsibility when I got to Basco. But despite that, I still experienced the frequent and peculiar 3-minute downpours. Likewise, the province is dubbed as the "playground of the wind" because the strong breeze blows constantly from all directions. I lost my camera's battery protector-cap with just one waft of the wind; that's how strong Batanes air current is.The province of Batanes is composed of three major islands: Batan, Sabtang, and Itbayat. Other islands of Batanes Province are: Mavulis, Misanga, Ditarem, Siayan, Dinem, Dequey, and Ivujus. Batan Island is divided into four towns: Basco, where the province's capital and seat of government is located, Mahatao, Ivana, and Uyugan. Currently, the total population of Batanes Province is 15,656 (as of May 2000 census: 10,365 for Batan Island, 1,675 for Sabtang Island, and 3,616 for Itbayat island).
Getting To and Around Batanes
Currently, only Asian Spirit flies to Batanes Province from Manila. Flights of Manila to Basco and vice versa are scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Round trip airfare costs P10,800; Manila domestic airport passenger terminal fee costs P200 while Basco, Batanes passenger terminal fee costs P20.00 (plus protected area fee of P15.00). On the other hand, Chemtrad and Pacific Air have chartered flights to Basco from Tuguegarao and Laoag cities, respectively. Chemtrad flights to Basco from Tuguegarao and vice versa are scheduled every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Pacific Air flights from Laoag to Basco and vice versa are scheduled depending on bookings.Although there is an information center in Basco (the Philippine Information Agency of Batanes, which is manned by Ms. Necitas Alconis and where one could buy a tour magazine), I still hired a tour guide to accompany me in my sight-seeing. Tour guiding fees in Batanes costs P500 per day. I also rented a motorbike which my guide and I used in going around the island. Motorbike or scooter rental fees cost P1,200 per day (gasoline included); but if you are with a group, it would be cheaper to rent a van (P1,500 per day for non-air-conditioned, P2,200 per day for air-conditioned) or jeepney (P2,000 per day). Lucky for me, my host Vivian Vinalay had an officemate, Leonardo Garcia, who is into tour guiding and he only charged me P1,500 per day for the bike rental and guiding services.
Just in case you wanted to tour Batanes on your own, here are the following jeepney, boat and airfares:Basco to Itbayat and vice versa (via Pacific Air) - P840.00 one way
Basco to Itbayat and vice versa (via Beacon Air) - P880.00 one way
Basco to Itbayat and vice versa (via Chemtrad) - P1,160.00 one way
Tricycle ride within Basco - P20.00
Jeepney ride from Basco to other parts of Batan Island and vice versa - P7.00 to 45.00
Ivana Port to Sabtang (via motorized boat called Sarao) - P40.00
Where To Stay in Batanes
I was fortunate enough to have a host family when I was in Batanes. However, just in case you happen to venture into the province and don't know anyone, there are many inns or lodging places where you could stay. There is the government-run Batanes Resort, which accommodations costs P550 per person per day for single occupancy, the Batanes Seaside Lodge and Restaurant (P450.00 to P800.00 per person per day), Ivatan Lodge (P300.00 to P1,000.00 per person per day), Shanedel's Inn and Café (P350.00 to P750.00 per person per day), and Pension Ivatan.What and Where to Eat
Compared to the other provinces that I have visited, Batanes does not have many restaurants, bistros or cafes to dine in. Except for the lodging places which have cafés or restaurants, I had my meals and snacks at local "canteens". The canteens sell lutong-bahay viands and snacks such as spaghetti, pansit, ginataan, and the like, which meals could range from P50.00 to P70.00 per meal. It was in Sabtang Island that I was able to sample their local lobster, which only cost less than a hundred pesos each! Other Ivatan food that are a must-try for tourists are the yellow rice (rice with turmeric or ginger), the coconut crab, and their local lychee called chayi.
When in Ivana, I was able to eat at the Honesty Store. Indeed, the store does not have any storekeeper. Goods were on the shelves with a sign that says: "Take what you want and pay for them." The prices are posted on a wall and one would just have to drop her payment in a box. Try running a store like it here in Manila and surely you'd go bankrupt in a day!What to See and Do
Lots and lots of sight-seeing. My guide toured me to see the "Marlboro Country", the last weather station of the Philippines, the houses of Pacita and Butch Abad, and the Japanese tunnel in Tukon. Likewise, he showed me the dormant volcano Mount Iraya, Mount Matarem, lots of grassy rolling hills, lighthouses, beaches, churches, fortresses, and old Ivatan stone houses of all kinds. We went around the towns of Basco, Mahatao, Ivana, and Uyugan in Batan Island, stopping for a while in the barangays of Vayang, Songsong, Itbud, San Vicente, Imnahbu and Valugan, and the communities of Sinakan, Savidug and the World Heritage Site of Chavayan in Sabtang Island. In Savidug, he showed me a pit where dead corals are "cooked" by the Ivatans to turn them into the native apog or white cement, which they used in binding the boulder-stones together in making or rebuilding the stone walls of the houses.What To Bring
My host, Nanay Anita Vinalay, said that I am the only guest they had that the Ivatan mosquitoes enjoyed biting endlessly. Yes, there were mosquitoes and they were everywhere I went, and they bit me all time (morning, noontime, afternoon, night). So, if you don't want to leave Batanes with polka-dotted skin, bring your insect repellant.
Another thing that could be useful to bring, aside from things in your regular travel checklist, is a windbreaker-waterproof jacket. Unless you are traveling in the summer months, rainfall could be erratic in Batanes. So besides protecting your skin for the harmful rays of the sun with a sun block, best to have a light jacket or windbreaker as the Batanes winds could get pretty chilly and harsh.Four days isn't enough to tour the Batanes Province. I have to cross out Itbayat Island from my itinerary because Chemtrad only flies to Itbayat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, and these flights depend on whether there would be enough passengers to fill up the 8-seater twin-engine propelled plane.
My return flight from Basco to Manila had been twice as long as my flight from Manila to Basco because instead of a jet plane, my carrier was a four-engine propelled plane which only flew at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Nonetheless, the return flight had been great as I was afforded a chance to take some aerial shots of Batanes and enjoy the Nothern Philippine's topography. It was only when I got home with the fishes and chayi (Mama was expecting bottled Strawberry jam and fresh Passion Fruit and Persimmon for pasalubong) that I told her where I've been adventuring to this time. Being a "gala" herself when she was my age, she understood and didn't reprimanded me. For sure I will be sending my new-found Ivatan friends a copy of this so… I'll see you all again soon! Dios mamajes!
(Note: If you are planning a trip to Batanes and would be needing a guide, you may contact my guide, Leonardo Garcia, at 0915-382-7136. He could take care of everything: accommodations, vehicle in going around the islands, island transfers, and meals.)
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