Batanes: A Road Trip to Raele Itbayat

I felt the wind from the fan blowing through the mosquito net that morning. It was like an alarm clock waking me up. It’s 6 o’clock I guess, since electricity on the island resumes at this time. It was already bright when I looked through the window. We’ll be leaving the Island today but not before we do little exploration down south. I asked Nanay Gordo downstairs if the municipal truck was available and we were lucky it was. We got our things ready and headed for a quick breakfast.

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Batanes: Afternoon at the Port of Pagganaman Itbayat

I always like to trace back places I’ve been before and see how has time changed it. Walking from the plaza of Mayon Centro after taking shots of Sta Maria Church, I try to recall the steps we went through heading to Pagganaman Port. Just to be sure, we asked this nice lady who looked like a school teacher for directions. We were heading on the right trail. This is the 1.7 kilometers walk to Pagganaman Port.

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Batanes: Itbayat’s Sta Maria Mayon Centro and Church

I didn’t remember this road trek to be so exhausting. Or it must be the unrelenting mid-day sun bearing down on our backs as we walk the paved sloping road from Chinapoliran Port to the town Mayon Centro. It seemed so easy back then. Maybe because I was 5 years younger when we walked this path in a breeze back then. It seems so long and the thought of it make me feel old. But it’s nice to be back on this large rock called Itbayat. After walking half a kilometer and occasional stops where there are tree shades, a white pickup truck pulled over and offered us a ride to town. Nothing beats a welcome with kindness like this.

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Batanes: Journey from Basco to Itbayat Chinapoliran Port

It was a little past 6am and there’s already a hive of activity at Basco Port when we arrived. We were looking for the person holding the ticket and found him sitting by the port ledge. “Punuan na po, me nakalista na wala pa dito. Malilista kop o kayo pero wag kayo magagalit kung di kayo makasakay (We’re full. We already have a list of people even if they’re not here. I can put you on wait list but don’t be angry if can’t ride)”. It wasn’t like this before last when I went to Itbayat. I can buy tickets at their office and that would assure me seat. After hearing that, I thought our chances were nil seeing all the cargo and locals pouring in. I was already devising a Plan B in mind if ever we can’t go to Itbayat. It’s a good thing Oggie decided to inspect the large M/V Misubi craft. It seems luck is still on our side.

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Itbayat: Living on a coral

Itbayat Island is actually a giant uplifted coral reef, and research claims it’s one of the world’s largest. Knowing this first time around made me think how this was possible. I guess that explains how the island doesn’t have a shoreline and the texture of the cliffs does resemble a giant coral. Interesting isn’t it? So how is it like living on a giant coral reef?

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Itbayat: Journey across two seas

The Cliffs of Itbayat

Batanes is made up of 3 major islands, Batan, Sabtang and Itbayat. Batan, the easier and safer place to go around Batanes has the main city of Basco, the gateway to the region. Sabtang, the island we were supposed to go to earlier but was put on hold because of the weather is one of the closer islands to Batan and can be reached in less than an hour from the port of Ivana. The other island, Itbayat is one of the farther islands up north and can be reached by boat in 3-4 hours or by a small plane in an hour. Since the plane’s schedule is unpredictable and fare is very expensive we opted to take a boat. No this isn’t a big boat but a tug cargo boat and I can’t imagine we’re crossing the seas where the Pacific Ocean and the China Seas meet on it.

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