Batanes: My Ultimate Travel Destination in the Philippines

Hello everyone!

It's our seventh day here in Batanes and we're back at our accommodation in Basco. We stayed at a homestay in Sabtang Island that's perched on a hill overlooking the municipality. It's not the best in terms of amenities, but it's the best experience so far in terms of living in a stone house that Batanes is known for. We have the whole lighthouse for ourselves and surprisingly, there was a phone signal, unlike in our hotel in Basco.

_{📍 Sabtang Lighthouse: It's an active lighthouse that's overlooking Balintang Channel and near San Vicente Port. While it's still active, it has a homestay that allows you to access the whole lighthouse and its vicinity all for yourselves. We stayed here for one night and it's one of the highlights in our Sabtang Island tour.}

I've read about an article about the tourism in Batanes and most of the comments lament about how expensive the whole province is. I don't agree that Batanes is only for the tourists with deep pockets. I'm not rich and I'm still very far from being rich, considering what I experienced last year, but I'm here at my ultimate travel destination in the Philippines. I wrote about this dream of mine to visit the northern-most province in the Philippines about five years ago. I think it boils down to priorities and this has been decades in the making for me. In terms of cost, the only expensive part of the whole tour is the airfare. The rest of the tour is reasonably priced if you factor in the cost of delivering the goods and services from the mainland.

_{📍 Basco Lighthouse: It's an active lighthouse that's perching the municipality of Basco. It's located in Naidi Hills in Brgy. San Antonio that's easily walkable from anywhere in the town proper. The lush green hills and the vast West Philippine sea provided a stunning background of the lighthouse. It's best visited before sunset.
📍 PAGASA Weather Station / Tukon Radar Station: The Basco PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) Complex is a run down weather station located in Barangay Tukon. Its most expensive equipment used to monitor the weather in Batanes was destroyed by a strong typhoon, but the complex is still working as an essential weather monitoring station in Batanes.}

I've been to places here in the Philippines that set exorbitant prices to their services and Batanes is not one of them. The Ivatans don't have that "tawad" culture. The price is fixed, but it's always reasonable. They're very reserved yet very considerate to others.

_{📍 Dinaysupuan Japanese Tunnel: Located at the rolling hills of Tukon, this tunnel was made of volcanic rocks and cement, and served as a shelter and lookout of the Japanese soldiers during World War II. The engineers were Japanese, but the workers were the local Ivatans.
📍 Valugan Boulder Beach: Located at the east side of Batan Island and facing the Pacific Ocean, this boulder beach is a sacred fishing ground of the Ivatans. The boulders were from the eruption of Mt. Iraya.}

One thing is for sure, there's no gentrification here and I think that's what sets Batanes apart from other famous destinations in the Philippines. The Ivatans wanted to preserve their culture and way of life that having the concept of "low-volume, high-value tourism" really made sense.

_{📍 Tukon Chapel/Mt. Carmel Chapel: Located in one of the hills in Brgy. Tukon, this chapel is a famous wedding venue.
📍 Tukon Hills: Panoramic view of both the Pacific Ocean and West Philippine Sea. It's where the famous Fundacion Pacita is located.}

Just like the Ivatans, Batanes (and I mean the islands themselves) won't welcome you with a warm embrace nor a loud high five. As I've said, they're very reserved, so they'll just greet you with a slight smile. But the islands and their people grow on you. One thing I noticed in Basco is the lack of music or any form of sounds. They might be playing music inside their houses, but in an extremely low volume. The only sound I heard during our first night in Basco was the bell ring from a college at the center of the town.

_{📍 Chawa View Deck: Overlooking the West Philippine Sea, this view deck is located between the municipalities of Basco and Mahatao. With the breathtaking rock formations and seascape panorama, it's a must stopover during the South Batan tour.
📍 Marlboro Country/Racuh a Payaman: Located in Mahatao, this vast pastureland and rolling hills is the most famous tourist attraction in Batanes.}

To be in a place with an extremely low crime rate is jarring. I lived in a city for the past 18 years, so my senses are now adopted to be always on alert. I can't even imagine a place in the Philippines where robbery and murder are practically nonexistent. I'm amused and amazed that their recorded crime is just simple drunkenness.

_{📍 Alapad Rock Formation: Another highlight of South Batan tour, this rock formation is where the famous "BLOW UR HORN" sign is located. It's a rock formation facing the Pacific Ocean.
📍 Honesty Store: Located in the town of Ivana, this store is the first of its kind in the Philippines. You can buy a lot of souvenir items without anyone manning the store. They rely on the tourists' honesty.}

To end, if the cost of preserving their culture and sense of identity is to have a tourism catered for the rich, then so be it.

_{📍 Sumnanga Village: Most of the fishermen in Batanes came from this village. It's the last village we visited in Sabtang Island.
📍 Chavayan Village: Located at other side of Sumnanga Village, but they're not connected by road. It's the second village we visited in Sabtang Island and it's my favorite village in Sabtang.}

It seems I broke my own rules when it comes to a travel post, but I have reasons to do so. Don't worry though, I'll still post about these places and those posts will showcase the beauty of Batanes. I guess that's all for this post. I'll share more about Batanes until all my photos are all shared here.

Kim Ybañez