Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Batanes 3rd Day; A Boat to Sabtang Island

holy week specials for a unique philippine province
april 21-24, 2011 thursday to sunday

objective: to visit the best tourist spots that fits my budget at limited amount of time 
additional tasks: to conquer this 3 famous place of batan, sabtang and itbayat islands and taste there local delicacies 

DAY THREE: (black saturday)
SABTANG ISLAND

as advised by the tour manager, we have to woke-up as early as 7am because service van have to leave the assembly place by 8am. we reached ivana port 10am due to having a huge crowd merge into one set of schedule. the ocean that time was very calm so we managed to arrive in sabtang port very smoothly, no dancing waves occured. then registered in toruism office nearby, after couple of minutes, the road tour started. according to the guide, we have 4 stops to drop-by. and yes another 1st time, to ride above the service jeep, top-load escapade along the narrow roads beside the cliff. what a roller-coaster trip, shout-for-joy excitement indeed. below is the list in order of time visited;

'faluwa' ride in ivana port

lighthouse near sabtang port

1. savijug barrio - endangered to nominate as UNESCO heritage site due most of the ivatan house ruins have been ignored to preserve.
2. savijug idjang - also known as the rolling hills of sabtang, one of the best photo-ops in this island. more awesome and stunning view compared to rolling hills of batan.
3. chavayan barrio - best set of ivatan houses among the barrio's i have seen so far. try to buy sweet potato on stick for only php10 and fresh coconut for php20.
4. ahaw/nakabuang beach - trademark spot and most photographed on this island. Famous for its stone/rock arch formation in a very private cove. we spent our picnic lunch here, included in the package tour availed.

native gears such as "Vakul" used by women to protect them from rain, wind and sun, while "talugong" is worn by men. you can have a photo wearing this for only a php10 rental fee. photo shot inside one of the houses in chavayan barrio.

savijug barrio

savijug idjang

savijug idjang

chavayan barrio

ahaw/nakabuang beach

ahaw/nakabuang beach

we left ahaw beach past 3pm and sabtang island by 345pm. and yes this was it, the real definition of 'faluwa' ride (local term for their boat inspired to the vikings design) between the south china sea and the pacific ocean. imagine the waves behavior at this time. at first we were little bit scared as the front part of the boat was always on splash upon facing the not so huge wave. on the latter part was much safer against the wave, where i was located, hehehe! but after 20 minutes passengers get used to it, confirming safe by seeing the boatman using his feet as the controller while texting on his mobile phone. since it was low tide on the ivana port on the time we were approaching, boatman decided to change the port meters away. we arrived sleepy around 5pm due to over an hour navigation. then, our service van went directly to the souvenir shop in basco, at 6pm past we were already on our lodge. while on dinner, we planned again to have our night shot, original plan was in rolling hills but as we reached the road on the way and temperature gets colder, we decided to change to naidi hills again, picnic at night. as usual, pitch black road using only 2 flashlights makes the trail more scarier but awesome fun. around 1230am we decided to go home.

vayang ranch seen on aircraft window going manila

the following day (easter sunday) was my departure. batanes' standard allowance for departure to manila is 2 hours, i wonder why it is like an international standard. when i departed basco terminal, i already know the answer. my departure flight took-off 30 minutes earlier than planned, the most earlier against planned i have ever experienced. aside from that, the captain of the plane is a filipina, as everyone did, i have my request photo beside her before i left the plane.

dios mamajes (means thank you) batanes !!! ^_^

remarks;
* 98% of ivatans can speak tagalog
* you can booked in advance basco to itbayat flight (not available on holy week) via royal air services, 09185393150 miss lucila
* waterproof pouch for 'faluwa' ride is must if you have electronic gadgets to bring with you
* help retain the preservation of the place wherever you are, bring your trash please

the output souvenirs

6 comments:

  1. very nice talaga sa batanes, sana makapunta na ako jan. ang mahal kasi ng plane ticket e, magiipon muna ako.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the ideal itinerary, at least ang dami niyong narating kahit three days lang. Sabay sabay tayo bumalik for Itbayat, hehe.

    =P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ang alam ko parang kaka-Batanes lang din ni Vin. Hindi ba kayo nagkasabay?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, thorough itinerary! But I seem to have missed the cost for lodging...? How much did you spend for a night at Batanes Seaside Lodge?
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Andoy! Nakapunta ka sa Itbayat? = ) Give your itinerary - ALvin

    ReplyDelete

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