Batanes: Expectation vs Reality (Part 2)
Expectation: Batanes is prone to typhoon
Reality: Yes, but not all typhoons are feared in Batanes
I heard from a cousin that the best time to visit Batanes is in fact after a typhoon. That stuck in my mind so that I fearlessly booked a PAL flight in October, and of course, led by the fact that it was booked as seat sale. We were supposed to fly out to Manila on the eve of October 18 and take the first flight to Basco the following day. The Manila-Basco Trip was cancelled due to Typhoon Ramil and we had our flights rebooked and chose to fly out of Iloilo/Bacolod on October 23 and on that day, Typhoon Salome cancelled the Manila-Basco flight and we were monitoring weather updates. Flights to Basco resumed on the 24th and we were able to fly.
A week-long stay in Batanes in October taught me some life lessons I tend to forget or ignore. In life, worrying will rob us of the moment. Everytime Kuya Bong looked up at the gray skies, he would tell us to let the rain pass by so we could navigate the paved but steep slopes of Itbayat. It’s a small rain but it can wet us all the way. Our Rapang Cliff ascend is supposed to start at 3 AM so we can catch the sunrise but for sure, there is no sunrise and the trail is muddy. My friends insisted on going already as they will just use their raincoats. It turns out, walking the trail is a bit of a challenge when it’s muddy. A little wait for the right time is the key. The rain stopped and it gave us a clear vision of the path albeit how muddy it was. When asked about tomorrow or plans after an hour or minutes had passed, Kuya Bong would just say let’s see, “Tingnan lang natin.”
I had back pain when we arrived from our South Batan trip. It started when I was adjusting my posture using the headdress at the House of Wakay. So when my friends attended their late afternoon mass, I had a massage. The masseuse asked me of our next itinerary and I mentioned Itbayat. She narrated her boat experience going there and even gushed over the price of a one-way plane fare. She also highlighted that the weather in Batanes is unpredictable. It even rains in the summer time. When asked about Ramil and Salome, she brushed both aside. It’s just a “banana typhoon.” I asked her what about it, she explained that typhoon signal numbers 1 up to 3 cannot alert the residents because those types can only topple a banana tree. But if the signal numbers 4 and 5 are coming, everyone prepares not to come out of their houses. Given the roof of their stone houses are made of cogon, sometimes a strong typhoon can uproot it. In that case, the houseowner will not yet repair his house. Everyone in the community will go check the national road and participate in the clearing or repair so that major government agencies like the BFP for firemen, the coastguards, the medics and the DSWD can pass through. After the national road, they will clear the provincial road and the barangay road. Lastly, they will repair damaged houses. This practice is called yaru.
Everyone who helps does not get compensation but is fed by the government with Vunong, a traditional Ivatan communal meal where food is wrapped in Kabaya or breadfruit leaves that usually includes turmeric rice, slices of fish, pork and beef, uved (a ball of mixed banana corm mixed with meats) and lunis (slow-cooked salt-preserved pork).
Expectation: Batanes is breathtaking
Reality: Batanes renders you breathless
Batanes is known as the “Home of the Winds” and it pays to climb up many hills and cliffs to hear the whispers of the wind and rushing noise of the waves. Expect to get breathless in order to see the breathtaking natural beauty of Batanes. Worry not because the climbs are easy and for beginners.
Just in a half day, the North Batan tour consists of climbing the Vayang Rolling Hills, Naidi Hills and Lighthouse and the old PAG-ASA weather station. The next day, on top of a walking tour along the old stonehouses in Sabtang Island, one has to climb up to see the Chamantad Cove and Tinyan Viewpoint. Circling Sabtang Island for the lesser-known coastal villages of Nakanmuan & Sumnaga also means some good walking to pass by the Hongkong Bridge and the Seahorse Rock formation. The South Batan Tour makes you climb up to the Uyugan hills, Mutchung Viewpoint, Imnajbu Viewpoint, Chawa Viewdeck, Racuh a Payaman or the Marlboro Country. In Itbayat Island, the long hike is in reaching the Rapang hills and Cliff with Kaxobhan Cliff stopover.
Expectation: Batanes is a natural beauty
Reality: Batanes is a natural beauty, a cultural heritage destination and an archaeological interest
Aside from the majestic cliffs and rolling hills as well as the gigantic rolling barrels of waves, Batanes has more to offer. While navigating Nakanmuan & Sumnaga villages in Sabtang Island and in Itbayat Island, I spotted some Egrets, migratory birds escaping the winter from neighboring countries or possibly a resident already. I might have seen other kinds of birds but I just couldn’t identify them. Birdwatchers flock as pilgrims to Batanes’ endemic and migratory birds.
Aside from Vunong and the Kapayatep, a communal cooperation to repair the roof of the traditional stone houses, one can learn that Itbayat is the only island in the Philippines that is a prominent example of a raised or uplifted coral reef formation so that there are no beaches in the island. The island's unique geology is a result of a combination of ancient volcanic activity and subsequent tectonic uplift over millions of years. According to Kuya Bong, a 100-meter beach area was created by the 2019 earthquake that severely hit the island and toppled beyond repair the 137-year-old Santa Maria de Mayan Parish Church. The same quake likewise caused landslides that covered the entrance to the famous Torongan Cave as well as created fissures on the trails going there.
The Torongan Cave is considered as the first landing site for Austronesians arriving from Taiwan over 4,000 years ago. Many artifacts were found on its ground. Just meters from the cave is the Torongan Hill where a sacred burial mound is found and marked by Axurud, a spherical boat-shaped burial marker. Kuya Bong informed us that there were five remains that were found on that site and subsequently carbon-dated. This is my first archaeological site visit in the Philippines, and this is one important site as this site is consistent with Austronesian cultures where there is a deeply embedded belief that the soul undertakes a maritime journey to the afterlife by boat, referred to as a "soul boat" or "ship of the dead."
Another important find in Itbayat is the “stone bell” in the Rapang Cliff. This is a unique formation consisting of a large flat stone which lies naturally upon another stone, which, when you strike with another stone, produces a bell-like sound. This was used by the Ivatan ancestors to gather their cattle or call for a village meeting.
At the end of the South Batan Tour, one is given the chance to write in the Blank Book Archives. One of the things I recorded was Dios Mamajes, Batanes!
Check my Batanes ytube playlist here and visit regularly for more videos.
Find Part 1 of this blog here.
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