The Final Frontier

[WujouMao]

Gave up trying to get a return plane ticket to Itbayat, the last inhabited island of the Batanes. Boat took 3+ hours depending
on sea conditions.



The sea was far from calm. I'll have to upload my vids to utube.




Anyway, arrived in town, found lodgings then took my rented mountain bike out for a spin




This island is bigger than the main island of Batan, but its seriously dead. only 2 towns in a 15km stretch.




As my LP stated, all three islands are significantly different from each other.




Next morning i gave up on the idea of cycling on sharp coral and hired a guide to take me to see the ancient boat
shaped graves which scatter the island.

this is an ancient graveyard




As i found out from my walk, Itbayat is just one lump of coral rising from the sea.








Torongan Cave, The most ancient dwelling place and on top is a burial ground, and believed to be the first landing place of the
austronecians from Taiwan, 2000 BC.






End of the cave


Outside is a path that goes through another ancient graveyard










Another boat shaped grave on the left of the pic










Itbayat Church. Look at the cylinder shaped tower which narrows at the end near the base.






My breakfast was snails. Meal cost me 200 pesos, but with that i had all the rice i could eat, rainwater was free to drink,
and some fish soup too.










Provided its low tide, you can swim in the natural swimming pools.


If you're wondering how they got the luggage up the seriously steep slope, here's the answer. There is a truck driving
forward with a rope attached halfway up the slope

[Neo]

Proper out there..

[WujouMao]

Back to Batan Island




Some nice thoughtful engineering there.


Just when i thought i seen them all, i found that there were more boat shaped graves on Batan Island, near Basco town centre.


As with the others on Itbayat, they all face the Ocean. One side note worth thinking, the only other people that used to bury
their dead in boat shaped graves, were the Vikings




Butt ugly bug on one of the stones


Just some other photos which i forgot to upload. These are near Songsong Ghost village. That's Sabtang Island in the background








Well maintained frontage


Some sort of old Spanish well i think.


Its a fruit i hear. What though, i aint got a clue


Plane going over Calayan Island, Near North Luzon coast.


Some sort of farm near Manila bay


And with that, my 2 week stay in the Batanes was over.

[patsycat]

Wonderful!! And does look a lot like Scotland - but a bit warmer and without the midges, I'm sure!!

[WujouMao]

Good stuff mate,been to laoag never been across too there, where did you stay ?

Ivatan Lodge in Basco. But there are a few other places to stay since my LP has been published. Ivatan lodge was 300 a night for a single. Taps wont work, nor does the toilet flush and the shower tap not turn. So using a large bucket to conserve water instead has little effect on me.

Went in one ear and out the other when i tried to explain that using the shower is the ideal way to conserve water

[pescator]

Great travelogue. Thanks.

[ribblerat]

The Phills is without a doubt on my list on my next trip , but after seeing your wonderful photos , i know exactly where in the Phills i really want to go now , thanks for the fantastic inspiration ..

[Thetyim]

I was fascinated by the sun hat.
I got this off the net.

[jizzybloke]

^Tina Turner aint it!?

[Mad Hatter]

WOW!

and WOW! again

Great post WujouMao

[Butterfly]

wonderful old stone houses,

it does feel like Europe,

[Rural Surin]

That "fruit" you asked about.
The plant is known as a Screw Pine. It is not a Pine, but a member of the Pandanus family. If you look at the stem, you'll see that the scar that's been left by previous leaves is in the shape of a helix, or, screw. Very common over all of south-east Asia.
The fruit is hard and inedible.

There are a few Pandanus varieties grown throughout the pan-Asia/Pacific regions. Some are quite edible [the yellow pulpy type] and predominately used in a fermented "white lightening" that's quite potent.

[Cujo]

Amaziang fantastic place.
Quite surprised to see the tower and cellphone.
Place seems to have quite a surreal quality to it.


Where does there electricity come from?

[Thetyim]

^
A wind powered generator was installed a few years back

[oldgit]

Great post WujouMao, thank you, did you get any shots of inside of a couple of houses, would like to see how they live.

[natalie8]

Great thread and pics!!! Thanks

[WujouMao]

Great post WujouMao, thank you, did you get any shots of inside of a couple of houses, would like to see how they live.

I think that's called talking the piss. If i did the cultural tour for 4000 pesos, maybe its included on the tour to have a gander round a home. Anyhow i asked for directions in Ivana town's old tourist office cum council hall. Inside its just an open space. No side partition walls. No top floor. So you can see the roof beams as you walk in. The kitchen and loo's are outside in another brick building.

Think of it as a coal shed and outside loo in a 1930's terraced house in England.

I'll have to go back next time, maybe spend a month there. Still lots to see. places to stay.

As for a mobile signal. Depends where you are. Signal only works Sabtang main town. Not any village outside it. Electricity shuts off at 12pm to 6am too.

On Batan Island, there's the odd power cut. If you are having a shower and are down to the last of the water with soap studs on you and there's a power cut, the water pipes wont work.

Best time to visit is between March - May. Any time before that or after that, typhoons are more likely.

Can stay on Sabtang tourist office or the Fishery's dorm for 100 pesos. Same goes for on Itbayat Island.

There's also a 100 pesos tourist fee you have to pay at both tourist offices.

No SM, or any malls for that matter. No jollibee, just lots of hardware stores and canteens for food. Hiro's is a good place to eat, up Abad st.

Can rent out ok bicycles and mt. bikes at Amboy store or decent mt. bikes with gears that work, go to Dive Batanes about 2 clicks from town. 250p a day or 50p an hour.

[Bangyai]

My old Filipino girlfriend who worked as a nurse in the U.K. comes from this Island. Unfortunately she stayed away so long she forgot a lot of the dialect and cried when she had to communicate with her mother in Tagalog.

How's the climate up there compared to the rest of the P.I. It looks a lot cooler.

[WujouMao]

How's the climate up there compared to the rest of the P.I. It looks a lot cooler.

Ive never been to the Babuyan islands Bangyai. As for Batanes it was hot, apart from those few days with lousy grey clouds due to the typhoon. I rented a mt. bike and it took me 3 hours to cycle the 40km around the island. Only stopping in the next village 6km away my t-shirt was soaking wet,

spose its quite easy to feel a little warm with the sea breeze all around you.

[WujouMao]

I was fascinated by the sun hat.
I got this off the net.

Bad news for me, 2 things my LP failed to mention. 1, only wear them on Saturday when they venture into the feilds. and 2, only during planting season. That's march-May.

I was more attracted to those lovely words LP used to describe Sabtang Island. Goes something like this.

"Sabtang is an island where Ivatan culture remains largely intact. You can still see old Ivatan women walking around with the Vakul on their heads"

With this i had to visit Sabtang. I was sorely disappointed in it, not to mention that LP fucked up saying i can rent bicycles for 200 pesos. What a load of bollocks.

And with no transport on the island, i had to made do with walking. Grrr. Next time. always next time.

[patsycat]

Will you marry me and take me to lovely unknown places? I shall be polite. Shit, i would wear one of those funny hats just to be there...

[nikster]

Wow that pace looks stunning. If I ever get to the phillippines I'll dig up this thread and visit the island.

Looks fairly deserted though?!

[maxziz]

good post,,,,,love to see this world,,might get there myself one o these days

[buycondojomtien]

Nice report, thank you, but it doesn't look like Asia to me.

Where are the nice beaches ?

Don't feel like to go to Phils if it is to swim on rocks.

[WujouMao]

Nice report, thank you, but it doesn't look like Asia to me.

Where are the nice beaches ?

Don't feel like to go to Phils if it is to swim on rocks.

I didn't go here to swim on rocks. I went here for the old stone houses, and the countryside which doesn't resemble other countryside in Philippines.

If you want beaches, don't come here. As for Itbayat, its just a coral rock in the sea with sheer cliffs hundreds of feet high.