On a long-awaited, must-be-a-dream visit to the northernmost province of the Philippines, I fell in love, yet again, with the immensity of the country’s food and cultures. Off to Basco!
At Jessica’s Place, we enjoyed vunong - a typical Ivatan meal of rice and fish or meat wrapped in breadfruit leaves - with ensaladang pako (fern salad) and soup. The best way to begin any trip.
We drove to our first stop, the beautiful rolling hills of Vayang, looking out the open ocean. This shot will always be one of my favourite landscape portraits! Truly a moment in time. At the Basco Lighthouse, we watched a cargo ship approach, and our guide told us stories about travelling on those ships to mainland Luzon, back in the day, when flights were out of reach for most locals - easily a day or two’s voyage across perilous stretches of the South China Sea.
Next we visited the modest Basco Church, where a weathered bell brought to the island in 1783 by Spanish missionaries remained. At Tukon Radar Station, looking inland, our guide talked about how Ivatan communities traditionally parcelled and cultivated these hilly farming plots through ancestral practices that continued today.
We stopped at a tunnel dug by locals during the Japanese war, and our guide told us about her mom’s stories from that time, and how kids were sent to run up the hill as lookouts. Looking over the city of Basco, I felt humbled to be there. We ended the day at Valugan Boulder Beach, watching powerful waves crash ashore. We’re a speck in the ocean of time.
I really appreciated being in Batanes during a special time of the year!
