Back in a tricycle, we spent the day doing another land tour, driving to sites around Batan Island. We started at the Chawa Viewdeck, with colourfully painted benches that gave a glimpse into the rich fishing cultures of the Ivatans. A dream to come back and witness that, someday! In the municipality of Mahatao, we stopped by the local church, and I discovered the Batanes Blank Book Archive - a parish library with a collection of blank books that people could write in. It was like finding the key into countless worlds. Please leave a comment if you’ve left a note there too!
In the town of Ivana, we visited the House of Dakay, one of the oldest surviving traditional Ivatan stone houses on the island, built in 1887. We continued to the local church, which faced a bay that opened into the ocean - easily one of my favourite views from a church in the Philippines. Our guide told us how people still sent off fishing boats with their loved ones in them, following local customs, from the shore downhill, at the start of the fishing season.
Honesty Coffee Shop has been on my list of coffee houses around the world to visit since sometime around college, when it was featured on a cable news show in the Philippines. The segment was about how the store ran on an honour system, a newsworthy story itself for many. I remember being awestruck by place it was in, I didn’t know rocky landscapes like that existed in the Philippines. Batanes felt so remote and worlds away. Today, I feel a piece of it everyday, seeing the magnet I brought home on my fridge ❤️
At a sharp curve along the road, a timeless reminder turned into a sign. We stopped at the Alapad Rock Formations, and finally reached Rakuh A Payaman, a rocky outcrop that dropped gradually into the ocean, a place also called Marlboro Country in countless photos and videos online. Undoubtedly dramatic landscapes to remember forever.
