Finally arrived at Batanes! 🥰 It’s my dream destination up north. I waited for a year to visit this group of islands as the fare going to this destination is notoriously expensive and your trip will be ruined (hit or a miss) if you’ll visit on monsoon season 😢. Luckily, I was blessed with a beautiful weather that entire trip. What a beautiful Philippines 🇵🇭🥰

At Batanes, I experienced the slow-pace of life. Waking up in the morning and see the daily life of Ivatans is my norm as the tour commences on the afternoon. Peaceful surroundings in Basco alone, verdant hills and pastures with roaming cattle around, I felt safe walking alone in the streets day and night. Despite high prices of some commodities as most are imported from mainland Luzon (like rice and vegetables), Ivatan people are creative in sustaining life in the islands by consuming fish, cattle and rootcrops. These are shown in their traditional Ivatan dishes in vunong (packed meals). It feels like you’re not in the Philippines. More on like in the fields of New Zealand and rugged cliffs seen in Scotland and Ireland.

A scenic archipelagic province littered with national cultural treasures and natural scenic spots, in this post, I’ll show the tourist destinations I visited in Batanes over the weekend. I’ll post here in my #project82 the articles related to each province. Presenting my sightseeing itinerary below with Basco Airport as my entry and exit point:

The name Batanes is a Hispanicized and pluralized form of vatan, the indigenous name for the province’s main island, of obscure origin, similar to the etymology of Bataan. The term batang has cognates across various Austronesian languages, mostly being a word that means “the main part of something,” such as “trunk” or “body” (like Batangas). On a more abstract level, the term means “the most important or pre-eminent thing.”

TRAVEL EXPENSES (in Php):
738.38 Oona Insurance 4 days via Gcash Ginsure
9318 Philippine Airlines MNL-BSO-MNL (Booked Jun032024 Economy Saver PAL sale)
8999 4D3N North Batan Tour, South Batan Tour and Sabtang Island Tour with free drone shots at Marlboro Hills by Hedgerows Travel and Tours
4360.71 AN Velayo Homestay (ANVEL) 4D3N Double Room with Breakfast via Agoda
400 Vunong lunch at Jessica’s Place (reserved via Facebook a day before: Vunong Dinette -Batanes)
40 Chavayan rental hat and kanayi
600 DaFigura Cafe Lobster Set Meal
290 Bus Batangas Pier to Buendia via Skyway

#BreathtakingBatanes (n_n)

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