Rica's Diary: Batanes Day 1: North Batan ❤

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Batanes Day 1: North Batan ❤

Hello beautiful people!

Im back after a whole year of not updating my blog. :) I got lazy blogging last year because my laptop already died :( Though I still havent bought a replacement yet and blogging could be quite difficult using mobile phone, I'd patiently blog in my phone anyway while my memory is still fresh .. And I want to start my first blog entry for 2015 by sharing with you our 2nd anniversary celebration in the beautiful island of Batanes! YAY!

Selfie inside the plane. hehe

My favorite jet.. Philippine Airlines..

After 1 and 25mins flight, we finally arrived at Basco airport.

As we stepped outside the plane, the cool & strong gust of wind and The beautiful view of Mt. Iraya from the end of runway welcomed us.

Basco Airport.

We stayed in Marfel's Lodge in our 4days and 3 nights stay in Basco and availed their fan room for Php700 per night (good for 2pax). Marfel's Lodge has 3 brances: The main (near the airport), extension and annex (where we stayed). The lodge has a homey ambiance with communal areas, big patio where we usually stay when having coffee and a beautiful garden. It has its own Honesty mini grocery store, hot shower, clean towel provided, free refillable purified drinking water and a kitchen for cooking with basic kitchen utensils.

Marfel's Lodge Annex

Marfel's Lodge Annex Communal Living and Dining Area

Marfel's Lodge common kitchen

Marfel's Lodge Patio

Our fan room in Marfel's Lodge. Because its cold season in Batanes, aircon is not needed, not even a fan. In our first day, we requested for an extra pillow and warm blanket and Ate Fe, the owner, didnt charge us for that. She is so nice and friendly and she would always check on us to make sure that our needs are being met. I love Ate Fe!

Beautiful flowers at Marfel's Lodge garden

We availed our group tour with Bisumi Travel which is one of the well-known travel agencies in Batanes. We only have limited time in this Island so we decided to begin our tour immediately right after we checked-in. Our guide picked us up in Marfel's at exactly 12noon. And when we entered the van.. Surprise.. We only had one joiner. So literally it's just the 3 of us for this [group] tour. Hehe. Ron, our joiner is very easy to get along with and we're glad he's our company for our entire trip in Batanes. We started our tour with a welcome lunch at a private Ivatan house.. They served us pako salad (which tastes really good, we ate this everyday in Batanes), seaweed soup, fish and squid--all are ivatan's delicacies. Too bad it was already late when I remembered to take a picture.

After lunch we went straight to Mt Carmel church. I could imagine an intimate wedding here with the beautiful view of rolling hills as your backdrop.

Next stop PAGASA Radar Station which is just a few steps walk from Mt. Carmel Church and WWII Japanese Hideout/Tunnel

For me, the highlight of our tour was the Valugan Boulder Beach.. Instead of sand, the beach was filled with beautiful pebbles and boulders.. Our guide informed us that the boulders came from Mt. Iraya after it erupted hundred years ago. The strong waves polishes the rough rocks through time. Amazing!

Then we headed to the famous Vayang Rolling Hills..

Kuya art is one of the requested guides of Bisumi Travel kasi parang nagkwekwento Lang and would not give you too much info unlike the other guides. He also serves as our photographer.. Suggesting us of nice pose so most of our pictures turned out to be like a prenup shoot. Hehe. Well if you have a picturesque and scenic view like batanes, you can't really help but to take a lot of pictures!