Batan Island: North and South Batan Tour

By Adventure Accountant - March 17, 2014

Batanes greeted me with a wonderful weather.
'Twas sunny with just the right wind chill to start off a 5-day adventure.

The beauty of Batanes cannot be captured in photos alone. Kahit super DSLR and super photographer pa yan.

You will have a very difficult time choosing which photos to upload. My standard number of photos in a Facebook Album is around 50-70. I choose not to upload everything. Your Batanes Album will test that patience.

I got Dale as my trike driver/tour guide. He is the same guide recommended by Chyng Reyes. North Batan Tour costs Php 1,000. Contact #: 0929-341-0941

All the pics in one blog post.

North Batan Tour

After brunch and a restful nap (it was a really early flight going to Batanes), we started the tour.

Tukon Church. Mass here is held once a month.

Fundacion Pacita was impressive. Secluded. I liked this stone church accented with a motorcycle. Nagpapaka-Santorini.

I look really good with Mount Iraya.

Japanese Tunnel

On a spot somewhere in between the Japanese Tunnel and Valugan Boulder Beach

Tour break: Lunch at Pension Ivatan for Php 305. The staff there were really friendly. They chatted when they learned that I was travelling alone. Solo travelling is still a mystery for some. Hindi ka ba bored? Hindi ba malungkot? I smiled. If I would answer in full, that would entail one whole blog entry.

It was really windy when we got to the Rolling Hills.

Perfect timing ang shot na to!

Rolling Hills

The Bunkhouse. They serve dinner here. Reserve a seat. I wasn't able to reserve one when I learned that my housemates were going.

North Batan Lighthouse

Construction in progress

Everything was super beautiful, I had to do it again when I came back from Sabtang. I had limited funds so I decided to do this on foot. I read in this blog post that walking that walking is possible. Walking from Palangud House to the lighthouse took me around 20 minutes.

Going back to the tourist spots requires another set of photos in another outfit. So here’s more of me.

Unfortunately, the sun left me that day. It was a 30 to 45 minute walk from the lighthouse to the Rolling Hills. I almost got lost but I observed the vans going down the hills. Buti na lang! Else, I would've wandered aimlessly going to the other side of the island.

The challenge here is the picture taking portion again. But my tripod and I worked together to produce these photos:

South Batan Tour

South Batan Tour costs Php 1,500.

Down the steps of Batanes Viewing Deck

I had fun "chasing" the cows in Marlboro Hills. Dale cautioned me not to come too close to the herd. They may be spooked.

This is AMAZING!

The sun is back again.

Because this is the territory of these cows, there's poop all over. Be careful.

Poop land.

Alapad Rock

Careful

And because I just couldn't get enough of the breathtaking view, I repeated South Batan Tour. Dale offered his motorcycle for Php 700 - I just selected some spots: Alapad Rock and Marlboro Hills.