One Night In Sabtang Island

Sabtang is one of the islands of Batanes.It is truly a piece of paradise. Maybe this will be the nth blog post you've read about Sabtang, so you've read that it is a "heaven on earthy", "jaw-dropping" and etc idiomatic expressions. I ran out of idiomatic expressions while writing this post. I peppered it with a lot of my solo shots instead. It was very time-consuming to choose which photos to include here.

Brace yourselves. I repeat my poses. :P

The day started early. I joined forces with a travelling mother in daughter also staying in Palangud House. ‘Twas 5am when I hopped on a tricycle on the Sabtang Island. I sat the the back and it was cold. So this is Batanes winter.

Port of Ivana

San Jose de Obrero Church

We arrived the Port of Ivana after 45 minutes. I left most of my stuff back in Palangud house and just packed the essentials for an overnight stay. To my surprise and display, I LEFT MY MEMORY CARD IN MY LAPTOP. HOW SHALL I SURVIVE? 

Faluwa

A pair of travellers overheard dilemma. I met John and Bernice. John lent me his memory card. We were staying in the same house so I’ll be able to return it to him.

The faluwa ride was fairly safe. I've heard about faluwa rides that will make you beg and pray. We were lucky.

Our tour guide met us at the port of Sabtang. We also had Michael as our tour guide, he is also the guide of Chyng Reyes. He took us to the tourist center first, where we logged in our names. There's a standard fee for the trike rides there. Be guided by these rates:

Sabtang island tricycle fees. Note the written part, #13.

Sunlight peeking through the clouds. There's hope for this gloomy weather.

Still reading? Here comes a bunch of awesome photos. 

Idyllic scene in Savidug Village

The town greeted strangers "Good morning!"
Uplifting to hear this.
 

The local kids were racing towards the finish line.

Blue windows and white walls. Reminds me of Santorini.

Sun salute at Chamantad-Tinyan viewpoint.

You will find your next profile photo or cover photo in Chamantad-Tinyan viewpoint. The views were just stunning! (gasgas idiomatic expression alert)

Good thing I had some travel buddies and Kuya Michael. They were very patient in taking my photos.

Going for some ANTM-like pose here. Too bad the wind didn't make my sarong fly.

How did those cows manage to get down there? Insane. 

Find the brown and white dots. Those are cows munching on grass. On a cliff.

Steep cliff.

Chavayan Village. 

Cool trike of Kuya Michael.

The required tourist shot with the local headgear called "Vakul". This is used as a hat/ protection from the sun.

I bought some souvenirs here in Chavayan village. *I am having a senior moment, I cannot recall the name of the delicacy made in coconut but it was really good!*

We pre-booked our lunch at Morong Beach. Carinderias are not popular here. You'll have to make arrangements where you'll eat or you might end up not eating anything. Ours cost PHp 400/head, with crabs. Costly, but worth it, I would say. Tell your guide ahead if you have lunch plans. Food cooked in "restaurants" are “rationed”, they don’t cook a lot so they may run out of food for an unplanned customer. 

 

The standard tour ends after lunch. But for me, the tour goes on as I planned to explore Ivuhus. Kuya Michael headed back to the port area with the mother-daughter paid while I stayed behind. I was able to rest and chill a bit at the beach.

 

The famous Nakabuang Arch.

Nakabuang Arch

Batanes is not known for its pristine beaches. The sand was a bit coarse. You ca swim but... the water was so cooooold!

I stayed at the dorm at the Municipal Tourism Office. They also have a private room but John and Bernice already booked it. I wouldn't really recommend staying here, if you are travelling alone. But I didn't have a lot of options. Wag na choosy. Cost me Php 300 for the night.

I'll talk about Ivuhus Island in my next post.