On my second day in Batanes, I paid a courtesy call and asked for assistance from Gov. Vicente S. Gato and Tourism Officer Elmo Merin at the Provincial Capitol (built from 1794 to 1798 as the Casa Real or Spanish Governor’s residence) in Basco.  The Capitol fronts the grassy plaza leading down to Kanyuyan Port and Beach in Baluarte Bay.  Gov. Gato, a keen promoter of Batanes’ tourism potential, gladly allowed me the use of a Toyota Revo to be driven by Mr. Luciano “Anong” de Guzman.  He also assigned Ms. Joy Gabaldon and Mr. Jose “Boging” Astudillo as my guides.

The Provincial Capitol

Our route around the 35.5-sq. km., generally mountainous Batan Island skirted the west coast through Mahatao and Ivana to Uyugan. The winding circuit around the island took nearly 1.5 hrs. This included stopovers for photo ops and a longer wait to replace a flat tire.  All throughout, I was rewarded with a vista of sheer limestone cliffs alternating with gently rolling hills, great boulder beaches and some black and white sand beaches hemmed in by a broad fringing reef.  

Reliving the “Sound of Music” at Payaman

The wind-swept, vast and sprawling Racuh a Payaman, at Mahatao’s outskirts, is a huge track of communal pastureland preserved by the villagers.  Popularly called the “Marlboro Country of Batanes,” cattle, carabao and horses grazed at its endless array of rolling hills.  A photographer’s and nature lover’s delight, the hills have a breathtaking view of Mt. Iraya, the Pacific Ocean, the Mahatao Lighthouse and nearby fields hedged with trees that break the wind’s full fury, allowing root crops to grow.   They say this the place to catch a breathtaking Batanes sunrise.  Here, I can’t help but do a “Sound of Music  pose.