Day 1 - What seemed to be a long and tiring travel finally came to an end when at nine o'clock in the morning, our plane (Laoag International Airlines) made a touchdown on Basco Airport, Batan Island. At last, we were in Batanes.

We were met in the airport by (would you believe?!) the Vice Mayor of Ivana, Mr. Saturnino Valones and his wife, Auntie Beth. With them were their other relatives Tita Candi, Joan, Adrian, and the ever-famous… WILLY VALONES!!! (He! He! He!) We were greeted with such warm welcome, to think that we had no relations with them. Liezl, who was supposed to be with us, was… er… how do I put it? Liezl's brother is married to Cora, Uncle Vice's (that's how we call Vice Mayor Valones) niece. Got it?!

Since we would only be staying for such a short time in Batanes (3 days to be exact), our hosts brought us to different landmarks and beautiful spots that were on the way going to Ivana.

They brought us to the town proper of Basco. We saw the Provincial Capitol of Batanes and the Municipal Hall of Basco. We immediately went down the jeepney and had our pictures taken. But of course, having our picture taken with the word BATANES somewhere at our backs, would definitely be a perfect proof that we were indeed in Batanes! He! He! He!

Next, we stopped at this cement signage along the highway that welcomes visitors of Basco. We went down the jeepney, admired the view, and took several shots, with different poses, of course!

Then, we went to the highest point in Basco, Bo. Tukon, where the weather radar rests. From there, you can see the whole of Basco, boasting off nature's beauty. "Wow!" "Ang ganda!" "Grabe!" and "Hayyyy!" were the only words we could utter. That's how awed we were with the view that stood right before our eyes. We must have taken 5 to 10 pictures covering all directions from our viewpoint, twisting, turning and stretching our heads and bodies to make sure we all had different poses for each picture! Gosh! 

Since we were so excited to see the entire island, we all went up the jeepney and sat on the topload! Yes! We were on top of the jeep! Yahoo!!!

Next, we went to Congressman Butch Abad's resthouse, still in Bo. Tukon. The resthouse stood on a cliff overlooking the open sea. Sigh! This resthouse was something to die for. Just imagine waking up in the morning, opening your bedroom window and being greeted by such a breathtaking view!

But reality sank in… This wasn't our resthouse and we must move on with our sightseeing tour. Saddening as it may seem to leave the place immediately, we had to. So, we all went back to the jeep to continue the trip going to Ivana.

Just as our necks started to get stiff from looking at the different rock formations, rolling hills and waves splashing against the cliffs, we heard a loud blast! Uh-oh! We had a flat tire! Since it'll take some time to change tires, Auntie Beth suggested that we should eat our lunch instead at the nearby Chanarian Waiting Shed, still in Basco (Yup! Auntie Beth brought lunch for all of us!).

Funny, this was just one of the waiting sheds in Basco but we took about 5 pictures here! The waiting shed was facing the open sea and one could see the waves splashing against the rocks along the beach. Sigh! If this was the view of all the waiting sheds here in Manila, I wouldn't mind waiting for a ride for more than an hour.

After lunch, I kept on telling everybody that I saw this cliff from the plane's window that had stone benches and a stairway going down the cliff to the beach. I begged Auntie Beth if we could go there. Little did we know that we would really pass by what they call the 'Stairway to Heaven' in Faberes, Basco. Whew! The view was just spectacular either on the cliff where the stone benches were or down the cliff near the sea. I really don't know how else I could describe the place. All I can say is… I was through with my first roll of film! He! He! He!

We finally arrived in Uncle Vice and Auntie Beth's house in Ivana -- a typical Ivatan house made of thick lime and stone walls. We settled in and took a short nap to recharge. In the afternoon, we were alive and kicking and went to the Ivana White Beach.

Ivana White Beach doesn't have white, powdery sand like the ones in Boracay, or even the White Island in Camiguin. But I tell you, those places doesn't have Ivana's spectacular view -- the great sea on your left and the rock formations on your right.

Since it was low-tide, our companions, Willy (Valones!!!) and Roland (another nephew of uncle Vice) brought us to the other side of the White Beach where we could swim. We went back to the road as it was easier to go there than walk through the steep rocks along the beach.

When we finally got there, a beautiful view with a capital B greeted us! There's even a part there were the rocks had a hole. When the tide comes in under the rocks, the water comes out from the hole creating a natural fountain. Sigh!

We could blabber on and on with how beautiful the place was but we would rather that you look at our pictures instead. (Have you opened any of it, by the way?!) Promise, we're not lying when we said that the place was beautiful (again, with a capital B!).

After the swim, we went back to the other side of the White Beach where Uncle Vice and Auntie Beth's other relatives were. Only then that we knew that the reason why all the relatives were there was because it was Kuya Orland's (K ka na ba?!) birthday, another nephew of Uncle Vice.

We also met Manong Jun and guess how our first conversation with him went…

Manong Jun : O, ilan kayo?
Holy Week Travellers : 7 po.
Manong Jun : O, sige. Mamaya, isa-isa kayong may lobster!
Holy Week Travellers : Wow! Talaga!
Os : 8 po kami. 2 ako eh.
Manong Jun : O, sige. 8!

And true enough, after an hour of diving, he went back with 8 big lobsters! As in BIG -- from 6 to 12 inches long!!! And Manong Jun was just giving it to us for FREE!!! Imagine, we had big lobsters for merienda and it's free!!! Where the hell in Manila could you get something like that?! We ate with so much gusto, not minding the other people around us who thought we were some kind of PG (patay-gutom!). Ha! Ha! Ha!

The rest of the afternoon was spent chit-chatting with the Valones family and planning our activities the next day.

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