Batanes Trek - Ivatan Stone Houses

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Trekking Batanes

What's a better way to cap a year of travels than trekking in some remote part of the country. Also, Year 2001 had been a tumultous year for everyone when I think about EDSA Dos or People Power Part II, culminating in the ouster of Estrada; and the September 11 tragedy in New York and Washington DC. I'm just about ready to escape from everything and everyone, to be in a place that is a whole world and a century away.

After Jinkee forgot to get our ticket reservations, I thought I'd be staying home with the dogs during the long Christmas holiday. And yet by a strange twist of fate, we braved the long bus trip to Laoag and kept our fingers crossed at the airport. Our joy knows no bounds when the ticket reservations officer announced that YES, there are extra seats going to Batan!

It was the start of an adventure of a lifetime. We hopped islands and trekked through the coastlines and interior trails of Batanes. Along the way, we met kindred souls who offered us their homes, shared their food, and stories about their way of life.

Ivatan Stone Houses

For me, the most interesting thing about the Ivatans are their stone houses. Walking along their narrow, cobble-stone streets and being surrounded by their stone houses was like going through a time warp. The stone houses are capped by cogons, barely have windows and doors, to withstand the strong typhoons that batter the Batanes Islands year round.