A Charmed Life: Life's a Play!

Upon arrival to Loaog, I started figuring out how to reach the Batanes islands, my real destination for the trip. Hitting the 'right people' down the streets of city to whom I asked directions, I was able to buy a plane ticket for Batanes and acquire a map of “where to go”, “where to stay” and “where to eat” in Loaog. Prior to this, I had no information about the city.

As it turned out, the flight schedule to Batanes is irregular so I had to wait for 2 days in Loaog. That was cool because I planned to see the place anyway. So in the next 2 days, I went to the tourist and historical spots. The UNESCO Heritage site Paoay Church, Marcos Museum, the various old Spanish churches, Poay lake, the first Aglipayan church, and I even visited and did some gambling at Fort Ilocandia resort casino. And guess who I was with? (^^).. a man, a captain, who was “wanted” by the Government in the '80s. :-)

Batanes is the northernmost province of the Philippines. It has 10 small islands but only 3 are inhabited. Batanes is very much nearer to Taiwan than to any part of the Philippines. "From a global perspective, it is only 190 km. south of Taiwan but 280 km. from Aparri, the nearest point of mainland Luzon. It is 860 km. north of Manila".

And why indeed is Batanes a part of the Philippines and not Taiwan? The answer lies in history. When the zeal of Spanish missionaries reached these northern islands, they Christianized the inhabitants. The friars then declared the islands as belonging to the King of Spain.

I was dropped by the pilot of an 8 seater taxi aircraft in Itbayat Island. I came to learn that this is the biggest and farthest inhabited island. I did not know anyone from Batanes and I do not know anything about the islands. I was purely acting by following my gut feelings and trusting people I meet. I agreed with the captain to bring me to that farthest inhabited island (which he highly recommended) rather than to the main "Town Island". And as if really guided by Spirit, I was very grateful being in that isolated island for everything that happened next was fun and very educational. I met real good friends, young and old alike, we went to the mountains, caves, valleys,,, we sat on the green grass and drank "palek" (native wine) under the wide and star sprinkled sky. We did a lot of storytelling, sharing and drinking during the nights that followed.