The next day was Monday. Someone was assigned to show me around the 4 other villages in the morning. In the afternoon, I am supposed to go back to Basco. Concerned that I might be inconveniencing them too much, I suggested I pay for the gas that will be used for the trip.
My guide brought me to the fascinating "old style" looking villages. We motorbiked through very narrow and steep roads and passages. At one point, I even requested to my guide to let me walk in an almost 90 degree steep narrow road (which looked more like a sidewalk 
than a road) telling him that I will ride the motorbike again when the road reaches a safely acceptable level. He said that that's not necessary so I gathered up my courage and we passed through that overhang. We motorbiked through steeps, rain or shine, windy or not (the weather seemed to flip-flop every 5 minutes).
We even climbed an "idjang", an ancient mountain
fortress by the Ivatan ancestors. In the Philippines, only Batanes has this culture which is similar in utility and characteristic to the "chashi" of the Ainu of Japan. My Ivatan friends knowledgeably mentioned that this fortress culture also closely resembles the ancient fortresses in Okinawa, Japan.
When we came back to the center of the town at 12 noon, there were enough passengers waiting for the boat that goes back to Basco. I hurriedly took my bag and ate lunch. But when the boat arrived, it refused to travel back to Basco. The other passengers tried to negotiate, they offered that we passengers pay more than or even double the regular boat fare. Despite all the coaxing, the boat owner was decided that his boat is not going to go back to Basco that same day.
I began to worry, I no longer have business there, I had to go back to Basco. I didn't wanna be stranded again. There is one more chance the other passengers said. There is a bigger boat coming, it is sturdier, its captain might agree to go back to Basco. When the bigger boat arrived, the people negotiated again. The captain just simply refused to sail while trying hard to avoid the eyes of all the waiting passengers, then he went straight home.
It was sunny and warm. I seriously wondered why these boat operators refused to travel for just 30-45 minutes. We even offered to pay them more! I heard one stubborn (like me) passenger express, "Kung pwede lang lakarin ang dagat..." (If I can only walk on water)... Later, I learned that the reason for no sailing that afternoon was because the wind shifted north. The locals call it nortada. In Tagalog, it is Amihan. I fancied that if I have a daughter, I may name her Amihan. It sounds cute, and the girl will be strong and fierce as the north wind! Nobody seemed to dare challenge the north wind...
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