It was such a calm fine day, that afternoon when we first took off to see the beaches that Caramoan has to offer...
I instantly felt at home in that boat, in the waters, in the calmness of the sea... It made me miss El Nido so much but at the same time, I was glad that I was back in my own province.
I had missed sitting on the bow of the boat like that... and I was so tempted to ask the boatman to trade places with me.
I remembered Garchitorena mainly because I saw that tarpaulin of Baticorao Island in the baranggay of Bikal in the town of Caramoan. Garchitorena and Caramoan are towns right next to each other.
Though the two towns are close to each other, Garchitorena, unlike Caramoan, do not have a lot of white sand beaches to boast of. I have fortunately been to one - Baticorao Island, because my mom was assigned to the town for a few years.
It was summer of 2008 and I was at my parents home for some reason. My mother asked me if I wanted to go with her to her town assignment. She persuaded my father as well as my aunt to go too. That is how we found ourselves in the port of Tamban in the town of Tinambac so early in the morning.
2 hours from Sabang in the town of San Jose and 30 minutes from the port in the town of Caramoan and one will find oneself in the small baranggay of Bikal - the gateway to the Caramoan Peninsula. Anyone who wants to explore the white sand beaches of the many islands of Caramoan will have to get on the boat from here.
To get to the Caramoan Peninsula, one must take a 2-hour boat ride from the Sabang wharf in the town of San Jose, Camarines Sur. Other than that, you can take a tedious land trip through the mountains - something that can only be done by either a motorcycle or a hardy 4x4.
When going to Caramoan, it is best to go as early as you can. In the two times I have been to Caramoan, we always made it a point to be on the boat before the sun was up.
I was home earlier this year with Lia while H was busy with his first quarter meeting with the "United Nations" team. I always make it a point to eat at Bigg's Diner every time I am home. There is one walking distance from my parents' home in Pili. It is the one right in front of the Pili Elementary School, in the Pili town proper, next to a now-closed gas station (where I used to buy a pint of ice cream everyday the entire summer before I went away to college), along the National Highway.
My memories of the Naga Cathedral, aside from hanging out in the parking lot after school, involve first Friday masses with the school as well as masses associated with the Peñafrancia Festival. Other than that, I try to stay away from this church because I find it too dark.
The old stone church, magnificent in its striking baroque style of architecture, has two large belfries attached to its sides.
I made a visit to my birthplace in February 2009 and took some time to go around the city, just to take photos here and there.
I took the bus from Pili, which is about 15 kilometers and 30-45 minutes away, and got off at the Central Bus Terminal - a short walk away from the recently opened SM City Naga.
Judging from the number of motorcycles in the parking lot, it seems that the motorcycle fever has hit the Nagueños.
At long last, I am done with all the photos and all the posts. It is time for a summary. This is basically for anyone who wants to go to Batanes and is wondering where to stay, where to eat, what to do and see, and how much will it actually cost. Here is our itinerary and expenses incurred in our 6D/5N stay in Batanes.
SCHEDULE: Sept 27, 2010 Day 1 - arrival at the Basco Airport at 7:30 AM, picked up at the airport by the Novita House van and our tour guide, Ate Remy Santos
There aren't a lot of places to eat in Basco. Some of the places listed in some travel blogs do not even exist anymore. While we were there, we had someone cook food for us at Novita House. In our six days and five nights in Batanes, we did manage to find places to hang out at.
1. Lunchbox Restaurant
Though we were informed the Lunchbox Restaurant is independent of
When we were looking for accommodations in Batanes, I found two other blog sites especially helpful - and because of that, I thought it would be also be nice if I helped out in return by posting more information. On our way back from biking from Mahatao, we also took a little bit of time checking out where the other accommodations in Basco are.
1. BATANES RESORT
About 3 kilometers outside of Basco town proper, this is a pretty and quiet place to stay at. Food is really, really good too. If you don't mind staying too far out from where the stores and other places to eat are, this would be just fine. Rate: P1.800/day.
Batanes Resort is about 3 kilometers away from the town proper of Basco and we passed by it on our way to the port in Ivana when we were on our way to Sabtang Island, and we passed by it again when we were doing the southern tour of Batan Island.
When we decided to ride our bikes to Mahatao, we passed by it again and decided it was a great place to have dinner. They have a P200 set meal that included rice, salad and two viands. The food was absolutely delicious and was well worth the price.
We were home early from the tour of the Southern part of Batan Island so we thought it was a good idea to go biking (bike rental: P25/hr).
KANYUYAN BEACH & PORT (BALUARTE BAY)
The port of call of the cargo ships bringing goods from Manila.
Mahatao town proper is 7 kilometers away from the town of Basco. We know because we biked it. One and a half times!
Though on our official Southern Batan Island tour, now with 13 adults, infant, tour guide and van driver, the first stops were in Mahatao, and so were the last.
CHAWA VIEW DECK
Uyugan, the fourth and last town in Batan island, is a 6th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines with a population of 1,203 people in 277 households (2007 census). It is in the southeastern part of Batan Island, bounded by Mahatao on the north, the Balintang Channel on the south, the Philippine Sea on the east and Ivana on the west.
The Uyugan town proper is 19 kilometers from Basco, and though we didn't really make it to the town proper, the places to see in Uyugan include:
After a brief stop in Mahatao to visit the San Carlos Borromeo church and register at the Tourism office, we headed for the town of Ivana. We've been to Ivana two days before, when we were on our way to Sabtang.
On our way to Ivana, we made a couple of stops by the side of the road.
We were told by our guide that this place can be a nice swimming area as it has a flat coral or stone bed (we could not determine which).
The second stop for our tour of the southern part of Batan Island is the town of Mahatao and the San Carlos Borromeo church. This is also where we registered at the Municipal Tourism Office and paid P50 each.
 The church has a main entrance by the National Road.
It has always been my mother's dream to go to Batanes, so when SEAIR tickets went on sale, I immediately booked her one. My mother almost always never travels alone though. I have organized her trips to Coron and El Nido on separate occasions and she had me making travel arrangements for never less than five people. So on this trip to Batanes, I booked her a ticket, as well as her eight other friends.
On that note, we needed a house. I got them an entire house in El Nido and they liked that. They liked the fact that they could cook their own meals to save money. They also find going to the local market and cooking really fun.
Four days before our trip to Batanes, we were denied services by Pension Ivatan, even after full payment, just because I expressed a sentiment about their booking policy. I, in panic, immediately called up DDD Habitat Inc. after I got the offensive text message from Mrs. Valiente, the General Manager of Pension Ivatan, and was able to book on the spot.
I read about DDD Habitat on Ferdz Decena's website and their Facebook page and...
The night before, we were told we were going out very early so I woke up really early too. I woke up at 5 am! I was the one who woke up my Mama and Papa. I was that excited about this day.
My Mama told me the boat ride, in what was called a faluwa, might be rough and that I might get seasick so I braced myself. I did get a little seasick but I fell asleep in my Papa's arms so it was not too bad.
That's the reason I'm looking a little ruffled still while I was driving the jeepney all by my lonesome.
Our faluwa (boats without outrigger) was piloted by a very adept man wearing a BCTA tshirt and our boat was very spacious, as there were only our group and a handful of other tourists. The ride from the port of Ivana to the San Vicente port in Sabtang took less than the average 45 minutes because the sea was wonderfully and surprisingly calm. I fell asleep! We were very fortunate to have had really good weather during our entire trip to Batanes.
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hi Ms. Angkulet, saw your blog with the teeny tiny MILKaholic-Shirt.. may we request a copy please.
bwahahaha yours, J
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 | ms. sorita, your baby is sooooooo cute :)) aww. i wanna see her :) |
 | Hi Ms. Sorita! Kamusta ka na? Ang cute ng baby niyo :D |
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