Batanes Day 3: Structures and Scenery

Our third and last day in these wonderful islands involved visiting a combination of man-made structures and amazing scenery. We began the day with a return trip to Fundacion Pacita. When we had dinner there on our first night, it was already dark and we couldn't really take good pictures. As such, our guides decided to bring us there again so we could have more photo ops in the venue and enjoy the place in a different light.

We then took a short drive down the road to a chapel that was also built by the Abads (the family that owns Fundacion Pacita) for the wedding of one of the Abad daughters, Julia. If you notice, the chapel structure actually looks like Fundacion Pacita.

Next up was a stop by some wind turbines. Unfortunately, they were all undergoing maintenance so none of them were working at the time we passed by. Didn't stop us from taking photos, though. :)

Our itinerary was being modified as we went along, but a lot of the changes were based on what the tour group wanted. So while a trip to San Carlos Church in Mahatao, which dates back to the 17th century, was originally slated for the late afternoon, it was close enough to where we were that we moved it up the itinerary. Good move on our part too, because we met the Parish priest while we were there and he agreed to give a special mass for us late that afternoon!

After spending the morning visiting man-made structures, we headed back to nature by visiting what the locals call 'Marlboro Country'. Once again, the fantastic views were astonishing!

We had our lunch in the area as catered food was delivered to us in the covered sheds just at the entrance of the hills. Once we all had our fill and got a bit of rest, we passed by another lighthouse in Batan.

I first realized that Batanes had a lot of amazing scenery because of the 1991 film 'Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit' which was mostly shot here. Our next stop that afternoon was one of the sites where filming of this movie was done.

The Parish priest in San Carlos church agreed to hold a special mass for us that afternoon, but before that, we had time to pass by the Old House called Dakays, which was built in 1887. The cogon on its roof is changed every 30 years and was last changed in 2007.

The Old Spanish Bridge was just a stone's throw away from Dakays.

We got back to Mahatao with time to spare, and after getting settled and resting a bit, we all headed into San Carlos church for our mass. By the time the mass ended, it was after sunset and time for dinner.

Our last dinner in Batanes was held in Vatang Grill & Restaurant. To make our dinner even more enjoyable and memorable, one of our guides, Noli Gabilo, connected his laptop to the TVs in the resto and he showed some Batanes videos as well as slide shows of the photos he took during our trip. It was definitely a great way to cap off a fantastic visit to Batanes.

Up next: Final thoughts and travel tips.