All About Batanes Options

[dalawapo]

What do you know of the Batanes Archipelago? I think this region is very interesting, has anyone ever visited it?

Batanes Province

Batanes is the Philippines´nothernmost province, lying in a vast expanse of water where the Pacific Ocean on the east merges with the south China Sea on the west. Its other boundaries are Bashi channel on the north and Balintang Channel on the south.

Its capital town of Basco is abouth 280 km north of Aparri, Cagayan, on the northern tip of Luzon Island. Though some 860 km north of Manila, it is only 190 km south of Taiwan.

Fast facts abouth Batanes

Capital: Basco

Area: 230 sq km

Population: 15 026

Cities: none

Number of Towns: 6

Batanes is made up of three major islands, Batan, Sabtang and Itbayat and seven islets, including Y´ami, the northernmost point of the Philippines. Altough its land area is small, its territorial waters is vast, abouth 4500 sq km. The terrain is quite rugged, with 42% of the land being steep hills and mountains.

Sabtang Island is dominated by steep hills and mountains and deep canyons.

Itbayat Island has gentle rolling hilss and relatively flat lands.

Batan Island has the largest share of level and near-level lands.

All the islands have intermittent streches of sandy beaches and rocky shorelines.
Itbayat and Dinem are surrounded by continous massive cliffs rising 20 to 70 m above the sea.

The weather is generally cool and the place is quite windy. Typhoons occur at
an average of eight times a year.

A brief history:

The Batanes archipelago was formally annexed under Spanish rule on june 26, 1783.

The evangelization of the natives, started by the Dominicans, took almost a century.

The name of the province was derived from the major island of Batan where Basco os located. The capital town itself bears the name of Governor General Jose Vargas Basco, who brought the islands under Spanish rule.

When the Americans established their rule in the Philippines, Batanes was classified as a municipality of Cagayan. It was recognized as an independent province in 1909.

The people:

The natives of Batanes, called Ivatan, are Malay stock. The Ivatans trace their roots to early immigrants from Formosa (now Taiwan) and latter-day Spanish conquistadores. To this day, they bear the features of their forebears - the Formosans´ almond eyes and the Spaniards´aquiline nose.

The typical stone houses are built solidly to withstand the typhoons that occor several times a year.

The ivatans live in communities of stone houses laid out along narrow streets that follov the contour of the land. These houses are built to withstand even the strongest winds. They are secured with a rope net as added precaution against typhhons.

The insular and isolated character of the province is most pronouced within the Ivatan communities.

There are no moviehouses, no markets and no shopping centers. Newpapers are available only on days when Philippine Airlines has a flight to Basco. Radio programs from Tuguegarao, if not garbled, reach Batanes. Broadcasts from Taiwan are clearer, but they are in Chinese.

The main language, also called Ivatan, is peppered with pidgin Spanish and spoken with the musicality of the chinese toungue. It is spoken by 94% of the population. Other dialects are Tagalog and Ilocano.

Commerce and industy:

The Batanes Province´s distance and relative isolation from the Philippine mainland account for its under-development. The Batanes folks depend on small-scale farming and fishing for their livelihood.

A modest farm, planted with rootcrops, vegetables and fruit trees, is a common possession of the average family. On the other side, they raise dairy animals, hogs and poultry to augment their income.


http://home.online.no/~erfalch/batanesa.htm

[BishoujoHunter]

Yami and Ivatan languages are both classified as bashiic

[dalawapo]

does the philippines have any claims to yami island?

[Ek-ek]

does the philippines have any claims to yami island?

Yami is part of the Philippines. It is the most Northern most island of the Philippines!

[dalawapo]

i read taiwan has soverignty of yami... and they did some nuclear waste dumping there..... even the yami people are included as taiwan aboriginals..... (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/confused.gif)

http://www.taiwanfirstnations.org

http://www.atayal.org

:(IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/confused.gif)

[Ek-ek]

But it was listed as the most Northern part of the Philippines in our history books!

[dalawapo]

i think yami culture is really cool. they are like the only canoe culture in taiwan aboriginals, i think.... and their canoes are tight. they look like native american design to me tho! haha....

(IMG:http://www.tribalmania.com/images/yamicanoebw.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.tribalmania.com/canoe2.jpg)

[anjing]

batanes is the island in pi that is always passed by the storms...

[Ek-ek]

It is a place that is windy too!

[dalawapo]

Traditional Batanes Home

(IMG:http://philippine-vacations.hypermart.net/Batanes3.JPG)

[Ek-ek]

Pretty houses!

[dalawapo]

Batanes: Sea and storm shape the islands
By AILEEN LAINEZ

The province of Batanes is a world seemingly frozen in time. It is composed of a group of islands defined by the splash of sea against rugged cliffs, verdant hills dominated by grass and stunted trees, and the great Mt. Iraya. Its people are friendly to anybody who comes to their homes. With its sights and sounds, Batanes possesses a hypnotic quality that makes visitors want to come back.



BATANES' cliffs and land formations
are shaped by rough seas and
typhoonsthat frequent the province

These far-flung islands’ isolation has preserved their old captivating charm. South China Sea borders the west, the Babuyan Islands to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the east. The province lies even closer to neighboring Taiwan rather than to the Luzon mainland.

Over the centuries, harsh weather conditions and rough seas have shaped the islands’ picturesque cliffs and land formations. Unfortunately, there is a misconception that the islands are inaccessibile. The yearly visits of ravaging typhoons have affected the province’s tourism industry keeping many tourists away from the place.

However, the province offers much more than the storms it has become known for. Located 860 kilometers from Manila, it is the least populated and smallest province of the country occupying a total of 230 square kilometers and inhabiting almost 15,000 people.

Of the ten islands, only three are inhabited: Batan, Sabtang and Itbayat.

Batan Island is the most populated since Basco, the province’s capital, is located here. It is the point of entry to the province, housing both the airport and the main seaport. Resorts, lodges and home stays are mostly found here with prices that range from P100-600 a room per night.

Unlike the smaller towns, Basco enjoys certain utilities like electricity, phone lines, and a variety of public transportation. Other municipalities in the province are Mahatao, Ivana and Uyugan in the Batan Island and the island municipalities of Sabtang and Itbayat.



VAKUL a traditional Ivatan headdress in Batanes

The mighty dormant volcano, Mt. Iraya, is located beside Basco where food, timber and fresh water generally come from.

There is only one mode of transportation to get from one island to another, and this is through falowa boats. Falowa boat-making, has been a tradition for Ivatans. The boats, which look like Noah’s Ark, are big and have rounded bottoms that pitch and roll with the waves. From Batan to Sabtang, a 30-minute boat ride costs P20, while it is P80 for a 4-hour boat ride to Itbayat.

Since centuries ago, the Ivatans or natives of Batanes have preferred to live in their traditional dwellings. An Ivatan house is built with limestone walls, reeds and cogon roofs, which are sturdy enough to withstand the numerous typhoons and earthquakes that ravage the islands an average of eight times a year. The roof usually lasts from 25 to 30 years if there are roof nets to protect them during typhoon season.

Only three walls of the house have windows. The wall that doesn’t have one faces the direction of the strongest winds during typhoons. The temperature within its interior is conditioned. It is relatively cool during the summer and warm during the cold stormy season.

Most of the time, the doors and windows are left open when the owners leave to do their daily chores. When they get back, everything is the way they left it even if there are numerous tourists that pass by to take pictures of its unique and quaint architecture.

The Ivatans live a simple life devoid of the characteristics that define modern living. They are gentle, amiable, peace-loving and polite. It is second nature for Ivatans to greet strangers by wishing them the best for the day. They are also hardworking people, each holding more than one job. Civil servants and teachers are also busy with farming, fishing and livestock raising which they have learned when they were young.

The hills that tourists use as a perfect background for picture taking, the farmers use as their main source of livelihood. The farmers have evenly divided the hills into square fields, using trees as demarcation lines. They plant root crops, rice, corn and garlic.



IVATAN house made of limestone walls, reeds, and cogon roofs

Batanes is famous for the old women’s headgear called vakul. It is ordinarily made large and waist length to cover the old women from the heat of the sun and the rain. It is made from the abaca fiber of the palm found only in Batanes that locals call vuyavuy. It takes three weeks to a month to make the headgear, but it lasts a lifetime.

Vakul owners maintain their headgear by constantly combing its strands and hanging it on the walls of their house when not in use. Although the vakuls are mostly sold in Basco for P300 to P350, they are traditionally woven by old women in the small barangay of Chavayan in the Sabtang Island. Makers also sell vakuls cheaper by P100-150. When old women wear them, under it is a rattan backpack connected to a headstrap called yuvuk. It contains their belongings for farming as they walk to town from the fields.

While women wear the vakul, old men wear a traditional vest made from dried banana leaves called tadidi. They wear it along with a salakot to cover themselves, the same way the vakul serves the women.

Despite of the province’s remoteness, Catholicism is very strong among the Ivatans. As early as 1772, the Spaniards already sent expeditions to the islands. By 1773, the Ivatans consented to become subjects of the King of Spain and became officially a province of the country. It was named Provincia de la Concepcion with Joseph Huelva y Melgarjo as its first governor.

Then Philippine Governor General Jose Basco became the “Conde de la Conquista de Batanes”. The capital town was named after him. They built a church in the center of each town named after various patron saints – San Carlos Borromeo in the town of Mahatao, San Jose El Obrero in Ivana and San Vicenter Ferrer in Sabtang.

The churches were constructed from lime and stone, baroque-style, strong enough to endure the most powerful natural calamities. Until today, the 200-year-old churches remain the houses of worship of many Ivatans.

The Ivatans live in simple ways, like how they have for many centuries. It is one of the traditions that the have been successfully passed on for generations. But as Batanes becomes more popular with tourists, change will be inevitable. Modern influences will slowly creep into the lives of the natives. Perhaps, the yearly visits of strong storms will end up saving the old glory of Batanes, after all.

http://www.thebatanesislands.com/art_shape_the_islands.html


Iraya, Batan Island, Philippines

Location:12.8N, 124.1E
Elevation:3,310 feet (1,517 m)

Space Shuttle photo STS068-0241-0042 taken on October 1, 1994. Looking north across the southern Batan islands, about 120 miles (200 km) north of Luzon. Iraya forms the north (right) end of Batan. Iraya is a stratovolcano with a single historic eruption in 1464.

The Batanes Island Group is now included in the National Integrated Protected Area System under the IUCN category Protected Seascapes and Landscapes. Though this protected area category does not ensure the abatement of (public) forest land conversion, it would nevertheless promote sustainable growth or development which would benefit the local inhabitants as a whole through strict monitoring of illegal activities by the law enforcers. Effective management of the protected area may however, be hampered because of its geographic isolation and inadequate transportation and communication facilities. Batanes, the smallest province in the Philippines in terms of population and land area, is composed of ten islands and islets located about 270 kilometers north of mainland Luzon and 161 kilometers from the southernmost point of Taiwan. The largest islands are Itbayat, Batan and Sabtang. The other islands are Dequey, Siayan, Mavudis, North Island, Yami and other unnamed islets. The islands and municipalities of the province have an estimated land area of 20,928 hectares. Batanes consists of 6 municipalities, namely: Basco, Mahatao, Ivana and Uyugan which can be found in Batan Island, and the island municipalities of Itbayat and Sabtang. Batanes has one congressional district. It is classified as a 6th class province. The rainy season in Batanes is usually from June to February while the warmest months are from May to September.

http://www.cockatoo.com/english/philippine...nds_batanes.htm

The Batanes Islands are so far flung out in the China Sea that from Y'ami one can see Taiwan (the island of Formosa). People say that the Batanes group even belonged to Taiwan at one time.

Although the sea distance between Y'ami and Itbayat is about the same as from Itbayat to Basco, the islands north of Itbayat are so sparsely populated and independent of each other that there is no regular transportation or communication among them.

To illustrate the remoteness of Y'ami, locals relate the story of a young man from Y'ami who, as dictated by his elders, was to marry a girl from Itbayat, the bigger island to the south, with relatively regular connection to Basco, the capital. To reach her, he first had to go to Taiwan, then fly to Manila, then fly to Basco; from there take the more or less regularly scheduled boat to Itbayat, marry his betrothed and then take her with him on the same trip in reverse. The route taken by the dutiful young man was the simplest and most certain.

The isolation of these islands due to distance and the forces of nature has encouraged heavy emigration. The 1980 Batanes province population of just over 12,000 was only a 6% increase over the 1948 population. The estimated 1989 population of 14,000 was a 6% decrease from the 1988 estimate. At 54 persons/sqkm, the population density is far below the national average of 122 persons/sqkm. The 1990 national census established the following population figures for the six municipalities of the province (x 1000): Basco 6, Itbayat 3, Ivana 1, Mahatao 2, Sabtang 2, Uyugan 1.

Batanes, often referred to as "The Home of the Winds", is the smallest province in the Philippines. The capital town of Basco, is about 280 kilometers north of Aparri in Cagayan, or 860 kilometers north of Manila. Its northernmost point is only 100 km away from Taiwan. There are several attractions, ranging from the dormant Iraya volcano, Naidi Hills, Mt. Matarem, Radar Tukom to the Spanish churches and limestone houses reminiscent of Irish country homes. White sand beaches abound surrounding the fishing villages. Visitors can also explore the Racujaide Cave, Sarokan Cave, as well as the burial caves. The island favors activities such as trekking, fishing, swimming, diving, camping and adventure photography. Mt. Iraya (1,008 meters) in the north and Mt. Matarem (454 meters) in the center.

Batan Island. Contains the capital town Basco. It is the most accessible. You can circle it in three hours. But you need a few days to savor the towns along the way-like Mahatao, Ivans and Uyugan - as well as the picturesque meadows and seas that gird the island. On gentler beaches you may pitch a tent and let the world go by. The sea everfrisky, is not for swimming.

Sabtang Island. The northernmost island, is extremely rugged. Its mountains have been terraced to accommodate communities. Northeast is a strip of arable land and sand dunes that rise up to ahundred feet.

Itbayat Island. Itbayat is Batanes´most isolated island. Strong sea currents discourage boats from ferrying commuters regularly.

Batanes province is a small group of islands that can make a great destination. Located north of Luzon they compose the northernmost part of the archipelago with Batan (35sqkm), Itbayat (95sqkm), Sabtang (41sqkm), and 7 smaller islets: Dequey, Siayan, Mabudis, Ibuhos, Diogo, North Island, and Y'ami, the northernmost point of the Philippines. Because it is a windy place, Batanes is referred to as the Home of the Winds.

Batan's isolation has made it a close-knit community, used to hardship and deprived of the luxuries people elsewhere take for granted. Electricity on the island is provided by a generator, which is only switched on between mid-day and midnight. Most of the Ivatan people here have never travelled to the mainland, let alone the capital, Manila, some two hours flight, and 700 kilometres, to the south. Batan scenery is totally different from elsewhere in the Philippines. The island is dominated by a dormant volcano, Mount Iraya, more than 1,009(1,517) metres high and almost always shrouded in cloud. Year-round rain makes the island reminiscent of Ireland: steep, rolling green hills covered in a patch-work quilt of arable land. Its sheer cliffs plunge into a pounding sea. Batan even has its own language.But for the hardy traveller, the sparsely-populated island group is a trekker's paradise, a time-warp to which birds migrate in their thousands to escape the Siberian winter. There are no bars here, no discos, and the best restaurant comprises four small tables in Mrs Maling Garcia's covered front yard, where three meals a day for two days cost me a total of just HK$50 (US$6.50). No a la carte, though. If the weather is good, there will be fish. If not, there are plenty of vegetables, and if you are lucky, a little beef. For when the islanders are not able to fish, they farm. And when they are not able to farm, they stay indoors and pray for a change in the weather.

Since centuries ago, the Ivatans or natives of Batanes have preferred to live in their traditional dwellings. An Ivatan house is built with limestone walls, reeds and cogon roofs, which are sturdy enough to withstand the numerous typhoons and earthquakes that ravage the islands an average of eight times a year. The roof usually lasts from 25 to 30 years if there are roof nets to protect them during typhoon season. Only three walls of the house have windows. The wall that doesn’t have one faces the direction of the strongest winds during typhoons. The temperature within its interior is conditioned. It is relatively cool during the summer and warm during the cold stormy season. Most of the time, the doors and windows are left openwhen the owners leave to do their daily chores. When they get back, everything is the way they left it even if there are numerous tourists that pass by to take pictures of its unique and quaint architecture. The Ivatans live a simple life devoid of the characteristics that define modern living. They are gentle, amiable, peace-loving and polite. It is second nature for Ivatans to greet strangers by wishing them the best for the day. They are also hardworking people, each holding more than one job. Civil servants and teachers are also busy with farming, fishing and livestock raising which they have learned when they were young.

Mount Iraya Volcano (Mt. Xrays) is the principal watershed of the Island. The vegetation island in Mt Iraya, Batan Island, may be classified into 3 distinct types namely: the lowland evergreen rainforest (200-500m), lower montane rainforest (500-800m) and grassland (800-1008m). At the eastern slope of Mt. Iraya, at an altitude of about 50-100m, is a dense thicket composed of species characteristic of regenerating or disturbed primary forest. The presence of a dense mat of the giant reed, Miscanthus sinensis variety condensatus, at the upper part of Mt. Iraya above 800m suggests that a relatively recent eruption of the volcano has occurred.

LOCATION: BATAN ISLAND, BATANES, Northern Luzon (20° 29'N, 124° 01'E)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Peak Elevation: 1,008 m above sea level (asl)
Base Diameter: 5.5 km
Volume: 8 km3
Type of Volcano: Stratovolcano
Main Rock Type: Basalt to Acid Andesite
Other Peaks within Batan Island: Mt. Matarem and Mt. Mahatao

Mt. Iraya, can be climbed, but only during the height of the dry season and with the aid of a guide. The usual way starts at Basco. There are no clear trails through the dense rain forests that cover the slopes. For those who prefer not to climb to the peak, there are trails that lead part of the way up the slope and then around the volcano to its coastal side.

Usually hidden from view, it is said that the clouds form a smoke-ring around the peak when someone in Batanes dies. The many springs originating from Mt. Iraya are the island's major source of fresh water.

A partially well paved road from Basco to Imnajbu (the "j" is silent) in the southeast winds along the island's rocky cliffs, down to the beaches and rocky shores, and back up again. If one leaves early in the morning to avoid the midday sun, a hike around the island is the best way to take in all the views and meet the natives. Though this can be done in one day, at least one overnight stop is suggested.


http://www.thebatanesislands.com/art_parad...ach_resort.html

Cool site to learn about Batanes:


http://www.batanesonline.com/NewsPictures/BatanesMap.htm


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Has anyone ever been to batanes? (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/confused.gif) (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/icon_sad.gif)

[Ek-ek]

No, I have not gone there!