"Like no other place on earth" Top 5 Page for this destination Province of Batanes by rebeccadv

Imagine a store/coffee shack where there is no clerk/server--Honesty Coffee Shop. Here, you take what you want and leave your payment in a box. Prices are written on the items and/or on a sheet of paper found at the counter. If you need change, well, you have to come back when the owner is around. Try running something like that anyhwere else and you will be out of business in no time at all.

View of Mount Iraya with a fishing boat

The people are wonderful--Ivatans are not only hard working (many we met had at two sometimes three jobs) but go out of their way to please visitors. We asked what local delicacies were, what seafood people eat, and were told “flying fish, coconut crab, lobster.” Flying fish being the most abundant, and word was out that the visitors want flying fish, by the end of the trip we had it coming out of our ears. Also, after two days of having no jam to eat with “toast bread” at breakfast (the British members of our group, accustomed to having jam with their first meal of the day, were disappointed to find out that there was none), one of the resort’s staff excitedly informed us “we have jam today!” They must have ordered it from the mainland and our jam arrived on the ferryboat the day before. We had not one but two flavors to choose from.

Traditional Ivatan house

Compare it to the photo of the traditional house on Sabtang Island--see Tip on What to Do/See

• Pros:People are more than just friendly, they go out of their way to make you feel at home and give you what you want.
• Cons:None unless you must have five star accommodations
• In a nutshell:Peace does exist on earth--The Batanes are in a magnificent time warp