At Sabtang in Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippine, you’ll find yourself brought back in town. A short 30-minute boat ride from Batan where the airport is, you’ll arrive at a quaint town where you can immediately see a lighthouse and a church. And as you walk through the different barangays (towns), you will see lots of stone houses made from limestone and roofings made of hay, friendly locals that treat you like family and who know each other by name, locals still wearing the traditional Vakul clothings made of hay that shield them from the harsh sun and rain. We also got to meet the oldest man in Batanes, who was 105 years old at the time we visited early this year. Unfortunately, we have heard news recently that he had passed away a couple of months ago. It is nice that everything in this island is preserved and more importantly, it reminds us that life can be simple.

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Back in Time

At Sabtang in Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippine, you’ll find yourself brought back in town. A short 30-minute boat ride from Batan where the airport is, you’ll arrive at a quaint town where you can immediately see a lighthouse and a church. And as you walk through the different barangays (towns), you will see lots of stone houses made from limestone and roofings made of hay, friendly locals that treat you like family and who know each other by name, locals still wearing the traditional Vakul clothings made of hay that shield them from the harsh sun and rain. We also got to meet the oldest man in Batanes, who was 105 years old at the time we visited early this year. Unfortunately, we have heard news recently that he had passed away a couple of months ago. It is nice that everything in this island is preserved and more importantly, it reminds us that life can be simple.

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