My guide led me through a narrow path on top of a hill. The sky was blue and the wind, carried by the ocean, was singing hallelujah. The space to walk on was less than a foot wide and flanked on both sides by knee-high cogon grass. The vista opened up to the verdant hills, sparkling with gold from the drying cogon, and the violet, wide, open sea. It felt like the whole universe was in front of you and you love it and it’s loving you back. I couldn’t tell if the water on my eyes was from the wind chill or I had reached paradise and those were real tears.
The hills of Vayang is quintessential Batanes, a land that endlessly rolls and ebbs and flows while covered in green and golden grass danced by the Pacific wind. Mount Iraya towering above and watching the harmony of it all.
Landscapes and seascapes that take you and your breath away.
The dance between foliage and light
Mount Iraya, always hiding behind the clouds, towering over Vayang Hills
A few days later, I walked headed to the north of Basco, past Naidi lighthouse and further on to return to Vayang hills, which was two kilometers apart. Locals said it was a relatively easy forty-minute walk from town, best done early morning when the sunlight is mild and the breeze nice and cool.
Farmers hopped on their motorbikes to attend to their farms and cattle. The hills are calling us. I forged ahead, on foot.
This hut looks so cozy. I found this en route to Vayang.
Natural spotlight between the hills
With the sun about to take the noontime position, I walked back to town — pace more hurried than leisurely — with a rumbling stomach.
