Philippines Batanes Island Trek

Batanes, Philippines · Philippines

Moderate7 daysAsia~£700 est.

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Overview

Batanes is the Philippines with the saturation turned up and the volume turned down: ten small islands in the typhoon alley between Luzon and Taiwan, where the Ivatan people build metre-thick limestone houses roofed in cogon grass to shrug off the winds, and green headlands drop into a violently blue Pacific. Trek and cycle the Batan circuit — the Vayang Rolling Hills, the Naidi Hills lighthouse above Basco, cliff-edge pasture where carabao graze — then take the falowa boat across the channel to Sabtang for the stone villages of Savidug and Chavayan. Mount Iraya, the 1,009 m volcano behind Basco, is a sweaty half-day through cloud forest for the fit. The variable is weather: the Sabtang crossing cancels in any real swell, and June to October is typhoon roulette — go December to April instead. Flights from Manila to Basco are the only way in and sell out; book early. Around £700 covers a week of homestays, bike hire and boat crossings once you land.