The town of Ivana is not only known for the most talked about “Honesty Coffee Shop”, it also has a Unesco heritage building that is popularly known as House of Dakay.

Lola Ida January 2005

The house of Dakay is probably the most visited house in Batanes. It is also the oldest house in Batanes which is being maintained by Lola Ida – one of the oldest women on the island. So many things have changed since the first time I visited her house (2004), I noticed that the wooden floor is dusty and the house is no longer well kept. I also noticed that Lola Ida has gotten really weak and nurses painful joints much more now since its “winter” season in Batanes. Read the full story

Among more than a hundred of islands and destinations I have visited, I can say that Batanes is the best destination I have ever been to in the entire archipelago.

It’s my third visit to Batanes but I still feel that there are still a lot of places that i need to explore and discover. Batanes is composed of ten islands which are situated between the vast expanse of the waters of Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean, merges with the China Sea.

Batanes Lighthouse

The island is rich with marine resources, including the rarest sea corals in the world which makes the island an unexplored and unexploited dive destination in the world. Read the full story