It was my second day in the beautiful Batanes and my students have included some side trips to see some tourist spots while we are doing visits to their rural health units or RHU.

Our side tour started with the House of Dakay, which I have already posted a few days ago. Then we went to the famous Honesty Coffee Shop.

The Honesty Coffee Shop is an unmanned store whose income depends on the honesty of its customers, as its name implies. It allows the customers to get what they need and trust that they will eventually pay right at the designated payment boxes. Located beside the Port of Ivana, the store was owned and started in 1995 by a retired public school teacher, Elena Gabilo.

Our next stop is Homoron Blue Lagoon, a small lagoon hiding in between the rocky cliffs beside the road that connects Mahatao and Ivana. It was also called Spanish Lagoon or Spaniards’ Lagoon because only the Spanish were allowed access in the lagoon back in the Spanish era.

It was where the famous scene from the movie “Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit” was shot. The Imnajbu Point is the perfect location for the heavenly embrace of the perennial love team Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. The hills and meadows around the point are a favorite tourist spot to view some spectacular landscapes and seascapes or do stargazing. It was locally called Alapad Pass due to the coastal highway that cuts through the ridge.

Right next to the place is the National Museum of Batanes. It was formerly the ruins of a USCG Loran Station that was in operation from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Unfortunately, the museum was closed at that time.

Our last stop is Marlboro Country or Racuh a Payaman. It is one of the most photographed places in Batanes. It is so called Marlboro country because it is quite similar to those advertisements of the cigarette brand where animals can roam freely.

Unfortunately, I have no time to visit the islands of Sabtang and Itbayat. I guess that will be my destination the next time I go to Batanes.