We were back in Basco past 01:00 PM, after my demons totally botched our Sabtang trip. It went so bad that I called off the swimming in Huhmurun Blue Lagoon that was planned the day before. I just wanted to get back to the lodge so badly to get my thoughts organized. Perhaps some sleep will do the trick.

We were already moving towards the end of our Batanes adventure, and I still managed to botch it at the last minute. In our itinerary, Sabtang was the final piece that would complete the portrait of our stay in the magical isles. That actually made me feel worse about myself and about what happened in Sabtang. In my mind, that was it. We will leave Batanes the following day with the Sabtang experience as the last stop in our memories, leaving a bad aftertaste to an otherwise relatively perfect trip. No more redemption.

So I thought.

Just a few minutes after we returned to the lodge, Kuya Bhong came back to tell us that he would pick us up at 05:00 PM to accompany us back to Basco Lighthouse so we can watch the sunset. That was a glimmer of redemption.

Ran and I spent the afternoon sleeping. I was particularly exhausted. Apart from the fact that we woke-up early to get to Sabtang Island, my anxiety breakdown was draining. As soon as we awaken, we freshened-up, changed clothes, and talked while waiting for Kuya Bhong.

One cannot underestimate the role of communication after a mental breakdown. It helps all concerned to understand the situation, providing closure to an episode before it becomes a taboo.

It was only after that talk that I regained my senses. Finally.

Right on que, Kuya Bhong arrived at 05:00 PM. It did not take long until we reached Basco Lighthouse. As soon as we arrived, a young gentleman approached us who introduced himself as Paul Alcantara from Naidi Hills Tour Services. I was delighted to meet him, as he was actually the one who had been ensuring that everything about our Batanes experience was in order. Besides, he did not just meet us in the lighthouse located on the hills where the tour services got its name. He went there to personally relay a message.

For our final night in Batanes, we would no longer have to think where to grab our dinner, as we would have a free dinner courtesy of Naidi Hills!

With the news of a free dinner providing a reinvigorating breeze from a mentally tedious day, something caught our eyes while walking our way to the lighthouse that further heightened our excitement.

Yes, finally! After two days of waiting for the perfect moment and just as we were about to wrap-up our penultimate day in Batanes, Mt. Iraya showed itself in its majestic glory!

As for me, I got no solo shot in front of Mt. Iraya. I got excited in getting in-touch my inner child after a bout with my inner demons.

It was probably out of something that Naidi Hills Tour Services did or just plain timing, but we actually got the lighthouse all to ourselves. While waiting for the sun to set, we saturated ourselves with the view of Basco at the foreground of Mt. Iraya, knowing that even if we would be able to return to Batanes someday, it would still take a long time.

A few minutes more on the top of the lighthouse and dusk started creeping in. We hence moved to the other side of the lighthouse facing the sea where the sun was to set.

On our final evening in Batanes, we finally got to see its sunset from Iraya’s point of view, overlooking the magnificence of creation timelessly preserved yet teeming with life, in a place carved by nature’s own hands, with people whose culture, tradition and way of life is zealously kept alive and passed on to posterity.

As the sun gives off its golden glow as it goes down to the horizon, it sends of a message of irony: time passes by even in the islands seemingly untouched by its infinity.

We saw Mt. Iraya in her entirety after hiding for days and saw the elusive sunset as well, but we did so just as we were inching closer to going home. It’s probably Iraya’s way of sending us off, so that there’s no way we would ever forget her Islands. Bittersweet.

When the sun was no longer visible in the sky, we started our descent from the top of the lighthouse. Kuya Bhong was already waiting for us in the cogon trike, ready to take us for our dinner.

This is it, the final stretch.