The tour package that we took with Naidi Hills Tour Services was all-inclusive for four days and 3 nights but excluding dinner. In a way, it was actually a good way to get the guests to roam around the streets of Basco, exploring on their own as they look for the not-so-limited meal options that the island province has to offer. Despite that, it still came as a pleasant surprise when we were told that our dinner for our final evening in Batanes would be for free, and little did we know that it would be a very special one.

From Basco Lighthouse where we spent time watching sunset, Kuya Bhong took us through the roads of Basco, until we reached a cozy, rustic place where we would take our dinner. It was at Vunong Dinette at Jessica’s place.

At first, we had no idea what a vunong is, let alone what it means. When we got seated in the restaurant though while waiting for our food to be served, we learned through the television that looped videos featuring Batanes that vunong is the traditional rice meal of Batanes wrapped in kabaya leaves, which is a type of a breadfruit tree. A complete Vunong comes in two leaf packets: a leaf packet contains the iconic Ivatan turmeric rice while another holds the viand of chicken, pork and beef.

Are we just having vunong for dinner? Our hosts surely know how to show their guests warm hospitality! We had more than that! Our dinner also included soup for appetizer and the famed pako salad, all courtesy of Naidi Hills Tours!

Just as we were having our feast for two, a lady approached introduced herself to us. She was the one who prepared our vunong dinner, the vunung guru herself, Jessica Salamagos who was once featured in the news magazine show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. What an honor, and we could not imagine to have wrapped-up our Batanes adventures differently.

It was such a fail that we were not able to take pictures with Ms. Jessica, so we just took photos of ourselves.

It is said that traditionally, vunong is given to guests who attended a celebration. The vunong meal towards the end of our Batanes journey could hence never be more fitting.

Our Batanes trip was a celebration: a celebration of nature, of beauty, of timelessness. It was a celebration of history, of culture, of heritage. It was a celebration of life, of hospitality, of friendship, of humanity. Batanes is a celebration of all things existential, wrapped as a present for people to unwrap and discover.

Our vunong dinner aptly ended our final night in the magical Batanes Isles. Our days of wonder and wander was drawing to a close.

We have gained a lot of experiences in Batanes. The island province etched core memories in us that we for sure will never forget. If the future will be kind enough to allow it, we will definitely return to the magical isles.

We thanked our hosts for the memorable dinner they prepared for us. Kuya Bhong then brought us back to the lodge. He told us that he will fetch us at around 06:00 AM the following day, just in time for our 08:00 AM flight back to Manila.

That was the moment that I really wanted for time to stand still.

Postscript

In the process of writing this article, I got in-touch again with Paul Alcantara of Naidi Hills Tour Services, from whom I learned that our guide in Sabtang Island, Ate Edna Cano, died in a vehicular accident just a little over a month following our visit to the islands. I cannot forget her, as she was the guide who patiently kept up with me during my meltdown in Sabtang.

Dios machivan, Ate Edna.