Batanes

Who would not be curiously enticed by the thought of visiting the last northern frontier of the Philippines? Batanes' charm is undeniably captivating that it had been part of the bucket list of most Filipinos. Since Batanes is composed of three major islands - Batan, Sabtang and Itbayat, I have chosen three photos from our trip up, up north.

Let's count to three.

#1. Batan

Batan is the capital of Batanes where you will find the province's airport. The tour around the island can be divided into north and south, which you can opt to do in a day or just chill out and do it in two. There's the imposing Mt. Iraya that seemingly serves as the island's guardian - that amidst the numerous typhoons that ravaged the province, they remain resilient and strong. 

Veering away from the usual post card-esque shots that you normally see from Batan, the light houses towering over the lush green grass with wandering cows, I will show you one of the most mystifying sunset that I've seen:

Sunset at Vayang Rolling Hills

On a clear day, this scene will soothe all your aching muscles from all the walking you did around the island all day long - including the short trek to this area. Watching this at our country's northern frontier is nothing short of amazing. 

The Journey to 100 Mountains (Part 1 of 6)

To start off this sequel to the 40 Mountains Project, let me begin with one of my favorite quotation from Lao Tzu: 

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" 

So I say, a journey to a hundred mountains start with a single excruciating step. In my case, that was a single step at the Babadak Ranger station in the Ambangeg trail of Mt. Pulag in 2009. A number of years and 40 mountains after, let's continue our journey to the awesome sights that the mountains can offer. 

To pick up where we left, let's start counting at number 41, the most beautiful mountain in the Philippines - Daragang Magayon!

#41. Mt. Mayon (2,463 MASL) via Lidong-Buyoan Trail | Albay

We had the chance to have a first-row seat to see Mt. Mayon up-close during Daragang Magayon festival. The group we piggy-backed in was granted a permit by the local government to climb the restive Mt. Mayon (permits are rarely given, if you do the climb legally). Don't associate Mayon's beauty with an easy, breezy hike since climbing this beauty is far from it (there are no easy mountains to begin with). Take note that this mountain is an active volcano and active volcanoes can erupt without much notice. While many are drawn by its astounding beauty, Mayon has already claimed numerous lives - local and international mountaineers alike.

Mt. Mayon as seen from the water source just above camp 2.

Burdeos, Quezon

Our trip to Burdeos (part of Pililio Island) in Quezon was my first beach backpacking trip with my newly upgraded Fujifil X-T10 (from Nikon D3200). Managing my expectations, I did not really thought much about this trip. It's just the normal "go to the beach, relax, tinker with the camera and shoot" kind of weekend. Never did I thought that it has surprises hidden behind its sleeves.

Let's just skip to the daylight beach and island life. Let me show you what this island has in store for us as the sun went down.

Let's count to three.

#1. Thor's day at the beach

There are numerous islands at this part of Burdeos, but we chose to camp at Pandanan Island. I chose to hang my hammock on a small open hut facing the seashore. As I prepared to go for a shut eye, I set up my tripod, focused my camera at the stilted house by the sea and set its interval shooting at one shot per 30 seconds with 30 seconds exposure each for a total of 15 shots (with 30 seconds gap per shot). 

f/5, 30 sec., ISO 1600, 52mm (5/14/2016 8:29 PM)

It was starting to drizzle that night and I just slid inside my hammock and took a nap. The roaring thunder and occasional lightning woke me up then I realized I left my camera on interval. I scanned through the shots and as it turned out, I got this one - my first time to capture lightning!