Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Day 3-Tony Bobony and the Crystal Cave

Went to the port at the town of Ivana with hopes of taking the boat to Sabtang Island. Alas, the port was desolate and empty, only the strong waves were there to greet us.

Changed plans. Went to Mahatao instead and did some trekking on our way to Crystal Cave. While waiting for a ride, we chanced upon a guy named Tony (who got stranded with us at the Laoag airport). Tony is a native of Basco. He showed us the directions to Crystal Cave. About 15 minutes into the trek, two boys on a bike, Joseph and Harold caught up with us and said that Tony sent them to accompany us. We later learned that the two kids were Tony’s nephews. As if to prove the six degrees of separation theory, Tony’s sister who had a sister in law, happened to be the same woman who runs and owns Dulce’s canteen, a place of gastronomic refuge my companions and I frequented while in Basco.

After dinner, Ferds went to the computer/internet shop to download photos from his camera. We learned that the shop owner bought his PCs in Manila (PC Express). He studied a two-year course in computer in Manila, went back to Batanes, and set up the internet shop. I’m not quite sure but a year ago, there were very few, if not only one internet shop in Batanes.