The House of Dakay, built in 1887,
is a UNESCO World Heritage building and is the oldest surviving stone house in Ivana.
It withstand the earthquake that shook the area sometime September 1918
while the majority was destroyed.
Luisa Estrella bestowed the house to his favorite nephew,
Jose Dakay Estrella, where the name of the house was taken.
At present, it is Lola Ida' s relatives who's residing in shack.
The house is made of thick walls of stone and lime topped with cogon grass
which is replaced every 25-30 years.
When we went to the house,
there was no Lola Ida.
I was sooo clueless.
Though we saw several kids, lying on the mattress, busily watching TV.
I tried, real hard, to chat with them, but they just looked at me
for a split second and put their eyes back on the screen. :(
I guess they didn't understand me.
Tagalog vs. Ivatan. :)
Challenging!
So we just occupied ourselves with taking photos
since this house is one of the most photographed places in Batanes.
And yes, I left with a sad heart.
Not seeing Lola Ida.
And not knowing her deep down.
And I was doing my research (when I was writing this) when I came across one article
that she passed away January of last year.
Really sad.
Even so, your story will always be told and will go from one generation to the other.
Latterly, we halt where the Old Spanish Bridge, also known as Tuhel Bridge, was located.
It was built by the Spaniards in 1700's using lime stones
and this bridge is still available for use.
and this bridge is still available for use.
The primitive bridge is parallel to the concrete bridge that we were on.
Ivana, thank you!!
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