104 places · 7 areas

Places of the Bangsamoro

Islands and white sand, lakes in the highlands, mosques, falls and the old forts and houses of the sultanates: what is there, how to get there, and what to know before you go.

Ervin Malicdem · CC BY-SA 4.0Photo by Ervin Malicdem, CC BY-SA 4.0. Open the source file.

Beaches 6

Islands 11

Mosques 10

Lakes 5

Falls 5

Mountains 7

Nature 21

Heritage 22

Museums 5

Cities 2

Markets 2

Memory 8

Every place is traced to the pages it came from, and the guide’s own entries are the travel workspace’s. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons or English Wikipedia under free licences, each credited on the photo. 7 areas: Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City and the Special Geographic Area.

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The rotonda on Quezon Boulevard in the Lamitan town proper

Places · City

Lamitan City

Lamitan, Basilan

Patrickroque01 · CC BY-SA 4.0Photo by Patrickroque01, CC BY-SA 4.0. Open the source file.

Overview

Basilan’s BARMM capital, and the center of Yakan life.

Lamitan is the most approachable part of Basilan and the place a first visit is built around. It is the provincial capital for BARMM purposes, it has the market where Yakan weaving is actually sold, and it holds the Lami-Lamihan Festival in June — the week when Yakan dress, weaving, music and horsemanship are all on display at once.

The Datu Kalun shrine in town commemorates the leader who founded the settlement, and the market is the working heart of the place.

Yakan textile is the thing to buy and to understand: dense geometric weaving in tight color, structurally unlike the ikat and the malong found elsewhere in the region.

Things to do

  1. 01Buy Yakan weaving at the marketLamitan's market is where Yakan weaving is actually sold, and the dense geometric cloth is the thing to buy.
  2. 02See the Lami-Lamihan Festival in JuneDuring the festival week in June, Yakan dress, weaving, music and horsemanship are all on show at once.
  3. 03Visit the Datu Kalun Shrine and the Museum of LamitanThe shrine honours the Yakan leader who founded the town, and the museum shows Lami-Lamihan and also serves as the town's information centre.
  4. 04Check in with the city tourism office firstCoordinating with the tourism office before touring Lamitan is normal practice; ferries run from Zamboanga City.

Food to try

  • A plate of satti skewers with spiced sauce and ta'mu rice cake.LamitanSatti and panyalam at a halal eateryA tourism coordinator took one group through the city streets to a small halal eatery for satti and panyalam.Photo: Anak 1 at en.wikipedia
  • Coffee growers grade Basilan green coffee beans at a workshop in Lamitan City.LamitanBasilan Brew coffeeBasilan Brew, the island's coffee, is sold in Lamitan.Photo: Yasser Nur/BIO
  • LamitanSappul at a Yakan feastFor some festivities the Yakan build a pyramid-shaped dullang of sappul, mountain rice.
  • A bowl of near-black beef soup beside a red onion and dried chillies.TausugTiyula ItumBlack beef soup, colored by burnt coconut.Photo: Nurfadzrie Abubakar
  • Tausug satti: grilled meat skewers with a bowl of spiced sauce and ta'mu rice cake in woven coconut leaf.TausugSattiSkewered meat in a hot red sauce, with a block of rice — the breakfast of the archipelago.Photo: Anak 1 at en.wikipedia
  • TausugKulmaA mild peanut-and-coconut curry, close to a korma.
  • TausugPianggangGrilled chicken in burnt-coconut sauce.

The food is halal. Named eateries come from dated listings, so check they are still open.

Places to stay

Phone, Facebook, or the city tourism office. Very little is listed online.

Each is named in an official or dated source; none could be checked against an accreditation list. No prices: rates change quickly, so confirm and book directly before you go.

Sourcesen.wikipedia.org ·en.wikipedia.org ·transitpinas.com ·en.wikivoyage.org ·transitpinas.com