During the World War II, the Ivatans of Batanes dug tunnels under the hills of Tukon to serve as a shelter and lookout post for Japanese soldiers. The Dipnaysupuan, one of the biggest and remaining intact tunnels, is now a popular tourist stop. My group of 19 travelers explored this dark, steep, and slippery tunnel with nothing but our mobile phones as lights.

When I reached the downward elevation of the tunnel, I wanted to back out. I felt that I would eventually get stuck and be unable to crawl out of the tunnel (also known as claustrophobia).

But thanks to the prodding of my new friend Kimi (thank you!), I kept going. As soon as we exited the tunnel, it began to rain. The quick shower gave us view of a double rainbow. We ran towards this double-arced beauty hovering above the hills. It was the closest I had ever been to a rainbow. I stood right under it and could see where both ends of the bow landed—just a few meters away from the hill we were on. The second rainbow was faint.

“Hurry up before the rainbow disappears!” our tour guide said. He told us that this was a normal sight in Batanes, but for us, it was like finding a unicorn. Soon after we took photos, we walked back to our tour van. I looked back to see that the rainbow had disappeared.