I got inked by the world’s oldest tattoo artist

Buscalan, Philippines CNN —

The first sound I heard upon reaching Buscalan was that of heaving and panting. A group of us had just completed a steep climb to the remote village, which is tucked deep into the undulating mountains of the Philippines’ Kalinga province.

But, like me, my fellow travelers didn’t make this 12-hour journey just for the breathtaking views of rolling rice terraces — we were there to meet Apo Whang-Od Oggay.

At 107 years old, Whang-Od is the world’s oldest tattoo artist. She’s been practicing “batok,” a traditional form of tattooing used by the region’s indigenous tribes, since she was just a teenager.

For over nine decades, she’s been hand-tapping tattoos inspired by agriculture and the local landscape. She has inked tribal warriors with elaborate geometric patterns and women of the Butbut tribe with symbols of fertility.

We were not tribe members, however, just determined road-trippers. Prior to the climb, we had driven for hours under the scorching sun, following road signs with printed photos of Whang-Od.

A sign welcoming visitors at the turnoff to the mountain village of Buscalan.

The centenarian’s fame draws a stream of daily tourists to Buscalan, spawning a burgeoning tattoo industry in this otherwise agricultural village. Across the mountain, about a dozen other (and significantly younger) villagers sat with visitors hammering away at symbols of mountains, ferns and snakeskin.

A local guide added our names to Whang-Od’s waitlist, and we wandered around the rest of the day, sipping on piping hot barako coffee. We strolled narrow alleys and saw the tattooist’s face on almost everything — from T-shirts to bracelets and coffee packaging — on sale at stalls around the village.

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