My wife
really wanted to see the beauty of Ilocos so together with our friends and
extended friends we agreed to spend 3D2N just to find out the hidden treasures
of Region 1.
Around 11pm we took off from SM North and just when
our seats were about to heat up we decided to get some chills and stop by
at Petron-NLEX and load some caffeine.
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| Petron NLEX |
Day
1: We arrived around 5am at Vigan and while some of us were still asleep, some got out of the van to check the popular street of Crisologo and look what
we found! As the dawn meets the day, the empty street was illuminated by warm
colored lamps while our eyes meets the brilliant reflection of the ground.
Magnificent!
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| Crisologo St. Vigan |
Time
to fill-up our tummies so our guide showed us Kusina Felecitas to savor
the famous Ilocos longanisa for breakfast and as soon as we're done, we hit the
road to Baluarte.
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| Kusina Felecitas |
A
wide variety of animals was available inside this sanctuary, so much that you have
to see for yourself to agree.
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| Baluarte ni Singson |
Next stop was Crisologo Museum where all his memorabilia was kept and preserved. Even his blood stained clothes was there. Talk about "more fun in the Philippines" eyy!
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| Crisologo Museum |
Right after the museum we went to Pagburnayan where stoneware jars were made and we kind of tried making one just to feel mud on the palms of our hands.
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| Pagburnayan |
After our morning tour we had lunch on one of the Karinderias along Batac, Ilocos Norte and with just Php100 you'll have a complete set meal with two viands, two BBQ sticks, and banana plus soda. SAN KA PA!!!
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| Karideria at Batac |
Next destination was Marcos Museum where our former president's corpse was preserved and laid inside a small building (no picture taking allowed inside). Just a few minutes away you'll find Marcos' Photo Gallery where a large collection of photos were exhibited.
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Museleo ni Marcos
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| Marcos Photo Gallery
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Our next destination, located at the city of Laoag, was one of the famous historical structure left by the Spanish regime - Paoay Church
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| Paoay Church |
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| Paoay Church - Group pic |
Our itinerary was really full to fit in a day especially the time consumed getting excellent pictures of the scenery. With few hours of sleep and tons of energy, we headed to La Paz Sand Dunes and Malacañang of the North.
While on our way the guide told us that "Panday" movie was recorded in La Paz, so while he was telling the story I was really trying to recall the glorious battle of Plavio against the monsters of the underworld with their leader, Lizardo. Epic!
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| La Paz Sand Dunes |
Our last stop was the famous Malacañang of the North where Marcos held office. It was really like a Model of Malacañang Palace only with less pollution I guess. Most of its interior and exterior structure was renovated and even the furnitures were new.
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| Malacañang of the North |
Ahhh... at last we're on our way towards Pagudpud to spend the night at Klasik Beach Resort in Saud Beach. We also took a side trip to one of the local market and bought ingredients for our Pork Sinigang dinner and had a bite of the famous "empanada of ilocos".
Day 2: We woke up early as required by our guide. We were told that to really experience the best of Pagudpud, we need to witness Sunrise over where ocean meets the shore and it was glorious!
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| Patapat Viaduct |
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| Bagong Lipunan Lodge |
Next stop was Bantay Abot Cave. Paradise indeed!!!
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| Bantay Abot Cave |
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| Bantay Abot Cave |
This is it! Time to party in the beach of Pagudpud! We really enjoyed nature especially the "killer" WAVES. We also had lunch with meals prepared by one of our companion, Jeff.
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| View of Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud |
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| Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud |
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| Killer waves of Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud |
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| Lunch @ Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud |
Next destination was Kabigan Falls! We had to walk 30min (approx.) just to get here and along the way you'll see farms, forest and rivers. It was like my hometown in Camarines Norte.
When we finally arrived, all tourist would just take photos and leave but to us taking photos wasn't enough! It's time to take a dip...
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| Kabigan Falls |
We headed back to Saud Beach to spend our second night but before that some classic pictures of Musculados with queen Dec.
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| Sunset @ Saud Beach |
Since we had much money left out of our meal budget, we acquired services from a nearby restaurant and... VUALA!!! Dinner was served!
Day 3: Our last day in Ilocos... the sad truth that even though we wanted to stay a bit more, we couldn't! Still, we had remaining places to visit out of the list! So right after breakfast we left for Bangui Windmills!
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| Breakfast @ Klasik Beach Resort, Saud |
Along the way we just halted and said goodbye.
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| Bangui Windmills |
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| Group - Bangui Windmills |
We only had a few moments left before we travel back to Manila so we rush through both the Lighthouse and Bell Tower.
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| Burgos, Lighthouse |
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| Burgos, Lighthouse |
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| Baccara, Bell Tower |
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| Baccara, Bell Tower |
And finally, who could forget to buy "pasalubong" for our loveones! Once we got all our needs and ate some of the free stuff (alot of free stuff really!), we left for Manila and said farewells to the people and places of Ilocos.
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| 5 star pasalubong store |
Truly, Ilocos was a Filipino heritage and hoping to be back here for another visit.
