Ilocos Tour for the third time…

This is my third time to visit the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. But as always, I never get tired of explore this marvelous province. And everytime I go back to Ilocandia, there is always something new for me to discover.

We left Manila Monday night on a shuttle. This is going to be my first time to visit Ilocos on a land trip. We went to Ilocos to cover the final leg of the Friendship Kayak Expedition in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

We arrived early morning in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur for a quick breakfast. And what would be a perfect Ilocano breakfast? Vigan Longganisa with a cup of fried rice. I always love Vigan longganisa.

After the longganisa feast, we then went to Baluarte. Baluarte used to be the residence of former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Chavit Singson. the entire complex has now been converted into a zoo. and best of all, the zoo doesn’t charge entrance fees. Among the animals in Baluarte, I am always amazed at the butterflies fluttering in the air. There’s just a lot of them in the garden and I just cant help but snap some photos!

From Baluarte, we then went to the Burgos Museum which is just located a few meteres away from the city plaza. Burgos Museum used to be the place where Padre Burgos of GomBurZa fame lived. The museum houses an impressive collection artifacts showing how rich the Ilocano culture is.

From the museum we then visited the San Agustin Belfry in the town of Bantay. The belfry is also a popular tourist destination. It stands on top of the hill separated from the church.

From Bantay we then headed to Pagburnayan. I have been to pagburnayan several times, but as always, I am amazed seeing how locals would mold a piece of clay into a jar. When we went there recently, I saw a truckload of wood that will be used in firing the kiln. Ang daming kahoy! The entire process of baking a burnay jar takes days to finish.

From the Pagburnayan, we then left the Heritage City of Vigan and headed towards Paoay.

We arrived in Paoay at high noon. the light is just so strong and harsh so I wasn’t able to take decent photos of the church. After exploring the UNESCO World Heritage site, we then had out lunch at the Herencia Cafe located right in front of the church. The crispy dinuguan is something to rave about! The Pinakbet Pizza is fabulous. It is something that shouldn’t be missed when visiting the town of Paoay.After lunch, we then went to the Malacañang of the North, or Locally known as Malacañang ti Amianan.

It was my first time to actually go to this palatial mansion. Grabe. To describe the whole mansion as huge is an understatement. The back of the mansion has a breathtaking view of Lake Paoay. Something which is similar to the Malacañang in Manila: it also overlooks the Pasig River. The Mansion was built during the Marcos time and used as the family’s vacation house.

From Paoay, we then drove further north and headed to the town of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. We no longer took a stop in Laoag. we arrived in Pagudpud at around 3:30PM. Weather was really good when we arrived, so I was able to take some photos of the beach beafore taking a dip at the pool. (Yes! the resort where we stayed has a swimming pool!)

Day 2 was supposed to be the final leg of the Friendship Kayak Expedition, but due to inclement weather, the final leg was moved a day later. So we all have a free day to explore the nearby attractions.

First order of the day was the windmills in Bagui. Wow, Now I know why there were windmills in Bangui. The wind is really really strong. Malilipad ako ng hangin!

From the gigantic windmills, we proceeded to the Kangkang Cafe for lunch. I laughed really hard when I saw the name! tunog bastos! Is it an Ilocano word? could somebody please confirm this?

After our heavy lunch, we then went to the town of Burgos and checked out the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. It is said to be the highest lighthouse in the country. This centuries-old lighthouse is really really lovely. I went up the tower and the wind is just so crazy. But the view of the whole area is amazing. Sulit ang pagod sa pag akyat!

From Burgos we went back to our resort Villa del mar in Pagudpud. After a while we left the place again and headed towards the Patapat Viaduct. Great engineering marvel it is. We stopped at the area and took photos. From patapat, we drove to our final destination: Blue Lagoon. Syempre, everybody was excited to swim and finally see the famed Blue Lagoon in Ilocos Sur.

But luck was never on our side at that time. We arrived a bit late, past sunset to be exact. And just as we were about to get our stuff out of the shuttle and move to the cottages, rain started to pour in. Heavy rains, I mean. so we were left with no other option but to pack up and go back to Villa del Mar.

Upon arrival we decided to take a quick dip at the pool again. It was friggin’ cold. Hindi ko kinaya! But what made the swim interesting was the ghost tales, especially the one I felt in one of our stops.

After dinner we had our inuman sessions. Some girls sing their hearts out in videoke, while I opted to play billiards. As if marunong ako noh?

On our final day, weather improved. Blue skies all over. It was sunny in Pagudpud. Immediately after breakfast I walked along the beach and took some more photos.

The Friendship Kayak team finally arrived at around 10 or 11AM. A few minutes later, there was a press conference held and lunch was served. Early in the afternoon we left Villa del Mar and traveled back to Manila. We arrived 4AM Friday.

It was a week of fun and excitement. Tiring but all worth the experience! Many thanks to the Primer Group for inviting me to cover the event.