the greatest of them wall

just like most others, the decision to visit China was mainly driven by the desire to see the Great Wall. so i spent a lot of time researching about it, intending to see the side which will not be crowded by tourists this holiday.

i came across an article about chenjiapu, a section of the wall that is not very popular among tourists. in there is a family of a farmer who welcomes travelers to his house to rest and eat for a small fee and they can guide them to hike too. when i was finally convinced i could do this, i booked an appointment thru their website for april 30th.

this way to the chen family farm/guesthouse

i realized though that hiking the wall would be more enjoyable in the company of others and would be a bit cheaper too. so i posted my plans in couchsurfing to see if anybody was interested. i didn't get any replies til i was already in beijing. the day prior to the hike, Ava from Sydney and Kathy from Barcelona have committed to join.

we got mr. chen's house around noontime. i was surprised to see that there was quite a crowd in there - perhaps at least 10 people. we chat with them under the sun while drinking beer to hear stories of their hike. they apparently had a big night prior, and hiking while hungover proved unwise. one of them even got herself injured as the way to the wall can be very steep. Ava and i decided then to stop after one beer and take a power nap before hiking.

we started our ascend at around 3:30pm and decided to take the 'intermediate' slope despite the folks saying that the 'easy' slope wasn't even easy at all. we decided to save that for the sunrise hike. yes, we planned to hike twice. during my research i saw really amazing photos of the wall at sunrise, and i had envisioned to sit there and wait for the sun's rays to hit my face. i felt so empowered at that time - i knew it would be hard, but i was prepared to make it happen. it's not everyday that you get to be in a world's man-made wonder after all.

starting our ascend, greeted by almond flowers

the mountains surrounding the wall are powdered with stunning almond flowers. there were a lot of bees, which gave me a bit of problem as they seemed drawn to me. thankfully i got no stings. some parts of the wall are so badly ruined that it was almost wall climbing - something i have no experience in. everytime i make a dangerous step i try not to slip and injure myself. the slope was indeed difficult, and amazingly all 3 of us girls managed to do it. we had a good rhythm in our hike. we rest from time to time to breathe, drink water, take photos. we tried to ask yang some stuff once in a while, which with very little english he could speak he tried to respond to. the journey to and back took a good four hours. it definitely tested my endurance, but it was all very much worth the pain.

back at the farmhouse we were exhausted and it started to get very cold. the heater in bathroom was messed up so the water that came out was boiling. i had the smartest idea then - i got the basin, filled it up, and soaked my sore feet in it when the water was a bit bearable. yang smiled and agreed i was doing it right! dinner arrived shortly after, and once again only the best dishes came out of mrs. chen's kitchen. all 6 of 7 dishes are vegetarian, and they have got to be the best vegetarian meals of my life. the chens were so nice to setup our own dining table conveniently in our room, and gave us chinese tea. it was amazing how three ladies that were strangers in the morning were bonded by one great hike and at nighttime it felt like we were friends for a long time.

freshest vegetable meal, mrs. chen rocks the kitchen

kitty had her dinner too and was quite thirsty

we went back to the wall in the morning to catch the sunrise. we were too excited about it, so we ended up having to sit around the wall shivering for an hour before it came out. nonetheless, it was a great morning.

so if you're thinking of hiking the great wall and avoiding the crowd, and challenging yourself to uneven terrain, skip badaling and mutianyu and go to chenjiapu instead. for more information on how to get here, check out the chen family's website www.greatwallfresh.com

my dad's home province

i have to admit, i haven't really explored much of my own home country. i guess it's that mindset that you're from there, so you'd want to see things from somewhere else. i'm actually pretty happy with the advent of budget airlines - especially in the philippines. the local travel scene has blossomed so much because of all the fare promotions. i see that my friends who live in manila seem to be going to town after town, weekend after weekend. if i still live there, i probably would've been one of those lakwatseras (itchy feet) :)

so when i went home for the holidays, my sister and i agreed that we will finally give in to my dad's suggestion to do a road trip to ilocos. i have been there before with my friend, but i reckon it will be an entirely different experience this time that we will drive to get there, and with my family. ilocos is in the northern-most part of the philippines and it's almost 600 kilometers away from where my parents live now. the very long provincial highway is being compared to the famous great ocean road in australia - long, winding, scenic and seabreez-y! i didn't have much privilege to enjoy this as i was driving, but the constant ooohhhs and aaahhhs from my family was convincing enough.

courtesy of wiki

we left home at 9 in the morning of the first day of the year, and arrived at vigan, ilocos sur around half past 7 in the evening. very few, quick stops were made as we really didn't want to get there too late. we headed to the town plaza to grab dinner and a quick stroll to the spanish houses. it was so different than when i was there 6 years ago! it was more exciting with all the lights and people buzzing around, but also a little more commercialized with all those fast food and restaurants. not to mention, the spanish houses used to be very old and regal. now there were new additions that try to get the same classic feel but you know that they were just recently constructed. i was kinda disappointed that there are now a few hotels in that row itself. it was once a nostalgic walk to have.

spanish houses

my dad's hometown is actually caoayan, ilocos sur - which was a mere 5 minute drive from vigan. we were plastered and headed to bed early that night, but woke up pretty early the next morning. everybody was excited to take a stroll along the black sand beach, which was a mere 2 minute walk from my auntie's house!

good morning, sunshine

aside from the beach, we were looking forward to lunch time. my dad promised that the 'boys' will cook seafood lunch and boy did the boys deliver! 

seafood lunch - do it like a dude

we left ilocos sur after two nights and headed further up to ilocos norte. the north had more things to offer for tourists. they even have tourist centers in almost every town in this province, and that was pretty cool. we didn't do a lot of research on where to go, so these tourist posts were very helpful.

our first stop in ilocos norte was batac - the hometown of former president ferdinand marcos. we visited his mausoleum and was told that it was him lying there still, covered now in wax to preserve him better. at least, that is the press release. some people believe it's just a wax replica. we couldn't take pictures, so i wouldn't be able to ask for a second opinion :P

ferdie and me. not bad, huh?

after batac we headed to paoay. we visited Malacañang of the north. Malacañang is the the philippines' counterpart of the white house - this is where the first family lives. when president marcos was in office, he had this house in paoay setup as the official first family refuse whenever they are up north. the house was very simple but elegant. i thought the 30 peso entrance was worth the time.

living room

view of paoay lake from the house

we also visited the paoay sand dunes. the 4x4 ride was pretty awesome! our driver/tour guide offered for me to get my hands on driving the mean machine, too bad that i don't drive m/t. argh!

enter sandman

sandboarding

we left paoay a bit later than planned, because we enjoyed the sand dunes too much. causing us to arrive in pagudpud a bit late in the evening, and we were welcomed with mild showers and GPS playing a joke on us - taking us to some remote village which could very well be THE VILLAGE. yikes.

we stayed at saud beach, the more popular one among the three beaches in pagudpud. the waves are a bit too strong for relaxed swimming, but the beach is pretty.

totally worth the long drive

as we didn't have the luxury of time, we packed the day with visits to nearby places. 

the bangui windmills are so cool!  and with beautiful skies that day, we had really awesome photos.

it was very windy - they weren't kidding

we were curious about the kapurpurawan rock formation so we popped by. kapurpurawan is an ilocano word for superior whiteness. thanks for the translation, dad!

picturesque

finally on the way back home, we went to visit the laoag town proper. i felt that it was lovelier in my previous visit, though i couldn't really figure out what changed. must be just the feeling of seeing it the first time. didn't spend much time here though, just a quick trip to the sinking bell tower and the church.

laoag town plaza

sinking bell tower

speaking of churches, ilocos got plenty of them old churches. we saw the one in vigan, laoag and the most famous of all - paoay. i'm not a religious person, but i do find beauty in old churches. there is a certain sense of serenity when you visit one.

vigan church

inside vigan church

laoag church

inside laoag church

paoay church

inside paoay church

and of course the trip would not be complete without pasalubong (souvenirs). ilocos is famous for a bunch of treats including bagnet (roasted pork), sukang iloko (spiced vinegar), tinubong (sticky rice inside a bamboo), royal bibingka (rice cake) and chichacorn (semi-popped glutinous corn snack). most of the said items have made their way into the stomach of some people in singapore, who digested them happily.

all in all it was an exhausting trip, with long hours on the road, behind the wheel, taking in both happiness and drama (and cough-inducing virus) with my family. worth it? definitely.