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.