En route to Vigan

Woke up early today to the smell of Vigan longganisa, a small and plump meat, similar to sausage, primarily distinct from other longganisa as being garlicky, because the region of Ilocos is rich with native garlic. It is also best with sukang iloko, a native cane vinegar that is usually spiced up with a number of small peppers, which serves as its dipping sauce.


A few of us had spent the early morning dipping and swimming at the beach and by 9:00AM, our bags were packed and we're ready to hit the road again, southbound to the direction of Manila, but we intend to pass by Vigan, Ilocos Sur and stay there for the night.


On our way, we passed by Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, a century old lighthouse built during Spanish regime, sitting on Vigia de Nagparitan Hill.


This lighthouse located at the town of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, although aged and old, still functions as a lighting guide for ships entering the Philippine archipelago.


We were glad that we were able to come up the tower and have a glimpse of the view of the surrounding area on a not-so-hot day of December. We were told by the caretaker that are days that the lighthouse is locked up, especially when he isn't around. He was already on his way out when we came and there weren't a lot of visitors but he accomodated our request of opening the door leading to the top.
 

me


Be careful though when climbing up as the stairs may be a bit rusty. Don't rush your way to the top for you may hit your head with something hard on the way.


I'm very glad that despite the age of the structure, it is still maintained by the government. This brick-walled lighthouse is definitely a must place to visit when you happen to pass by the area. There is also a small museum showing relics and history of the place.


Half an hour before lunch time, we arrived in the capital city of Laoag, Ilocos Sur and immediately proceeded to Saramsam Restaurant for a meal. The restaurant located at Rizal corner Hizon Streets in the city is arguably one of the good restaurants to experience local delicacies. Eating at the restaurant, which literally means informal and constant dining, is an experience by itself. Prominently displayed within the corners of the place are different goods, handicrafts and artworks that one can appreciate or take home (for a price).


So these are the items we have ordered and tried:

Lauya a Baka - meaty beef bones, potatoes and cabbage delicately soured with tomatoes


Dinardaraan - also called dinuguan in other regions, pork blood stew


pork stew?


Insarabasab - slices of grilled pork, mixed with salt, vinegar, onions, & calamansi


Poque-poque - grilled eggplant, tomatoes, onions, egg


It all has been a great lunch for all of us. Not only did we experience some weird sounding delicacies which turned out to be delicious viands, but it definitely had our stomach full and even if we wanted to try other things like dinardaraan pizza or saramsam pasta, we were already not able to accomodate those.

Our next stop was at the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte. It is dedicated to the past president who passed away and is also where is body, preserved by covering with wax, is on display to the public. Unfortunately taking pictures is not allowed inside.


Ferdinand E. Marcos words


Then we headed to the city of Vigan, Ilocos Sur and went straight to Baluarte, a zoo-like sanctuary open to public for free owned by Chavit Singson, the former governor of Ilocos Sur.


I was amazed by these colorful birds who appears to be very friends as I am taking pictures of them..


.. then they started kissing..


.. and later on necking! Oops enough of this already!


There were also other animals in the zoo like these:

ponies


camel


deers


eastern bearded dragon


albino burmese phyton


There was even an enclosed butterfly garden for children to appreciate!
 

One of the main attractions is a show of the siberian bengal tiger.


We got hungry later on and looked for something to munch. I happen to see a vendor selling Vigan empanada just outside baluarte. Vigan empanada is a fried local delicacy warapped in flour and filled with meat (usually Vigan longganisa), egg and some vegetables.


To make one, they mash flour into a small shape first..


.. roll it thinly then put the filling inside..


.. then fry it up! Best served again with sukang iloko! The crunchy covering and the yummy filling makes me drool even as I write this blog.


After this, we went to the hotel we will be staying for the night, checked-in and currently resting, at least until dinner time.

All Around Pagudpud

It's Christmas Day! As mentioned in my post yesterday (or actually early morning today), we are staying in Northridge Beach Resort located in Saud Beach area at the town of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. Pagudpud is located at the northernmost tip of Luzon and is most famous for its white sand beaches facing the open South China Sea.


We got two rooms - one of which is with four double beds for PHP2500 while another with three double beds for PHP1500. Our contact Tessie (+639202205089) gave us both room for only PHP3500 and we are free to use the balcony deck at the second floor as we took both rooms of the floor.


It's a beautiful day, and the sun was already up high when we woke up. We had breakfast but for some reason the view outside didn't entice us for a dip and instead we went out to explore the town.


Almost half an hour away, is Patapat Viaduct. Driving further north the Maharlika Highway, we reached the place. There's nothing special usually on an elevated highway such as this one, but the view of South China Sea and the winding road scuplted to take the shape of the surrounding mountains has been very famous for years as a quick stop for photos.


The sky was blue and clear and the sun is up - perfect background for a spectacular view such as this!


There's also a stream from the mountain flowing over to the sea and stopping over to watch and hear the gush of water is very relaxing.


The viaduct is actually a bridge of around 1.3km running along the coastal area that leads to Cagayan Valley (coming from Pagudpud). Further research reveals that this is the 4th longest bridge in the Philippines.


me


the whole family


We backtracked and headed to Blue Lagoon. On the way, we saw a sea arch from afar, stopped the car, and took a photo of it.


a closer look and at an angle of the sea arch


Living true to its name, the waters at this white sand beach of Blue Lagoon is indeed bluish. Previously tourists know only of Saud Beach in Pagudpud but recently this area of Maira-Ira Beach (fondly known as Blue Lagoon) is becoming a hot spot for locals and tourist alike. It is a U-shape stretch of pristine white sand beach and I hope it doesn't get too commercialized soon and that they maintain its serenity.


me


We decided to have lunch at Hannah's Resort then got back to the resort where we are staying for rest, passing by a local market to buy something to cook for dinner that night.


Later that afternoon we decided to hit off the beach just as the sun is going down so it's not so hot. It's nice to see the beach is not too crowded since it's off-peak season compared to hot summer season when one could expect the place to be crowdy.


For dinner tonight, we roasted off charcoal grill some pork and fresh fish we bought from the market, which we shared among ourselves. The fish tastes sweeter and yummier as it was fresh (barely breathing) when we bought it off the market.


The rest of the day is uneventful as we plan to head to bed early for we will be waking up for some swimming tomorrow before we check-out and continue our journey on this roadtrip.

More pictures are available in multiply. Just add me as a friend to view them.

Merry Christmas from Ilocos Region!

To all the readers who are reading this post right now - Merry Christmas to you all and may we all have meaningful holidays this season! It's already past 1AM of Christmas Day that I am writing this blog, our family just had a simple midnight celebration to welcome the day and I'm just about to hit the bed but just took a bit of time to update my blog of my whereabouts.

Earlier today (actually December 24 since it's already December 25), the whole family left Manila at around 5AM to take a long drive road trip to Ilocos. The provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur has a number of wonders to explore and for those who came along, it's a mighty first so we were looking forward to a good time on this short escapade.

There were two cars on this trip and the one where I was riding decided to have a quick stop at a church in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur. The Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion church is among the four baroque churches in the Philippines granted the title of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The others are the Miagao Church in Iloilo (Sto. Tomas de Villanueva) where I went to a couple of months back on a backpacking trip, San Agustin church in Intramuros, Manila, walking distance from my college university where I currently teach part time and San Agustin chruch in Paoay, Ilocos Norte where we plan to pass by later on.


The church, and a belfry physically separated, were built on top of a hill from 1810, different from the usual Spanish-influenced ones built right on town center and plaza. A convent is sitting across the frontage of the church.


A closer look of the church would reveal it's brick-walled facade adding color and beauty to its appearance from outside.


The surroundings around the church and the convent are very beautiful that we stayed for a few minutes exploring the place and admiring the beautiful view from the top.


Luckily a small opening on the side of the church allowed us to peek inside of what I thought at first was a closed church. Inside a lot of religious artifacts dating centuries ago can be found and is on display.


inside the church


chair


some statues, paintings and other religious articles in the church
 

It is already lunch time and we need to catch up with the other car that headed straight for Vigan, where we plan to stop for a meal. What's good in going to a road trip is that there are things unexpected and sometimes you can't just help but stop on the way, like this bridge. After further research, apparently this is Banaoang bridge or Quirino bridge connecting the towns of Bantay and Santa in Ilocos Sur. There is also a newer bridge as the one in picture below is already decomissioned.


This is what we stopped for, a quick glance of the beautiful view of the Abra river.


Before reaching Vigan, we passed by St. Augustine Parish, in Bantay, Ilocos Sur where a church and a belfry built in 1590 stands proudly. The church was already reconstructed as it was damaged heavily during World War II but still, it possesses the original Romanesque-Gothic inspired architectural design.


inside the church


Shrine of Nuesta Señora de la Caridad and the belfry, sitting atop the hill away from the church


We then headed to Vigan, Ilocos Sur to hunt for a quick eat and decided to eat at Max's Restaurant as we arrive in the city past 1PM, behind this statue of Leonora Florentino, a local poet, playwright and satire-writer famous during Spanish period.


After (late) lunch, we also dropped by the St. Paul's Metropolitan Cathedral or most fondly called as the Vigan Church. It may seem to you that its like Holy Week already, and that we're doing Visita Iglesia but one can't miss to admire the beautiful heritage churches in this region! An original structure was built in 1574 but was destroyed and the current structure standing today was built around 19th century.


inside the cathedral


We now supposed to head to Pagudpud now but we first made sure that we drop by Paoay Church, or San Agustin Church, the other UNESCO World Heritage Site in the region, located in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.


Around almost 3 hours from Vigan, and approaching Pagudpud town, we made a sidetrip to Bangui Windmills just as the sun is setting down, located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. These windmills are part of the Northwind Bangui Bay Project, the first wind mill farm in the country, inaugurated just recently in 2005.


the whole family


We arrived in Northridge Beach Resort around 7AM, after a gruelling 14-hour long drive with stops along the way, and were very hungry so we immediately had dinner at the restaurant in the resort next to ours (Jun & Carol Beach Resort).

Bagnet, deep-fried pork meat, served crunchy like cracklings with a mixture of onions, tomatoes and vinegar on the side. This delicacy is a well-known specialty of the Ilocanos and it definitely makes sense and a must for us to order this while we're in the region.


pork sisig with egg


pork sinigang


Later on, we also attended the 10PM mass in anticipation of Christmas Day at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, located nearby from where we were staying in Pagudpud.


The mass took longer than the usual one hour and it is weird for us hearing mass delivered in Ilocano language. It was a bit cold at night and the church was jam-packed with attendees. We were back before midnight at the resort, took time to relax as we waited for the clock to struck midnight, signalling the change of day to Christmas time!