In the northern portion of Ilocos Region (Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur) is the original Ilocano homeland. Originally composed of a single province known as Ilocos Province, it used to cover the western part of Northern Luzon and today, the Ilocos Region includes four provinces.
Okay, I just got that from this Wikipedia article since I don't know how to start lol. Anyways, I want to share our awesome experience in Ilocos. We went there in the midst of summer, May 2014 for 4 days and 3 nights.
How to get there?
When going to Ilocos, you can take two options: by land or by air. You can take a bus that will get you to Vigan, Laoag or Pagudpud, drive for long hours, or book a flight to Laoag. We already had a plane ticket (LAO-MLA) going home that we got on a seat sale a couple of months ago so we took the bus going to Vigan. |
| Destination: Vigan |
There are several bus lines that serve the Ilocos route. Originally we planned for a sleeper bus but unfortunately there was a terrible accident that involves the bus company with the sleeper buses. We took Partas instead and only got a standard seat since we arrived at the bus terminal a little late.
For the bus tickets, I cant remember the exact amounts but here's a little range (per person):
Partas Bus Line (Pasay - Vigan)
- PhP 600 - Standard (AC)
For the Air Fare (per person):
- PhP 685.00 - Cebu Pacific LAO-MLA
Where to Stay?
We actually don't have any reservation in any inn or transient house when we got to Ilocos. We just googled some possible places and looked for it along the way. We we're just looking for a basic accomodation so we just stayed at backpacker hotel in Laoag which is sitting in the city proper. While we stayed at a home stay in Saud Beach.Saud Beach or Blue Lagoon?
If beach bumming is all you want with peace and quiet, I suggest Saud Beach where you can just enjoy the sand and blue waters with the view of the Bangui Wind Farm. But if you want some activities go to Blue Lagoon which you can wave and kite surf, ride the banana boat and zip line across the blue water. Blue Lagoon have more resorts around the area.Tours?
My friend got Kuya Arnel's number in pinoyexchange. He then contacted Arnel for our tours in pagudpud. Arnel has many recommendations in a lot of blogs, I recommend him as well. Here's his number: 0906-938-8308 / 0918-689-07-23 *Remember its more cheap, if you have bigger groupFIRST STOP: VIGAN
We arrived at Partas Bus Terminal in Vigan, around 6am (a little tired since I didn't sleep well on the bus. Go to the bus terminal early so you can get a deluxe bus and have more comfort during the ride. It's around 8-9 hour bus ride). Upon arriving, I called our contact for our tours for the first day. I got our contact from my aunt which she refered. We got the tour for PhP 3,850.00, which is PhP 550.00 per person (7pax).Vigan Heritage Village
Heritage Village is about 10 minute walk from the bus station so we went ahead there. See map here.
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| Calle Crisologo |
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| Heritage Village in the early morning |
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| Many of the houses within the Heritage Village are souvenir shops |
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| Crowded street of Calle Crisologo yet, the street looks more appealing at night (taken from a different trip) |
We wanted to order Ilocos Empanada but unfortunately, they are still making it.(maaga nga kasi kami haha) So we instead ordered Vigan longanisa and "sinanglao" which is beef innards .
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| Sinanglao (kinda like papaitan but not mapait) |
- PhP 10 - Longanisa Vigan (per piece)
- PhP 10 - Rice
- PhP 30-50 Sinanglao (free "sabaw" refill)
- PhP 35-40 Ilocos Empanada
Bantay Church and Bell Tower
After having breakfast, we waited for the shuttle for our tour. When it arrived, we headed to Bantay Bell Tower besides Bantay Church.
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| Bantay Church |
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| Bantay Bell Tower "Since 1591" |
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| Entrance is free in the bell tower, however you can donate any amount you wish, you can also go inside and climb up. |
Hidden Garden
Next to our tour is Hidden Garden. Yes its a garden filled with different plants and bonsai trees that you can also buy. I also saw some bird cages with I think some parrots on it.
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| Statue displays at the entrance |
Entrance is free but their restrooms have a fee. One of their restroom's wall is glass (dont worry no one can see you) which on the other side is a closed room with plants and only the roof is open ( a nice view when doing your thing). They also have souvenir items that you can buy btw.
They also have a restaurant, Lilong and Lilang (Lilong means grandfather or a very old man while Lilang is the counterpart). The restaurant serves different Ilocos food like Vigan Longanisa, Bagnet and the one we're looking for, Ilocos Empanada. They also serve fruit shakes
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| Vigan Empanada + Watermelon Shake |
- PhP 40 - Ilocos Empanada
- PhP 80 - Fruit Shakes (Avocado, Watermelon, Orange, Apple, etc)
Baluarte
We skipped Baluarte since we already had been there, so here are some photos of animals you can see there:
Barangay Pagburnayan
After Hidden Garden, we did a quick drop by to Barangay Pagburnayan for jar making (pottery). You'll see the jars or vases made from clay along the road. We approach one house and went inside to saw the actual jar. They'll show you first how to make it, then you can try it later if you want your hands to get dirty. They don't charge anything in the place, but it should be nice to give them any amount you can.
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| A local jar maker showing us how to make jars |
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| It's the same jar from the photo above, (nope, not ruined, just adding details) |
SECOND STOP: PAOAY & LAOAG
Paoay ChurchAfter washing my hands, we headed to Paoay (less than 2 hour ride from Vigan), wherein the majestic Paoay Church, Sand Dunes, Malacañang of the North and Paoay Lake is. Its also where Herencia Cafe(famous for pinakbet pizza) is located.
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| Kaway-kaway sa Paoay |
We first went to Paoay Church and It was just wow, truly magnificent structure. At the bell tower side of the church is a small garden and souvenir shop. We bought a rosary from it.
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site: San Agustin Church of Paoay |
Marcos Museum
It was lunchtime when we got to Paoay so after checking out the church, we decided to eat in Herencia Cafe. Unfortunately, the restaurant was full at the moment so we just went first to Marcos Museum in Batac. There, you will see a lot of Marcos memorabilia. There's a PhP 50 entrance fee btw
A lot of photographs, and stuffs that Marcos used during his time from being a representative till he became the president. What I actually want to see there is the Mausoleum. No camera allowed so I don't have any photos. When I went inside, I don't know what to feel. I'm just curious if the body is real or not, but I cant tell hehe. It's too far to observe anyway.
Herencia Cafe
After that, we went back to Paoay and ate at Herencia Cafe. We wanted to try the "pinakbet pizza" but unfortunately it was sold out. So a disappointment for me, second time in Ilocos still haven't tried it. Their food btw is not so pricey, around PhP 200-300 for dish which is good for 2-3 person. Didn't have any photos since I'm so hungry and forgot to take it. We are 7 in a group and we shared not less than PhP 200 each.
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Sand Dunes
Next on our tour is Sand Dunes! I always wanted to try sand boarding and this is my chance. But it was not, our tour guide got some problem and needed to end the tour short.
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| Only photo I shot in Sand Dunes |
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| That pose are convincing them to ride the 4x4 Truck with a GoPro (grabbed from my friend's FB) |
So we just took some pictures. Anyways, I got the rates here:
- PhP 2500-3000 - 4x4 truck (max of 5pax for 1 hour, sand boarding included)
- PhP 1000 - ATV
I highly suggest to try this place. It's affordable (see menu here) and the food is great. A must try when you go to Laoag (btw, they also offer pinakbet pizza but we haven't tried since its sold out again)
This ends our first day in our Ilocos adventure, NEXT STOP: BURGOS, BANGUI and PAGUDPUD .
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