A TRAVELOGUE OF ILOCOS

[Photo: Bangui Wind Farm. Ilocos Norte.]

The Bangui Wind Farm is located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The wind farm uses 20 units of 70-metre (230 ft) high Vestas V82 1.65 MW wind turbines, arranged on a single row stretching along a nine-kilometer shoreline off Bangui Bay, facing the South China Sea. (Wikipedia)

I thought these wind turbines were silent electricity generators. But when you go to the beach you hear the sound of giant propellers rotating slowly. I read one blog claiming that the wind turbines were reducing the catch of fish in the area.

May 2011 has been a memorable month for me because for the first time in years (about three decades really), I have been able to go on a holiday with my siblings. Only our brother who was in the US was absent. But all the four of us having a holiday together is something that I hope can happen in the near future, hopefully as early as next year.

I have been to Ilocos once before. That was in the 1980s and it was limited to Vigan. We took an Isuzu van, not a comfortable vehicle to start with. The trip was so long and so tiring that I promised not to go back.

I changed my mind in 2011. I had hoped to join the educational trip organized by a professor of Philippine and Church history a couple of months before. But he said that all the slots had been taken. So it was wonderful news when one sibling decided to spend her birthday by organizing a tour of Ilocos with us.

We took a PAL flight to Laoag in the morning. We immediately went to Rosewell Hotel where we deposited our bags. Since it was lunch time already, we took a tricycle to La Preciosa. The restaurant was highly recommended by the travel book that my sister brought along. I must say that the ‘bagnet’ and ‘pinakbet’ were delicious.

Our tour on a tricycle began after lunch. We visited St. William cathedral and the sinking belfry. The belfry was not attached to the church but a good distance away. Also near the cathedral was the plaza where a monument to the tobacco monopoly was erected. After some picture-taking we took the tricycle to the sand dunes of La Paz. We did not see any sand surfers, perhaps because it was already late in the afternoon. But we did see other tourists. On the way back, our tricycle got a flat tire. The driver was kind enough to hail another tricycle to bring us back to the hotel.

On the second day of the tour we went to Paoay, Currimao and Batac.

Paoay, of course, is best known for the Church of St. Augustine, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Travel books often mention a curiously-designed house in Paoay. It is octagonal in shape. We had the good fortune of meeting Mrs. Rosario Pobre, the owner, and of being invited to see the interior. She was so hospitable that she insisted on giving us chichacorn (crispy corn kernels) and Bugnay wine (made from wild black berries with 12% alcohol content).

There are two places of interest in Currimao. The first is the swimming area. It is not a sandy beach at all but rock (or is it coral?) formations where bathers can find shade from the sun and pockets of swimming holes. The other is the remains of a watch tower built to warn the people against marauding pirates.

Then we were off to Batac. Mention Batac and Ferdinand Marcos comes to mind. You’ll find there a museum where the embalmed body of Marcos rests. It looked like a wax statue to me. There is also the Malacanang of the North. There were two places inside that piqued my interest. The first was a small room on the ground floor that served as a mini-hospital. It reminded me of the mini-hospital that we saw in Malacanang when the palace was opened to the public after the EDSA revolution. The other was a spacious room for Imelda. How come she has a room for herself when there was already a master’s bedroom?

The third day of the tour brought us to Sarrat, Baccara, Pasuquin, Burgos, Bangui, and Pagudpud.

Sarrat is known for the Sta. Monica Church. It was there that Irene got married. Why Sarrat and not  Batac? Because the church at Sarrat was longer than that of Batac and therefore would do justice to the long train of Irene’s wedding gown.

Pasuquin is known for biscocho and salt. My sisters bought 1 kg of salt each. The Pasuquin bakery offered two kinds of biscocho: The hard toasted biscocho with which we are familiar and the soft biscocho (which looks like monay or pan de lemon to me).

Our first stop in Burgos was Cape Bojeador. On a hill there stands an old lighthouse which until today is a beacon of light to boats passing in the area. After lunch at a restaurant at the foot of the hill, we proceeded to the Kapurpurawan limestone rock formation. First, it didn’t look like limestone to me. I think it is sand stone. Second, it’s not a breath-taking formation. The most you can say is that it is outstanding, because its shape and color makes it stand out. You should bring an umbrella or hat and water with you. It’s quite a walk to reach it and the sun can dehydrate you.

Pagudpud is known for its white beaches. It has been called the Boracay of the North. But really its beaches can never compete with the fine white sand and crystal waters of Boracay.

Vigan. The fourth and fifth leg of the tour.

We had the misfortune of getting on a slow-moving non-air conditioned bus and so it took us more than three hours to reach Vigan.

Our lodging (we can boast) used to host Tom Cruise when he filmed "Born on the Fourth of July" way back in 1989. And we, in fact, stayed in the very room where he used. Piolo Pascual, too, (if you want to know) also stayed in that house. But he occupied the room across ours. If you’re curious about the house, it is Villa Angela. (But management needs to do some restoring. If you've been to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, you'll know what I mean.)

It was already dark when we ventured outside in search of a place to eat supper. One of my sisters suggested we go to Café Leona since the guide books were recommending it. It is at the end of Crisologo street, near the cathedral. We were deeply disappointed. I wouldn't recommend eating there, ever. Supper was probably re-heated food that had been cooked for lunch. I googled the restaurant and read a lot of complaints. You have been forewarned.

The following day was spent sight-seeing. On the itinerary were St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral, the house of Fr. Burgos, St. Augustine Church in Bantay, a pottery-making shop and Cristy’s Loom Weaving shop. The belfry of St. Augustine Church is detached from the church itself just like the other churches in Ilocos.

But we had to go back to Laoag to catch our plane back to Manila. A tricycle brought us to Partas terminal. We did not have to wait too long for the bus to leave. We alighted right in front of Rosewell Hotel. Since it was well past lunch time, we deposited our bags and took a tricycle for Saramsam restaurant. It was also recommended by the travel books. We were not disappointed. The food was good.

In all the places we visited, one cannot deny the impact of the Church in the Philippines. You just have to look at the names of the places and the churches that you find in them. For this reason the result of a study by Eon Philippines is not at all surprising: “The Church is the most trusted institution while the government remains the least trusted institution in the country.” It is not that the Church (that means the leaders and its members) is perfect. It is certainly not. It must undergo continued conversion. But for all its faults, it still is credible enough to earn the peoples’ trust.