Ilocos Day1a: Paoay!!!

#traveltuesday

I remember how my friend Xiela would lovingly spell this hometown of hers as phawaii when we were in college.  Haven't been to this northern part of the Philippines back then so I just assumed that the beaches here can be compared to that of Hawaii's.  It was only after this trip when I realized why she's so proud of its beauty.  I mean why wouldn't she?  This place has got lots to offer for tourists.

We availed the services of a group tour referred to me by a friend who visited here a month earlier.  The driver picked us up from our hotel around 9 AM in the morning.  And our first stop is - the Paoay Sand Dunes.  

Why go to Dubai to experience sports in sand dunes when we have it right here in our country? Saveeeh??? Haha!  Obviously, for some people this was the highlight of their Ilocos trip like what my friend Randolph told me.  The thing is, yeah I think its fun to try sandboarding and everything but prolly not under the scorching heat of the sun around 10 AM when we are still fresh from shower and kitted out in our carefully picked clothes for the tour for the rest of the day.  Jeez.  

Not that we have something against the tour schedule or the driver.  As a matter of fact, I quite feel bad for him that we didn't get to experience it (you know how enthusiastic they are during tours).  But the 88km stretch of pure sand of landscape which is used as a shooting ground for some local films didn't offer a single inch of shading for us.  I mean, yes of course what do I expect?  We're not just ready to go down and dirty when we've got a whole lot (and I mean a loooot) of things in store for us that day.  In the end we just quickly posed by some nice backdrops and by the 4x4 vehicles that cost Php 2,500 to rent.  Sigh, it would've been such a thrill to ride that.

Our next stop is the so-called Malacaňang of the North - the former residence/ mansion of the late president Ferdinand Marcos which is now turned into a museum of his memorabilia.  

Upon entrance, a tour guide will happily assist you to the two-storey mansion's seven rooms : the Study (contains the late president's book collections), Agriculture (his programs on boosting rice production), Diplomacy (about international trade relations), OFW (a tribute for overseas workers), Culture (a program strongly upheld by then first lady), Nation Building (infrastructure programs including some scale models of the bridges he built) and Family (the late president as a family man, there were no Borgy sighting in here, hahaha!!!).  Each room provides the tourists with a glimpse of history and iconic images of the Marcos era.  Being Imeldific myself, I was hoping to catch even just an image of the first lady's erm shoe collection.  Haha!

But you know what my favorite part of that mansion is???  The veranda that overlooks the legendary Paoay Lake!!!  Aaaah, so lovely!!!  What I wouldn't give to have a house with a terrace like this?

We also learned about the mystery of this lake,

"As the story goes, the lake was once a place called San Juan de Sagun, the Philippines’ very own Sodom and Gomorrah. Due to the materialism of its people that angered God, an earthquake sank the town thus, the birth of the lake. Up to this day, Ilocanos still believe that the fishes and creatures in the deepest part of the lake are decorated with earrings and crowns because these were ones the materialistic people of the vanished town."

We were also told that congresswoman Imee Marcos (who we personally met on our Day 2) is looking at turning the lake into a water sports complex.  Since I haven't tried wakeboarding myself, I would really love for this to happen.  I can't wait to go back and see this beautiful lake again.  :)

A favorite picture by the veranda:

Click below for more pics: 

Ilocos Day2b: Bangui Windmills and Pagudpud

#traveltuesday

Looks like I’m back to my regular blogging track (:P), so let me continue the Part 2 of our Ilocos Day 2 tour.  After the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation visit where we finished around lunchtime, our driver took us next to the Bangui windmills. 

Heavily popularized by the Asia’s songbird iconic video in a white long gown for a tourism campaign of the Philippines around 2010, the wind turbines face the South China Sea and and are used as environment friendly energy sources.  ( I remember this appearing in enumeration part of exams when I was in grade school, lol!) Prior to the trip, I look forward to seeing this and having a shoot session in a long white dress too (gaya-gaya lang?? haha!) until I saw some pictures from friends who visited Ilocos prior to our trip and my excitement was focused on the rock formation. 

There was no further attraction in here so again, we just lingered for a few moments for some photo-ops.

We were so hungry by the time we reached Pagudpud, our last stop.  But ‘twas okay since we’ll finally get to have some zexy time by the beach at Hannah’s resort.  But prior to that, we had a humble lunch in one of the small stores there (had a grilled yellowfin tuna which Jace didn’t particularly like, haha!) and didn’t rent a cottage anymore since we’re staying for half a day and it was a bit pricey. 

We’re about to leave the place to explore another beach when I finally convinced Leq to do the zipline with me.  The label says it is the longest zipline in the Philippines and it was my first time to do something that traverses the beach.  Yay!  

Kudos to Leq for doing the activity with me.  She's got this fear of heights that she was able to conquer here.  Haha!

After this, we decided to just stay and take a dip.

Here's a fun .gif of our Pagudpud jumpshot!

For dinner, the driver took us to La Preciosa but I'll blog about the foodie separately.  Ciao for now. :D

Ilocos Norte - Day 2a (Burgos)

#traveltuesday

Our 1st stopover was at the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse.  It is considered a cultural heritage structure in Burgos Ilocos Norte and was built during the Spanish era.  The travel time was atleast one and half hour from the hotel and we had to drive up a steep hill from the highway to access it.  But the view of the South China Sea was rewarding.

John didn't feel like climbing up the concrete stairs up to enter the lighthouse so we just got up a few stairs for some photo-ops.  LOL!

The second stopover was at the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation.  I posted some of my "couture" shots (lol!) in here thanks to the horse guide who volunteered himself to be my photographer.  LOL!  He led me all along where to stand, strike a pose and which angle of the rock formation to take and for that he was rewarded with a generous tip.  I was satisfied with the shots, thanks very much.  Haha!!!  Anyway, this structure was just a few minutes away from the lighthouse and is still part of Burgos municipality.  I remember the van taking a left turn from the highway where we passed through atleast 3 km of pebbly road that led us to this view:

You have to go down to the sea level to have a first glimpse of the rock formation itself.  

Horseback riding is one of the features to reach the structure although there is an established trail for those who prefer to hike.  Since I haven't ridden a horse in my entire life (shame I know, *facepalm*), I decided to give it a try.  The fee wasn't that expensive too (~2 USD).  

John and Leq decided to join me with the horseriding while the couple Gretch and Keneith took the trail.  Errm, I believe I got a smaller horse for myself (poor pony) but according to "Kuya" this is the regular native size of horses in Ilocos.  Hmmmm.......

Keneith took a shot of us while riding the horses and I love that this looked like a capture from a film.  Hehehe. :P

After a few minutes, we were beholding the natural beauty of the rock formation.  Kapurpurawan as explained to me by the guide means kaputiputian in Tagalog (a superlative form of the color white) to describe the limestone formation.  What's amazing with these rocks is the fact that they were sculpted from the natural forces of the ocean and weather conditions.  

Here's a non-instagrammed picture of me in the formation.  For a fleeting moment, I was tempted again to post my solo shots here.  Haha!!!  This place is just too beautiful for words,  not a single picture can justify its beauty.  Definitely worth the visit in Ilocos and all the more proves the tourism tagline true - its more fun in the Philippines! :)

Since the first half of Day 2 was too much for a single post, I will blog about the other half separately.  Also, I decided to work on the second day of our Ilocos tour first because Day 1 was just too complex with a lot of itinerary.  Haha!!! Stay tuned! :D