Ilocos Norte

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Ilocos Norte leaves nothing to be desired. I absolutely loved it.

At the northern most part of Luzon, Ilocos Norte boasts similar attractions as Ilocos Sur but what made me like this place more were its people. They were friendlier, more trustworthy and as inspired by the shirt one bus conductor was wearing, are more customer oriented. Of course, the ‘M’ in customer was inspired by the golden arches. Hey, what did you expect?

By the way, they do not have internet access – something that I am happy they don’t.

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From Vigan, we headed off to Batac, as one blog that I usually visit persisted that I should go there. As my “Lonely Planet: South East Asia on a Shoestring” ends in Vigan, I did not know any special particular place to unravel. With that, we instead headed off to Jollibee and Chowking, the country’s own set of fast food chains. After we stuffed ourselves with chicken and Filipino style spaghetti, we soon discovered a flock of tourists from Manila heading off to a particular section of the town and exactly the opposite of the local church. As it turned out, it was Former President Ferdinand Marcos’ Mausoleum.

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Made famous by Martial Law and a first lady with a ridiculous attraction towards pomp and shoes, I believe (and correct me if I’m wrong) he was rejected a burial because of his much anti-revered run as the president. The Mausoleum claims it has the body of the president under some chemical concoction, preventing it from decay. Protected by a glass coffin like Snow White, the room was cold and had an eerie CD playing on loop (I believe it was Gregorian). Some skeptics claim that the body in the mausoleum is no longer his but a wax replica. Then again, with a set up like that, it sure induces something more sinister than wax. In retrospect, that is actually quite unfortunate since “scary” wasn’t really what they’re aiming for.

We then headed off to Paoay to check out the San Agustin Church. It was about more than an hour on a jeepney and we were greeted by possibly the most dramatic thing I have encountered in this trip, thus far. Given that the Ilocos region is punctuated by a baroque church every 10 minutes, this church exudes something different as it wears the word ‘old’ with zest. From the people that have been there, they recommended that I should try their local halo-halo (a local dessert) as eating something sweet and cold in Ilocos makes it even more tasty but unfortunately, they were closed. We thought of going into the church but as we weren’t really up to par with their dress code, we opted not to slip in as we might offend some of the people there. This actually got me thinking: I couldn’t fathom wearing those archaic suits and trousers they once wore: it is absolutely insane. I would probably take a bath every two hours… or maybe less.

Still full from our Batac binge, we then went off to Laoag, Ilocos Norte’s capital. What greeted us there were about the same population of tricycles as Vigan however with much smaller side cars. After much deliberation, we were recommended to visit the local museum. Funnily enough, the guy who recommended it to us almost released a smirk with a tinge of sarcasm towards it. The museum itself wasn’t that bad. It only reiterated what I already knew but what makes it special is its gift shop: absolutely cool. One has to check out those oversized tobaccos as far as I’m concerned.

Already weary of the fumes, we then decided to press on to Pagudpud, a beach located at the northern part of Norte and brags about its white sand. On that two hour bus ride, we were welcomed by very friendly people who actually do make you feel welcome by leaving you alone. I know that’s pretty ironic but I really appreciated the distance they imposed compared to the people in Vigan who basically pushed themselves at you.

Anyway, the trip to Pagudpud was made even more interesting by the Bangui windmills, an attempt to try wind power in sustaining the increasing electricity consumption of the region. When we arrived at the Pagudpud town proper, which is honestly one of the most pleasant things I’ve ever seen in Ilocos, we hopped onto a tricycle which delivered us to one of the local resorts. We asked him to drop us off at the cheapest one that he knows of and in fact, he does… it’s just that it doesn’t have a beachfront like the other resorts in the area. Ah, beggars can’t be choosers.

Pagudpud was a really nice beach. We arrived there before sunset and it was absolutely breathtaking. The sand was as yellow as the sun and the surf as pristine and perfect. Compared to the other beaches I’ve been to, it has a relatively deep drop after the shore but nothing too dramatic. Flocked by city dwellers and as one renamed it, Pagod-Pagod, a tagalog play on words meaning very exhausting, it offers a relatively more up-market approach to lethargic beach living (our room was PhP2,000.00 and was the cheapest). By the way, they do not have internet access – something that I am happy they don’t.

That’s about it. We headed off back to Baguio carrying about 10 kilos of local desserts that would make a dentist faint. Up next: I have absolutely no idea.