Guess you know why I’m here writing again… and you’re right, my wandering self took me last weekend to 2 provinces of Region 1.
To give you a brief detail of Region 1 or commonly known as Ilocos Region, it has 4 provinces namely Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan and La Union. Almost 60% of its population speaks Ilocano/Ilokano.
Had my trip with my college mates partnering with Triostars TravelandTours. To give you a complete details of our tour, please see below:
ITINERARY (Vigan-Laoag-Pagudpud)
Day 0 (Thursday)
2200 – ETD to Ilocos
Day 1 (Friday)
0534 – Arrived Ilocos Sur: Vigan (UNESCO world heritage, 7 wonders)
0600 – Breakfast: Hidden Garden Café
0730 – Leave café
0800 – Arrived at Baluarte
0830 – Leave Baluarte
0843 – Bantay Church plus Bantay Belfry
0920 – Leave
1100 – Arrived Batac, Ilocos Norte
**deathbed of Late Marcos
**stop at atm machine
1200 – Lunch at Batac: Food Plaza
1230 – Done lunch
1250 – Arrived at Paoay: Saint Augustine Church or Paoay Church (UNESCO World Heritage)
1320 – Leave Paoay
1350 – Malacañang of the North
1430 – Paoay Sand Dunes
1600 – Done; off to accommodation
1630 – Checked in at Paty Garden Inn
1830 – Leave base
1910 – Dinner: Rafael’s
1945 – Dinner finish
2000 – Stop at La Preciousa for some sweets
2010 – Off to Laoag Park; socials
2040 – Leave Park
2100 – Back to Accom
2200 – Lights off; Rest
Day 2 (Saturday)
0530 – Wake up/wash up
0600 – Breakfast c/o accommodation
0645 – Getting ready; prepare
0710 – Leave accommodation
0800 – Burgos lighthouse
0910 – Leave Lighthouse
0915 – Kapurpurawan Rock formation
1040 – Leave Kapurpurawan
1100 – Bangui windmills
1210 – Leave Bangui
1220 – Lunch: Kangkang’s windmill café
1310 – Leave Kangkang’s
1330 – Stopped at Pagudpud’s arch
1400 – Stopped at Patapat Viaduct
1420 – Stopped at Bantay Abot Cave
1440 – Pagudpud beach
1625 – Leave Pagudpud
1830 – Arrived at Laoag: Dinner at La Preciosa
2010 – Left Resto
2030 – Back to accommodation
2100 – Lights off; rest
Day 3 (Sunday)
0600 – Wake up/wash up
**breakfast
0730 – Checked out
0820 – Back to Marcos deathbed (mausoleum)
0855 – Stopped at Ilocos Norte Arch
1030 – Back to Vigan
**roam around Crisologo St
**souvenir shopping
1200 – Lunch at Café Leona
1300 – Lunch done
1310 – Leave Vigan
1340 – Stopped at Old Quirino Bridge
1940 – NLEX stopped: Dinner at KFC
2030 – Leave NLEX
2200 – Arrived MNL
EXPENSES:
- VAN c/o TRIOSTAR Traveland Tours for more info visit their facebook page at TRIOSTAR TravelandTours
**I recommend you our driver, Kuya Ryan (+63927.572.6065) – he’s bisaya, a native from Bukidnon, a very smooth driver and knows his ways on the road.
- ACCOMMODATION at Paty Garden Inn at Laoag c/o TRIOSTAR Traveland Tours but if you want more choices you can check Ilocos Norte List of Hotel/ Accommodations
-
MEALS:
Breakfast
Hidden Garden Cafe at Vigan – 150 (longsilog (vigan longanisa and a choice of coffee or hot choco)
**set meals rate from 150-200/pax
2nd and 3rd day breakfast c/o Paty Garden (silog meals)
Lunch
1st day: Food Plaza at Laoag – 112 (bagnet, rice, pakbet, enchelada)
**it’s a carinderia, lots of choices
2nd day: didn’t eat lunch, so full due to the empanada
3rd day: Cafe Leona at Vigan – 300/pax (bento box)
**fine dining restaurant, a bit pricey
Dinner
1st day: Rafael’s at Laoag – 37 (fish fillet and rice)
**lots of choices, food’s delicious
2nd day: La Preciosa at Laoag – 350/pax since we had sharing and we include Kuya Ryan as well
3rd day: KFC at NLEX stop over – 99 (1 pc chicken w/ soup)
SNACKS
1st day:
a slice of Mango cheesecake at La Preciosa – 100
330ml bottled water – 12
2nd day:
Empanada at Kapurpurawan – 50/pax
-
SITES:
Bantay Church – no fee, donation only
Malacañang North – 30/pax
Paoay Sand Dunes – 500/pax (4×4 ride plus sandboarding)
Kapurpurawan Rock Formation – 15/pax
Blue Lagoon Beach, Pagudpud – 20/pax
CR at Pagudpud – 10/pax
-
SOUVENIRS
Ref Magnet at Bangui – mini-windmill 5pcs for 100 plus 2
Key Chains at Vigan – 3pcs for 25(2)
Vigan shirts – colored/black at 150, white at 100 bought 2 shirts black and white (250)
HELPFUL WORDS:
-
Agyamanak – Thank you
-
Good morning – Naimbag a bigat
-
Good afternoon – Naimbag a malem
-
Good evening – Naimbag a sardam
-
How much? – Sagmamano daytoy?
-
Where is.. – Sadino ti…
-
Ay-ayatin ka – I love you
-
Sarabo – Arrival
-
Paoit – Departure
-
Iduron – Push
-
Guyoden – Pull
COMMUTING TO ILOCOS: haven’t tried this one yet but I researched some of the possible buses that will take you from Manila to Ilocos, for more details you can contact them, if not try googling it as well.
-
Dominino Lines Manila – 741-4146
-
Fariñas – 732-4507
-
GV Florida – 781-5849
-
Maria de Leon – 09167172545 & 09093449661
-
Partas – 743-3242
-
RCJ Bus Lines – 741-2994
-
Viron Transit – 741-6588
TIPS:
-
If you’re doing the ILOCOS TOUR better stay at Laoag as it’s the middle and accessible as well
-
Perhaps you’ll be disappointed with VIGAN because it just looked ordinary but for me it’s beautiful, good thing they still preserved the old-style look in their buildings
-
You can tour VIGAN via CALESA (horse-drawn carriages) or tricycle or you can rent a bicycle as well
-
Food specialty in ILOCOS are Bagnet, Morcon (embutido), longanisa and its empanada (can be considered a full meal: rice powder, longaniza, egg and plus more ingredients)
-
PAGUDPUD’S beach is not advisable to swim as the waves are strong, but if you’re a SURFER and would love to play with the waves then don’t forget to bring your surfboards
-
Make sure your camera’s ready as well as the memory of your phone and your battery’s fully charged or bring a powerbank with you the sceneries worth taking a picture
-
Bring some snacks along the way as the travel time’s quite long
-
There’s no clubs at LAOAG so if you’re into it then stay at VIGAN then.
-
You can buy SALT and GARLIC, they produces plenty of it, not sure as to when is the DRAGON FRUIT season but ILOCOS has it too.
-
SHOES comes in handy during the SAND DUNES activity
