Laoag and Paoay, Ilocos Norte (in English)

After our trekking to Mt. Pinatubo, we stayed at Mr. Blue Hotel and Traveller's Inn in Capas, Tarlac for the night. It costs us 900 pesos for 12 hours. Address: McArthur highway, Sto. Domingo II tel.nr.: 045-6150820. On April 28, 2009, we rode a jeepney at around 4:30 am in going to Capas junction. At the side of the Caltex gasoline station, we waited for the first bus with destination of either Laoag or Vigan that came along the way. Combining trekking to Mt. Pinatubo and going to Ilocos province is not so crazy after all. At Capas junction, buses going to the north such as Baguio frequently passes by.

The bus we rode is Dominion lines and paid a price of 453 pesos per person until Vigan. At around 10:00 am, we reached the province of Ilocos Sur. We arrived in Vigan at around 1 pm and had lunch at Chow King. We then rode a tricycle to reach Partas terminal in going to Laoag. It was crowded in the terminal. We had no choice but to stand in the bus for an hour. It took us two hours to reach our destination.

We finally arrived in a dormitory in Laoag located at Bgy. 10 Lagasca St. near the Overseas Technical institute. Our contact person is Manny Manuel with tel.nr.: 0919-2570621. One room consists of two double decked beds. One bed costs 200 pesos per person so it is advantageous if you are with four persons. We had to pay the whole room so it became 800 per night. Otherwise it is better to check-in in a hotel where the rate is almost the same. The advantage in a dormitory is that we could wash our dirty clothes and hang them to dry. The room has fan and the the use of toilet and bath is communal. It is clean though.

We ate at La Preciosa Fine Dining and Catering Services located at J.P. Rizal Street. We tasted the best pinakbet adn poki-poki there. The coffee is a strong one and the carrot cake is also delicious. We loved eating in this reataurant. Check out their website for more information: http://lapreciosa-ilocos.com/content/menus.php

GOING TO PAOAY

On april 29, 2009 at 7 am, we left the dormitory, hailed a tricycle and asked to be dropped off at the jeepney terminal going to Paoay. The fare is 33 pesos per person. It took almost an hour to reach the town because the jeepney driver had to pick up passengers along the way.

St. Augustine church or better known as Paoay church with its bellfry tower stands out in the town. Opposite the church is a town plaza with fountain. Next to it is Herencia Cafe, a good restaurant which caters to creative food like pinakbet and dinuguan pizzas. For a mixture of vegetarian and pinakbet pizza, we paid 450 pesos. A big empanada which is orange in color costs 30 pesos each. Drinks like calamansi juice is 45 pesos.

After lunch, we headed to Paoay lake and Malacanang of the North. A tricycle hire costs 200 pesos and the driver waited for an hour so we could explore the interior of Malacanang of the North. The entrance fee is 20 pesos per person. Personally, I did not find these two very special.

André fell in love with the Paoay church. He took pictures of the church at different angles and at different time intervals. We waited until the sun went down for more dramatic shots.

The last trip of jeepneys from Paoay to Laoag is until 6 pm. We hired a tricycle for 300 pesos to bring us back to the dormitory in Laoag at around 7:30 pm. The trip was less than 45 minutes. Cora, the waitress at Herencia Cafe offered their tricycle to us for the said hired rate.

AROUND LAOAG

After our early breakfast at La Preciosa on April 30, 2009, we visited Malacanan ti-Amiana (Ilocandia museum). It is opened every Tuesday to Sunday at 9 am-4:30 pm. The entrance fee is 20 pesos per person. This is a very interesting museum because it features items of the ethnic groups and tribes of the region. There is also a museum house called Tabacalera with its antique interiors.

There is also the sinking bell tower and William's cathedral at Castro Ave. The church is of baroque style.

We should have eaten at Samsaram Cafe which has a similarity to Herencia Cafe. Unfortunately, it opens at around 12 noon so it is a missed opportunity because we left for Vigan at around 11 am.