Last Trip of 2012: Ilocos Sur & Ilocos Norte

My guy friends planned a trip to Ilocos, where one of our friends got a family beach house.  They tagged me along since I wasn't doing anything those days. A Lithuanian couch surfer also joined us, since he's in the Philippines for a short vacation. We left Manila at around 5pm on December 28; and we had a stop at NLEX and another one at Rosales, Pangasinan. After 8 hours on the road, we arrived in Vigan, Ilocos Sur at 2am. We had a quick meal at Rizal Park in Santo Domingo, a town near Vigan. The next town was Magsingal, where our friend's place was. We slept from 4am to 11am and headed out after lunch to explore Ilocos Sur. The last time I've been to Ilocos Sur and Norte was 7 years ago, during our field trip in Art Studies class. 

So here's a rundown of the places in Ilocos Sur that we've visited:

1. Crisologo Museum - the ancestral house of the Crisologo's, one of the most influential families in Ilocos Sur.

2. Baluarte - the house and ranch of Chavit Singson, a famous politician who loves collecting animals, even tigers!

3. Bell Belfry - the bell tower in St. Augustine church in Bantay, Ilocos Sur.

4. Calle Crisologo - a historic street in Vigan, which is listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

5. Sunset at the beach behind our friend's place in Magsingal - the sunset was so nice, plus the sand was so fine, although it's dark gray.

What's cool about this trip was, our friend's mom was also at their beach house and she was cooking for us while we were there. But of course, we paid for the groceries because only her cooking service was free. haha! We were also able to try the Ilocos miki, a super yummy noodle soup with special noodles called, "miki" that's only available in Ilocos. Our friend's cousin cooked it for us and it was so addicting!:)

So that's our day 1. The next day (30th), we went on a 3-hr trip from Ilocos Sur to Ilocos Norte. We're supposed to swim at a beach in Pagudpud but due to a rainy weather, we were not able to swim. The waves were so huge and the weather was really cold. But at least we were still able to go around Ilocos Norte and visited the following sites:

1. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse - too bad it was prohibited to climb up the lighthouse itself because it's unsafe to do so.

2. Kapupurawan White Rock Formations - it's where Mario Maurer's tagalog movie, "Suddenly its Magic" was shot, plus some fake rock houses were built for "Si Enteng, Si Agimat, at Si Ako", an entry in the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival.

3. Bangui Windmills - it energy produced by the windmills supplies electricity to the nearby towns.

4. Pannzian Beach and Restaurant - we had late lunch there while it was storming outside; and we loved their adobo.

5. Patapat Bridge - it's a bridge where you can see an ocean on the left and a mountain on the right.

6. Hannah's Resort - one of the famous resorts in Pagudpud; it's where we had coffee since it's too cold to swim. You can also try Blue Lagoon in Pagudpud.

7. Paoay Church - a baroque church that's also one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Due to bad weather, we were not able to explore much of Ilocos Norte. But I still remembered the places we've visited 7 years ago during our Art Studies field trip. That time, we also visited the place of the Marcos family, where the former president's body was still being frozen. That experience really gave me goosebumps. It's so scary to see a dead person inside a glass freezer. Anyway, it's also nice to see the Paoay sand dunes where Panday and Himala was shot. It's like a huge desert. When I first went there, there's not much to do there, but now I've heard tourists can ride some ATVs while playing in the dunes. One place we have also visited 7 years ago was the the Laoag Sinking Bell Tower, as the name suggests, it was said to be sinking year after year. We've also worked on some pottery during our Art Studies field trip there.

Then we went back to the beach house in Ilocos Sur. The next morning, it was still cloudy so we were not able to swim at the beach. We just decided to leave early going back to Manila since it's the 31st of December and we had to catch the New Year's countdown.

The 2-day trip (not counting the days on the road) to Ilocos was quick yet fun. We were able to go to a lot of nice places there in a short span of time. And to talk about the budget, it was so cheap. We paid around Php 2,200 each, not including the pasalubong. So there were four of us and we just divided all the expenses by 4. Here's how much each of us paid:

1. Transportation (gasoline of Mazda 3) - 1,000

2. Food (groceries and snacks) - 1000

3. Toll Fees - 200

TOTAL: Php 2,200 (more or less)

And that's my last trip for 2012. Looking forward to more trips for 2013.:)

xoxo,
citygirl

Puerto Princesa Weekend (Day 3)

We have come to the last day of our PPS weekend. But it's the most important  day in our trip because it's the day we visited one of the New Wonders of Nature, the Underground River. I am proud to say that I was one of those who voted for it during the search for the New Wonders of Nature some time last year.

Anyway, after having breakfast at the hotel, the driver and our tour guide picked us up and we all headed to Sabang Port, which was around an hour and a half away from the city. While inside the van, April, our tour guide was briefing us on what to expect at the Underground River. We also chose among us who's supposed to stay in the front-most part of the boat to hold the lamp, which will serve as our light inside the Underground River. I got so scared when April told us about the wild monkeys around the walkway headed to the Underground River. She said, those wild monkeys grab "plastics" from anyone whenever they see one. Good thing we were not carrying anything plastic. haha!

monitor lizard

wild monkey

Since we have already preregistered for the Underground River tour during our first day in PPS, we just confirmed our registration at the Sabang Port then we were assigned to a small boat, which took us to the Underground River and back. When we got to the island, we registered again at the reception. Then we walked going to the main entrance of the Underground River. The path that we walked through was like a mini forest and the tour guide was right, the wild monkeys and monitor lizard were just everywhere. They looked scary but they won't attack you unless you attack them first. But hey, why would you do that?! LOL!

So after putting on our helmets and life jackets, we rode the boat and met our boatman, Kuya Piolo. Yeah, he got his nickname from the famous Filipino actor. haha! There were photographers also by the side of the island who took a photo of us while on the boat, before entering the cave. It's pitch black inside the cave and we were only guided by the light of the lamp being held by our friend who was in front. As the boatman was paddling, he's also pointing us to different rock formations. It's so cool because those rock formations got names. My favorite part was the Cathedral. It's like a big dome inside and there were rock formations of an angel, the nativity, three wise men, and more. After the 45-minute roundtrip tour inside the Underground River, we went back to the main entrance of the island where we claimed our group photos taken by the attraction's official photographers. We paid Php 35 each 'coz we only shared in one photo worth Php 250.

Then we headed back to Sabang Port. There we had buffet lunch, which was included in our Underground River Tour Package. After lunch, we rode the van and headed to the Ugong Rock caves. It took us around 30 minutes or less from Sabang Port to Ugong Rock caves. It was my first time to go caving, spelunking, and ziplining. So how's the experience It's super fun! So what we did first was to pay at the counter; Php 200 for the caving and spelunking on the way up and we had an option to go down through the same way at Php 200, or to go ziplining at Php 250. The zipline ride was the best! I came from  a height of 165 feet and it was so fast that I traveled 350 meters for only 21 seconds! We were surprised to see our photos upon going down. I bought one as a souvenir for Php 100, but they were so nice to have given us soft copies when we handed them our flash drive (USB). Oh, by the way, the cave was called "Ugong" because when you knock on some parts of the cave, they make a sound like a "gong".

So after the caving experience, we traveled for another hour until we got back to the hotel. After freshening up, we had dinner at the Big Flat Bread, the pizza house outside our hotel. They're known for their huge gourmet pizzas. We ordered the biggest sized one that had four flavors in one. Gosh, we were able to finish everything! My friends even said that I really eat like a man, because the whole time we were there in Puerto Princesa, I've been eating as much or even more than they did. LOL! Anyway, we paid around Php 250 each.

Then we finally headed to the airport through the hotel's free van service. It took us a while to check-in because the dried fishes and squids (worth more than Php 1000) bought by my friends were not allowed in their carry on baggage. The problem was, we didn't avail of check-in baggage prior to the trip. So, even if the stuff was wrapped well, and even if the vendor insisted earlier at the market that it's okay to hand-carry them, it was still denied by the ground officers. Buying a check-in baggage would've costed my friends an additional Php 700, so they just gave their a-thousand-worth of dried fish/squid to the security guard. So after check-in, we paid the terminal fee worth Php 200, and waited at the boarding gates.

We had a safe flight back to Manila. We are definitely coming back to Puerto Princesa to experience El Nido. And of course, Coron soon!:)

Total spending for the day (per pax):
1. Breakfast - FREE (included in the accommodation)
2. Underground River Tour - 1200 (supposedly 1500, but we got 20% discount)
3. Ugong Rock Adventures - 450 (200 caving/spelunking + 250 zipline)
4. Ecotourism fee - 40
5. Dinner - 250
TOTAL: 1,940 per pax

Note: Tip for tour guide and driver not included.

Not counting our personal expenses for pasalubong and souvenir photos, here's how much we've spent for our Puerto Princesa trip for 3 days and 2 nights:

A. Airfare & Accommodation Expenses - Php 4,200 

B. Pocket Money - Php 5,350
1. Day 1 - 1,970
2. Day 2 - 1,440
3. Day 3 - 1,940

GRAND TOTAL: Php 9,550

So that's it! I hope you can visit Puerto Princesa too.:)