Ilocos Norte Hotels
Ilocos Sur Hotels
Hotels in the PhilippinesLast year, I went on the most butt numbing trip of my life. The experience was quite rigorous yet the rewards of visiting some of the most alluring places I’ve ever visited were also very gratifying.
It all started smoothly enough when I flew to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Province from Manila.
It was very exciting for me since it was my first time to visit the northernmost parts of Luzon.
Tuguegarao City and Cagayan Province
I teamed up with travel buddy, Eric, to see the different attractions of Cagayan Valley and get a taste of provinces’ signature dishes: the pancit batil patong and pancit cabagan. We also had the chance to spend an afternoon in the famous church-like cavern of the Callao Cave and visit many fascinating churches in Cagayan Valley.
Arrival at the Tuguegarao Airport in Cagayan Province
Tuguegarao Cathderal
Buntun Bridge in Tuguegarao City
Pancit Batil Patong at Jomar’s Panciteria
Pancit Cabagan at Triple J Panciteria
Callao Cave in Peñablanca, Cagayan
Tumauini Church, Isabela Province
Our Lady of Piat Church in Piat, Cagayan Province
Oldest Church Bell in the Philippines at Calamaniugan Church, Cagayan
La-lo Church, Cagayan
Iguig Church, Cagayan
Cagayan Provincial Capitol
Buntun Bridge in Tuguegarao, Ilocos Norte
I was already filled with beautiful sights and delicious food in Cagayan but I still wanted to know what’s to see and experience in the northernmost tip of Luzon Island, I couldn’t resist venturing solo even further.
Ilocos Norte: Pagudpud, Laoag, and Paoay
A six hour bus ride took me to Pagudpud (Ilocos Norte), the northernmost town of mainland Luzon (not Aparri as what a local TV show in the 90s popularized). There was a lot to see in Pagudpud and nearby areas. Because of the town’s expansive white sand beaches, Pagudpud has been hailed as the “Boracay” of Northern Philippines. The raw beauty of its coastal sceneries are unlike any other place in the Philippines. I spent two days in Pagudpud, then it was time for a landtrip to Laoag City, which took the whole-day for me. A direct bus ride only takes two hours but I just had to make a few stops along the way. The vicinity of Laoag in itself is a nice place to visit. Laoag and its adjoining towns have a lot of remarkable churches and old structures such as the Paoay Church, which is included in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.
Saud Beach in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Trek to Kabigan Falls in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Tricycle Tour to Patapat Viaduct, Pagudpud
Blue Lagoon at Maira-ira Beach, Pagudpud
Giant Windmills at Bangui, Ilocos Norte
Cape Bojoeador Lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte
Kapurpurawan White Rock in Burgos, Ilocos Norte
Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
Cathedral of St. William the Hermit in Laoag City, Ilocos Sur
Marcos Museum in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte
Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte
View of Paoay Lake from the Balcony of the Malacañang of the North
Self-portait at the Malacañang of the North
Street sign at Batac City, Ilocos Norte
The bus ride to my next destination, the historic city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur, took around 3.5 hours. I was already starting to feel weary, in fact I slept right at the moment the bus left the terminal in Laoag. I usually stay awake during bus rides on the off chance I’d see interesting views.
Ilocos Sur: Vigan
Vigan is one of those places that immediately enters my mind whenever I think about “Traveling in the Philippines.” It’s sort of the pinnacle of Spanish-colonial heritage destinations in the country. In my opinion, there are grander structures elsewhere but there’s no other place in the Philippines where a considerable part of the city still has its old structures intact. Walking along the cobblestone streets of Calle Crisologo in Vigan and sleeping in an authentic Spanish-colonial house have long been a dream of mine … a wish come true for me!
Walking along Calle Crisologo in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
Spanish-colonial Houses and Cobble Stone streets of Calle Crisologo in Vigan
Spending the sunset at Bantay Belfry Tower
Vigan Metropolitan Cathderal, Ilocos Sur
Vigan Plaza
Enroute to Santa Maria: Quirino Bridge over the Abra River
Santa Maria Church
Bagnet and Vigan Longganisa at Cafe Una, Grandpa’s Inn in Vigan
UNESCO World Heritage Marker of the “Historic Town of Vigan”
Calle Crisologo at Night
My great experience in Vigan seemed to have invigorated my spirit to continue to my last destination. It was certainly a much needed boost in order to endure the 11-hour bus ride from Vigan to Baguio City.
Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet
I wasn’t a total stranger to Baguio. I had the chance to visit the “City of Pines” when I was in high school during an educational tour in Luzon. It was however my first time to explore the city on my own. I’ve really loved Baguio ever since. I want to live there so I can escape the heat of living in the lowlands. Sans the rapidly increasing overpopulation problem, Baguio for me is like a big garden city perched on a throne in the highlands. The highlight of my stay in Baguio was witnessing a dramatic sunset over the city from the balcony of SM Baguio. I never expected sunsets in Baguio could be so beautiful! I also had a great time walking around Camp John Hay’s expansive manicured parks and the Strawberry Fields of La Trinidad, Benguet.
Nostalgic sight of Baguio City’s Session Road
“Pinikpikan” Dinner at Cafe by the Ruins
Chancing upon a local ritual in front of the Baguio Cathderal
Burnham Park in Baguio City
American-colonial architecture of the Baguio City Hall
Everyday scenes at the Baguio Public Market
Lunch at Little John’s in Camp John Hay, Baguio
Photo-ops at the “secret garden” of Camp John Hay
The lush greeneries at the amphitheatre of Camp John Hay
Getting away from the crowd at Wright Park, Baguio City
Dense housing almost covering entire mountain tops at Baguio City
Amazing sunset view from the balcony of SM City Baguio
Commute to the “Lion’s Head” along winding Kennon Road in Baguio
Stop-over at Bell Church before heading out to La Trinidad
Strawberry Fields of La Trinidad, Benguet
Fresh pickings at the Strawberry vendors in La Trinidad
End
There was no other (practical) way of getting back to Manila from Baguio other than by road so I had to endure one last (5-hour) bus ride. My whole trip in and around Northern Luzon took a total of 11 days across 5 provinces and 1 independent city. Although it was one of my most exhausting trips, I’d do it again if I had the chance. There’s still so much more to see in Northern Luzon and a few places I want to come back to.
Captivating sunset on the flight back home, to Iloilo (from Manila).
My name is Marcos. I'm an off-beat explorer who loves to experience and capture the beauty of the Philippines and Asia. I started making a living online to support myself financially through my university degree. I've been living a location-independent digital lifestyle ever since. 
Love the photos! I like the shot of sunset from SM Baguio. What is your camera setting for that? tnx
Thanks James. It was a long exposure: F10, 30secs exposure, ISO200. Used a tripod and a circular polarizing filter to warm the photo a bit more.
na miss ko na to! im going back marawi thn tugaya this dec. tawi tawi on march
Ako rin, nakaka miss yung mga trips ko …. bago ko lng kase na post, haha. Aww… marawi and tawi-tawi
Hello,
Thanks for the nice photos. Where I can book the tour package or any other places you feature in this site? More power!
Hey Bill, I didn’t join organized tour groups in most of my trips. I usually research for my trips days/months before and use public transportation as much as I can. I don’t really have a lot of personal recommendations when it comes to tour packages.
great photos sir! as always =)
Thanks supertikoy, as always :D hehe
Thanks for your continued blogging. I’ve been to Pagudpud last year it issuch a nice place to relax and reflect. Vigan would give you a gimps of Ph colonial history. Sayang, you should have included Baluarte in your tour.
I would also suggest that you visit Sagada and Banaue. Visiting these places was one of the best trips i had.
Thanks to your post on Bacolod and Iloilo it really helped me a lot when I was there last week.
=)
Yeah, I really liked Pagupud too. Baluarte can wait, hehe. I was already feeling weary that time and wanted to have a more relaxed itinerary in Vigan … having leisurely stroll around town, sample food, take photos :D
I’ve already been to Sagada and Banaue, both were beautiful places to visit.
No problem Jherson, hope you enjoyed your visit to my hometown :) Ganda ng iti nyo sa Iloilo, andami nyo napuntahan in just a couple of hours.
very nice photo of Callao cave :) we’re planning to go there by next year, isa-isa lang muna per year, i wish i have the time and budget like you do :) anyway, wonderful blog :) more fun and interesting trips to come :)
Also hoping na tuloy-tuloy na nga yung travels ko. Thanks for dropping by Janet, wishing you an enjoyable trip to Cagayan Valley.
Argh, I’m jealous! Can I just say ang swerte nyo sa weather??? Ang ganda ng photos!!! =) Panalo ang mga itinerary posts mo. Thanks!
Thanks rica … Oo nga, and ganda ng weather nung trip kong to. My photos wouldn’t appear to be half as good if the weather didn’t cooperate. Na gulat nga ako nung na review ko yung pics, ang sarap balikan.
nice post Marcos, grabe ang ikli pa ng buhok mo dito, malapit na ba yung trip natin? :)
Meron pa talaga palatanda-an, how old this trip was. Medyo matagalan pa siguro Claire, but I’ll get there … in time.
I always wonder how you made those clouds appear so beautiful.. pano yan sa photoshop?.. hehe :) and mejo tame ang dagat sa saud that time.. :) at napakaelegante shot mo sa paoay lake.. :)
Bigla naman ako napa tingin sa raw (unedited .jpeg) files ko, hehe. I don’t always know why the scenes (I take) appear so nice in photos. I also get surprised whenever I review my shots and discover how great the lighting is. Like Rica guessed, I also think much of it has to do with the great weather and lighting conditions (time of day, cloud cover, etc…).
Ang ganda nga ng mga shots mo JeffZ! … Siguro ito na yung advantage of traveling solo. I get full control over my time. I can spend as much as I want on a place until I get the shots that I want … it’s not always, na picture-perfect yung mga destinations during arrival. Sometimes, you really have to plan ahead and wait for excellent conditions.
With regards to the blue sky and the “elegant” water shots. It really makes a difference to bring a circular polarizing filter (CPL). Even if you’re not an SLR user, you could just buy the CPL and hold it over your camera’s lens. During mid-day, a CPL could make the blueness of the sky deeper … tapos with water, it could eliminate the reflection / or enhance it (depending on the effect you want to acheive).
Like sa Saud Beach na photo, I eliminated the water reflection to give it a deeper blue and make it appear like it was calmer. Sa Paoay Lake naman, I didn’t eliminate the reflection because I liked how it mirrored the blue sky and cirrus cloud formation.
stunning shots!
despite the long rides, by looking at the photos, it seems like really you had a blast!
PALAKPAKAN!!!
OMG! nice to see you drop by Ron. Always starstruck ako sa inyo ni Monette. It’s bloggers like you that keep me inspired to take better photos and write more engaging blog posts ^^
Your photos are sooo nice. thanks for sharing them with us.
Thanks yu bee hee!
[...] http://www.ambot-ah.com/2011/06/25/northern-luzon-circuit/ [...]
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[...] – Arrive in Vigan My trip to Ilocos Norte was just the first part of my Northern Luzon circuit tour. The whole trip lasted for 11 days. On my 7th day (4th day in Ilocos Norte), I [...]
[...] Tuguegarao City and Cagayan Province wasn’t originally part of my Northern Luzon DIY tour. Good thing Eric told me about his plan to visit [...]
sana makasabit naman minsan sa gala nyo..
astig lahat dito sa blog nyo!
:D
[...] I was already halfway on my trip around Northern Luzon. [...]
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Hi! I’d like to ask po how much you spent for this trip. Do you have an itinerary for this trip? I also conduct research months before the target date for my trips. Thanks for posting this, for you gave me an alternative plan if ever our plan to Palaui would not push through.
I have so far posted my Cagayan Itinerary and Ilocos Norte Itinerary. Will be posting the rest soon.
OMG Palaui. I have yet to visit that island. I want to go there next year.
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hi! how much was your budget?? :]
Spent around P11K for the whole trip.
[...] was finally the end of my 11-day Northern Luzon trip. The only remaining item in my itinerary was to take the bus from Baguio back to [...]
Hello Marcos! I’m so glad I found your blog while searching for Baguio trips. I have a friend visiting our country soon, and seeing you have posted DIY tour aswell, this will definitely help us to see more places in the philippines for 1 month. I’m also very much happy to know that you spent only around 11k for this 11 days trip! I was thinking might be spending more on each city/province per trip. I’ll check more of your posts, I’m sure I’ll be a frequent visitor of your blog :)
[...] With all this in mind, my two friends and I decided to embark on a two-week adventure in the Philippines, which, out of all the Southeast Asian countries, tends to be the one most backpackers miss out on because of its distance from its conglomerate. We also decided to do a route probably not frequented by many Western backpackers/travelers, one inspired by this blog post. [...]
Ka-hi-li-sa! Hahaha
I just stumbled on your blog as I searched for pictures of Santa Maria Church. And from there, I’ve been going through your other posts. Just want to let you know that your pictures are spectacular!