So around 1:30pm we decided to leave Vigan and head to Laoag to maximize our time. Counting the number of things we did and the places we visited that day, you'd really think we were in the Amazing Race. Parang mauubusan kami ng mapupuntahan!
The bus ride from Vigan to Laoag took 2 hours, so I was able to squeeze in some nap time. The moment we got to Laoag station, we immediately made arrangements with a tricycle driver to drive us around the city and visit all our must-sees. We agreed to a Php 800 fee for the entire afternoon, so after checking in to the hotel, we were off to complete the Laoag leg of the trip.
Our first destination was the Malacanang of the North, which was built when Ferdinand Marcos (an Ilocano) was President. I initially didn't include this in our itinerary, but I'm glad we visited it because it was so beautiful. I kept thinking 'I wouldn't mind living here.', haha feeling!
Anyway, we loved everything inside the Palace. It was simple but very elegant. All Marcos memorabilia was also well-preserved. Both of us kept thinking, Imelda definitely has taste.
When more and more started coming in, we decided it's time to move on to the next destination: the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum.
Cameras are not allowed inside the Mausoleum, so I'll just describe the creepiness. It's dark and cold inside (duh!), and there were fake flowers along the path visitors are supposed to walk on. And in the middle of the room lay Marcos' preserved corpse. Lots of people say it's not the real thing but that it's a wax figure. No comment.
After a quick peek in the mausoleum, we went inside the museum beside it. The museum housed more Marcos memorabilia from his childhood to his lawyer days to his days in politics and until his death. There was also a room showing 'Iginuhit ng Tadhana' the late President's propaganda biopic shown in the 60s.
Although it wasn't part of the itinerary, we saw the Batac Church across the museum so we decided to take a quick visit there as well.
We went back to our trike, and after a very short ride, our driver dropped us off the photo gallery which has lots of Marcos photographs. I loved the place!
Next stop: Paoay Church. This was one of the sites I was excited to see and photograph because of its interesting structure. Too bad they were doing some construction on the facade.
Then we headed off to Paoay Sand Dunes. We didn't really get in the sand dunes area where you get to sandboard because you had to ride in one of their jeeps and the price was too steep for us cheapskates. So we had to content ourselves with these sand dunes:
Afterwards, we headed to our last destination: Fort Ilocandia. We didn't even enter the place (I think it's because Shalu's scared of old places and it's already getting dark hehe) as we were content taking pictures of its surrounding during sunset.
We were already very tired and hungry so we asked our driver to drop us off at a restaurant with good food at a reasonable price. He brought us to Saramsam Ylocano Restaurant, and we really loved everything we orded. It's either the food's really good or we were just really hungry. Nonetheless, we were very satisfied and the place had a nice ambience as well.
After that satisfying meal, we trudged back to the hotel for our much-needed shower and rest. We had a very early day ahead of us so we fell asleep right after getting cleaned up.
You can read more about this trip by visiting these links:
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part One
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Three
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Four
The bus ride from Vigan to Laoag took 2 hours, so I was able to squeeze in some nap time. The moment we got to Laoag station, we immediately made arrangements with a tricycle driver to drive us around the city and visit all our must-sees. We agreed to a Php 800 fee for the entire afternoon, so after checking in to the hotel, we were off to complete the Laoag leg of the trip.
Our first destination was the Malacanang of the North, which was built when Ferdinand Marcos (an Ilocano) was President. I initially didn't include this in our itinerary, but I'm glad we visited it because it was so beautiful. I kept thinking 'I wouldn't mind living here.', haha feeling!
Anyway, we loved everything inside the Palace. It was simple but very elegant. All Marcos memorabilia was also well-preserved. Both of us kept thinking, Imelda definitely has taste.
When more and more started coming in, we decided it's time to move on to the next destination: the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum.
Cameras are not allowed inside the Mausoleum, so I'll just describe the creepiness. It's dark and cold inside (duh!), and there were fake flowers along the path visitors are supposed to walk on. And in the middle of the room lay Marcos' preserved corpse. Lots of people say it's not the real thing but that it's a wax figure. No comment.
After a quick peek in the mausoleum, we went inside the museum beside it. The museum housed more Marcos memorabilia from his childhood to his lawyer days to his days in politics and until his death. There was also a room showing 'Iginuhit ng Tadhana' the late President's propaganda biopic shown in the 60s.
Although it wasn't part of the itinerary, we saw the Batac Church across the museum so we decided to take a quick visit there as well.
We went back to our trike, and after a very short ride, our driver dropped us off the photo gallery which has lots of Marcos photographs. I loved the place!
Next stop: Paoay Church. This was one of the sites I was excited to see and photograph because of its interesting structure. Too bad they were doing some construction on the facade.
Then we headed off to Paoay Sand Dunes. We didn't really get in the sand dunes area where you get to sandboard because you had to ride in one of their jeeps and the price was too steep for us cheapskates. So we had to content ourselves with these sand dunes:
Afterwards, we headed to our last destination: Fort Ilocandia. We didn't even enter the place (I think it's because Shalu's scared of old places and it's already getting dark hehe) as we were content taking pictures of its surrounding during sunset.
We were already very tired and hungry so we asked our driver to drop us off at a restaurant with good food at a reasonable price. He brought us to Saramsam Ylocano Restaurant, and we really loved everything we orded. It's either the food's really good or we were just really hungry. Nonetheless, we were very satisfied and the place had a nice ambience as well.
After that satisfying meal, we trudged back to the hotel for our much-needed shower and rest. We had a very early day ahead of us so we fell asleep right after getting cleaned up.
You can read more about this trip by visiting these links:
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part One
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Three
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Four
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