Hysterical Tours Presents: a tour de iloko 2009

Hysterical Tours Presents: a tour de iloko
4D 3N Tour


I say that in writing something you capture a part of the event or that you make the event and write it down. The tour has ended, days were stretched and that emergency leaves have been filed… I really don’t know how to start this, gusto ko kasi isulat ang lahat ng magagandang oras at pahanon na nangyari sa tour, ngunit isa lamang akong hamak na simpleng mamayan, di gaya ng mga magigiting na taga-pagsulat ng nobela mapa-fiction or non-fiction.

All I could say is that the Hysterical tours: a tour de iloko was a very huge success, you can see the tons of pictures captured by this very special moment in the lives of those who were there…. 

Photos credited to Maj and the Callao Caves to Quitine and the rest to Menk and Mutya..

The bus ride was good, except for the part wherein we almost didn’t catch our scheduled 11pm ride, thanks to the numerous traffic jam. Aga ni Quitine ditto, 1 hour before, kaya sa next tour, dapat kami mas maaga kesa sa kanya. Php820 to Dugo City for the ride to Sta.Ana, the bus is de luxe with cr and has a one stop policy, good for those who are on the run. Station was near Nepa Q-Mart, Edsa Cubao.

Lal-lo (Home of the Mestizas) Yataa!

First day was a quick stopover @ Noemi’s house, ate shrimps and sitaw, drank coffee and had a chat with Omi’s lola and parent’s. Thank you for the very warm hospitality, sa susunod po!

Sta. Ana. Palaui Island. Anguib Boracay of the North. Engano Lighthouse, Falls and Mangroves trip 

Then off we go to Sta. Ana (minibus ride is Php60), marketing then charter/rent a boat to Palaui Island. ( we upgraded the rent to special trip Php2500, to go to other sites, boat name is ‘christian’). Dito kami nag camp for the night near the shore. Mutya was the cook with Menk and Quitine assisting and setup tent, while me was on bonfire duty. The usual drift woods was plenty on the beach, so collecting it was not a hard job. Oh btw we made a house call to the resident there (im sorry to have forgotten their names, mag-asaw po sila) and manong said that its safe to camp and if there was any problem just go look for him.

The food was excellente, porkchop with sauce and French fries, si Mutya pa nag serve sa amin. Baon naming is GSM Blue, di dumating si Ann Curtis, baka naligaw. Good thing may dalang tent si Mutya nun kasi di naiwan sa guard yung tent na dapat kong dadalhin. 

Nung natutulog kami eh may narinig akong parang may nagpapanic, “yung tubig malapit na sa atin” tinutukoy yung dagat baka high tide na, wala daw flashlight na malakas. Half asleep eh inabot ko yung akin para matulog na sila… heeheehee. Di naman pala malapit, malakas lang talaga yung tunog, vigilant sina Mutya at Quitine! Syempre ako naman eh security concerns since there was this boat fishing near sa shore and they’ve set up camp opposite our left side, just a precaution lang naman. Sandali lang kami naligo sa beach since marami pa kaming pupuntahan. Went to the Light House, there was no one there baka day off nung nagbabantay heeheehee. Jumpshot galore!!! Every step going to the lighthouse was a one step per shot thingy, minsan lang eto mangayari. This is also the first time na maraming shots sa bawat sulok ng norte, buti na lang digital na tayo at hindi film based. This is also the baptism of fire of my cam, R2D2 or simply “artoo” and it didn’t fail me (got to get some photog class asap!). The boat was already waiting for us, oh I forgot to mention that na an gaga naming nagising and nag ayos ng campsite. We told the bankero that we wish to visit also the falls, tha trai was littered with ‘bangbangsit’ plants which was full of torns! Then since the trail was already covered with it and marami na kaming mga sugat eh balik kami then tinanong ni manong bangkero dun kay manong na nakatira dun na kung may iba pang daan, nung nakarating na kami dun eh the falls was not that strong at dati daw malalim daw dun kaso dahil sa pag mina at pag papasabog sa lugar eh nagging ‘falls-alarm’ na sya, the water was cold and refreshing enough not to dampen our spirit spirit.

A little dip sa beach then off we go to Anguib or the ‘Boracay of the North’, but before that eh we pass thru a Palawan like mangrove site, akala mo talaga eh nasa Palawan ka minus the crocs syempre heeheehee. The beach of Anguib can be at par with Boracay, the sand was super fine and the water was crystal clear, we stayed here for about 1 ½ hours, ate lunch ‘kam-met’ style. The place is accessible to vehicles even motorcycles, we spotted a few there and that local tourist was also there. The tables are free and that trash bins for ‘nabubulok’ at ‘hindi nabubulok’ are present there with a sign to remind tourist and locals to keep the beach clean, let’s just hope that it can be maintained.

Bitin kami sa beach na ito, kala plan naming eh babalik ditto. Because low tide is coming and that we are to afraid to travel to the open seas, need na talaga naming na umalis at dumaan ulit sa mangroves, ‘balik’ Palawan ulit kami heeheehee.

Nagbanlaw kami sa may fish port sa poso, buti na lang eh may cr sa tabi at dun kami nagbihis. After the trip we headed to Tuguegarao for the Penablanca caves. 

Callao Caves

We stayed at the Bedfellow Inn (Php750+) for the night at bought The Bar (Php75 ea. @ 50.6 proof), di rin dumating si Angelica Panganiban dito, naka a/c kami and we avail of the 3bedroom with own cr and cable tv. We ate at Bodjok’s for their Pancit Batil Patung (php50 special)which was a treat since gutom na gutom na kami nun and muntik na kami masaraduhan since everything in the provinces closes early..We extended our 12hour stay here because bangag kami sa The Bar heeheehee, 3hours extension at Php100 per hour. Then in the morning we went to Dok’s Panciteria Special Pancit Cabagan ( Php40-50 per serving / Php15 trike fare) to eat pancit kabagan, didn’t enjoy much because may hangover pa kami at madami ang serving nito, nilagay naming sa plastic yung tira namin. Then we took the trike (php10) going to another trike terminal that would take us to the jump-off of the Callao Caves (Php245 one way. Php490 two way trip), we told the trike driver to wait for us since we would not stay there that long (2hours kami heeheehee), one must take a boat (Php20 two way)to cross the river to the Callao Cave tourist center or where one would secure the necessary entrance fees and guides, registration is also required. Entrance fee is Php20 each and that the guides are optional but we decided to get one(two actually Ate Cora yung isa and I forgot the name of the 2nd guide Ate…), guide fee, depende sayo. (we gave Php200 or Php100 each to them), they told us about the vandalism of then President Roosevelt of the entrance of the cave and the formations inside the cave that resembles ships, ice cream and many more, it really depends on your imagination sabi nga. 

The cave was really fascinating and that the sky roof or hole created one majestic eerie effect. I was really frustrated sa pag kuha ng picture using ‘artoo’ so I decided to ‘hi-jack’ Quitine’s digicam and left her with ‘artoo’ and tripod. Thanks Quitine! Ganda talaga ng color scheme nung sau!

Someone screamed! I thought it was Mutya, since she and ate Cora was ahead of us, yun pala eh si Ate Cora yun, may maliit kasing ahas na colored brown. Natakot ako since caves has bats and when there’s bats, there are predators also, snakes! We decided not to push thru sa darker caves, sulit narin since we have great shots and visited the chapel located inside. New meaning of DENR, Destroy Everything Not the Resources or Destroy Everything aNd its Resources sabi nung isang manong dun heeheehee.

After the caving trip we then headed off to Claveria Cagayan via van (Php150), we passed by Magapit Suspension Bridge, which is one of the first kind in Asia.


Claveria, Cagayan


Bangag daw yung conductor ng van sabi ni Menk, kakaiba kasi sya kumilos. Hehehehe. We arrived in Claveria around 9pm, the conductor told us to wait for the GMW ata for the trip to Pagudpud, Good thing that Quitine Mutya Menk decided to spend the night here near the beach (sorry for the tantrums guys mwah! ) then a man from LTO, Mr. –tesoro told us that he will help us with direction to the beach and that always be careful not only in their town but anywhere because there are always snakes around, meaning bad people, so keep your guard up. He even escorted us when we were in the trike and pointed to the direction of the police station etc. Instead of camping at the beach, we decided to check in again (mas marami pa yung hotel check in naming compared to camping in a tent heeheehee) at Casa …… something (Php200 each or Php800 but the room initially cost Php1700 but they decided to close the a/c and hot shower to lower down the rate) the owner was very accommodating even the one in charge since they felt that we are on a tight budget and even suggested to try other resorts but we ended up checking in here. Since all the food establishments are already closed we asked Kuya (na kahawig ang isang African-american basketball player) if they can cook rice instead (Php30 per order) and that we will open our canned goods na lang, that’s our dinner. Busog parin may noodles pa. Late narin kami nagising sa pagod sa byahe narin cguro, around 7 or 8am na kami nag check out nun. Boarded a St. Joseph bus going to Pagudpud.

Patapat Bridge 


Was under renovation, thank the gods! Last time I was here eh halata na talaga ang wear and tear ng lugar. Syempre picture galore ulit, shot ng shot kami. The trip from Claveria to Pagudpud is just 1hour, we then asked the conductor to drop us off to the nearest trike terminal that would hated us to Blue Lagoon.


Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud Brgy. Balaio

We boarded the trike that would take us there (Php25 ea or 50 back and forth), we told the driver to pick us up ng 12noon, ayun nag hanap ulit kami ng makakainan to no avail, kaya mieryenda na lang kami sa sari-sari store. Hannah’s resort can be found here unlike sa Saud beach eh mas maganda dito. Yung gamit naming eh nasa isang naka-‘park’ lang na bangka sa seashore at nag bihis sila ng swimwear sa isang cr ako sarong na lang, since shorts lang naman papalitan ko. The water is clear and the sand is whitish brown unlike sa Anguib na white talaga. But overall is one of the great beached in the North. We finished on time and the trike came on time. Paid Php5 for a shower ea and off to the terminal or stopover, ate sa isang canteen na maganda yung mga paintings sa loob. Ako nag order ng pugita order. May nakita pa kaming sign na crossed spoon and fork, parang bawal gumamit ng utensils kasi naka cross instead na side by side, Mutya has a photo of it. We rode the Bus that will take us to Laoag for the last leg of the tour, we planned to visit Batac, Paoay Church pa sana kaso over extended na yung iba sa amin at may pasok pa si Quitine ng 8am the following day kaya hush-hush kami. Before Laoag pa pala eh quick stop sa Windmills sa Bangui, Ilocos Norte.


Bangui Windmills 

These windmills supplies 40%-70% of Ilocos Norte’s power requirements. One can see the infusion of technology and natural elements here. This is also the first in the Philippines and I saw some billboards that they are planning to erct in other sites new windmills. Quickie lang akmi dito, ala pa atang 30mins kaming nag stay dito kasi the weather was also getting poorer by the minute. Kaya after the welcoming of Menk touching down sa Planet Earth and some photos eh umalis narin kami, trike ulit sinakyan naming ditto (php25 or 50 ea back and forth). Then we boarded a minibus that will take us to the last leg of the tour, Laoag City my hometown. Oooooppppssss… nalagpasan naming yung lighthouse! Sayang!


Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

Touchdown! Maulan! Went to the house for a quick stop and ate pancit and cake, burpdai pala ng pamangkin ko na si Andrea (3yrs old) anak ni Richard my cuz. As usual charge galore ng mga cp at batts. We then proceeded to St. Michael’s church and the sinking bell tower, naging instant tourist guide pa ako sa dalawang ginang na galing sa Fort Ilocandia, they asked why it is called a sinking bell tower, sagot ko naman is that before long long long time ago a horse with its rider can pass thru the entrance of the tower without restrictions to height, now one must take a bow to enter said entrance 
(closed to public). Bought some chichacorn sa market for pasalubong then proceeded to Florida to reserve seats to Manila.

Returned sa house, Richard cooked pinakbet at nasarapan naman sila. 2nd time na palang may nagpunta na mountaineers sa amin, the first was the ilocos tour of 2days long long time ago then now. Nag hugas pa ng pinggan si Menk after ng dinner namin, ambait! Heeheehee. Then after saying goodbye, we boarded the Florida bus 30mins early unlike the Manila to Lal-lo trip that we almost lost. Quick and one stop over pala malapit sa Vigan sa Marsha’s Delicacies for pasalubong of royal bibingka and stuff. Arrived here in rainy Manila around 6am sa may Paramount Edsa neat SM North and TriNoma.
 

Overall

The Hysterical Tours: a tour de iloko was a huge success!!!! 
Thank you to the Organizer Quitine, Mutya for Finances and Cook, Menk for being Menk and God If not for them, this tour would be just a simple tour. Thank you also to Noemi for the warm welcome and hospitality from the home of the Mestizas, Lal-lo, Richard and Company for the food and accommodations sa Laoag ‘Sunny Capital of the Phils.’, to Jessie for the support and directions plus to the other, kilala nyo sarili nyo and most especially to the People of the North. Sa uulitin po! Salamat po!!!!!!!


Oh btw, yung Gastos / Budget??? Kasya ang Php3,500-4,500
4days and 3nights tour from May 31 to June 3
1 day overnight camp and 2 check ins.

To follow na lang yung mga gastos but some are already included here, all you have to do is read. Heeheehee

** si menk pala nag hugas ng pinagkainan namin nung dinner sa haws thanks! Pakbet at bbq. thanks Chard and Family!

-Maj

Quitine, Menkie and Mutya