Ilocos: The Tour (First Part)

I was full of excitement and all the while wishing for a fine weather when we left for our tour of Ilocos. We left Cebu in a state of gloom and Manila was not that much reassuring. However, as the plane of the Philippine Airlines began its final descent towards Laoag International Airport, the sky was blue with little clouds, affirming us of a fine noontime weather.



The hotel service van fetched us from the airport. After having lunch, the weather had a sudden turn and took us by surprise. It rained! Since I lacked sleep, I decided to rest for a while. After about 2 hours we decided to go to spots near Laoag City. During the planning stage, only two days would have fixed schedules. The first and last days would be open - they were intended for tourist spots near and within Laoag. We had initially asked the hotel staff to reserve for us packaged tours for the second and third days.

When we went out of the hotel that afternoon, we inquired about the fare rates from the trike drivers. We found out they were a bit steep, until one man offered his jeepney to take us to all our destinations for the afternoon for a much lower price compared to the total fares for the trike. We also asked him for his rate for a day tour. His quote was significantly lower than the hotel rate. We cancelled our reservation with the hotel and decided to hire Mang Lito for the next two days.

Sta. Monica Church in Sarrat

The rain was at its fiercest when we arrived in Sarrat. Sarrat is about 7 km to the east of Laoag City. It is the hometown of former president Ferdinand Marcos. Our destination was the Sta. Monica Church in an area overlooking a river. Online resources say it is the Pacsan River. The church is very old; its construction started on 1669 and was completed 10 years later.

Since it was heavily raining, Mang Lito took us inside the church complex, dropping us beside an open church door. There was a commotion inside the church. A woman was wailing. It turned out that one of their staff fell from the window while he was trying to close it. He was unconcious. Nuns and their other staff rushed to his aid. Mang Lito drove them to the the nearest hospital in Laoag. While waiting for him to return, we started taking pictures.

The convent of the complex, framed though the church door. It was still raining heavily.



Open windows in the church, left unclosed due to the incident.



The stained glass window in the facade of the church.



When the rain subsided, we went out of the church and took more pictures. Below is the church's facade with the bell tower.



Below is the church's bell tower.



The main facade of the church.



The church complex is made entirely out of bricks. Below are the brick columns of the convent adjacent to the church.



The bricks in focus...



On hindsight, I failed to check out the famous torture chamber in the vicinity of the church.

When Mang Lito arrived from the hospital, we proceeded to the Malacañang of the North.


The Malacañang of the North

It was already closed when we arrived. However, the guard was kind enough to allow us to roam around the building. We were not able to enter it though. The Malacañang of the North is the official residence of the late President Marcos and one of his 29 presidential rest houses built around the country. It overlooks the Paoay Lake. I did not take any picture of the lake since it would be less than appreciable due to the overcast sky.

Below is the main facade of the "Northern Palace".



At the back of the "Northern Palace", overlooking Paoay Lake.



The grills in the lower windows of the "Palace" were intricately designed. They are beautiful and at the same time would allow no one in. The spirals of the grills...



We proceeded to Batac to check the Marcos Museum but it was already closed when we arrived. Our last destination for the day was the San Agustin Church in Paoay. Will post about it in the coming days...

To be continued....

In case you want to have a tour of Ilocos, and you'll be staying in Laoag, you may get in touch with Mang Lito. His service is significantly low compared to arranged tours or packaged tours being offered by the hotels in Laoag. He may be contacted through his mobile phone: 09273387969.

I will not mention the hotel we stayed in. Although they had reasonably low room rates, good food and courteous staff, their water supply is not good - it's yellow. Their room rates are also a bit tricky, as this caused a slight argument when we checked out.