Ilocos: The Tour (Second Part)

It was still raining heavily on our second day in Ilocos Norte. We are headed for the northern towns of the province.

The rain made the travel comfortable due to the cold, refreshing air. The rain poured from drizzle to torrent and vice versa.

Bangui Wind Farm

Our first official stop is the Bangui Wind Farm.

The Bangui Bay Wind Power Project (aptly called as "Bangui Wind Farm") is the first commercial wind farm in Southeast Asia. Built by the NorthWind Power Development Corporation to take its share in reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases, the windmills provide 33MW of electrical power or 70% of Ilocos Norte's power consumption.

When it was inaugurated on June 18, 2005 it consisted of 15 wind turbines spaced 236 meters apart on-shore. Now, there are 20 wind turbines lined up along Bangui Bay.





The turbines' hub height (ground level to center of nacelle - that part holding the blades) is 70 meters high (roughly equivalent to a 23 storey building).



Each blade is 41 meters long.



Each wind turbine has a 6-meter diameter base.



I was in awe when I saw these structures. I was held by that feeling of amazement and wonder that I haven't noticed the number of shots I made. I eventually used 72 frames of film. The boring, overcast sky did not impede me from taking shots at different angles.

What amazed me basically was the size of these structures. The photographs I have seen have not provided enough scale. So these two pictures will tell you how gigantic these structures are compared to men...





We stayed for more than an hour in this place. What forced us to leave was the torrential downpour.

To be continued...

Related post:

• Ilocos: The Tour (First Part)

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, the man who offered to tour us around. 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 promote 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