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.
Ilocos is so historic place pa rin. Buti na preserve pa rin nila ang lugar at ang historical sites. ganda ng mga photos mo lalo na yung first photo. Galing!
huhuhu… inggit ako.. di ako natuloy dito sa ilocos nitong friday.
ang panget kase ng panahon dito, we were supposed to go on a long drive eh kaso mukang di kagandahan at safe magdrive paakyat, napakaerratic ng panahon.. sad…
salamat sa pictures, kunwari na lang natuloy ako. hehehe.
Wow! A mixture of mishaps and aesthetic merriment. when I read PAL descending in Laoag, I thought you missed a lot of equally beautiful roadside scenes albeit a road trip would take a chunk of your time and energy. My personal bias hehe…I love every long bus ride especially going to Ilocandia where roads are better built compared with roads in Mindanao or even Visayas (I used to bus-ride as early as 1 year old until 6 from Bacolod to Cebu – my mother is Ilongga hehe).
As usual, great photos! I love most the close shots on the brick pillars. So quaint! So time-tested!
WOW! ang galing. cute ng mga pics!
bukas ang pinto ng bahay ko kung sakaling mapadpad ka.
Nakakainggit naman ang experience na ito. Maluha-luha na ko.
Taga-Pasig lang ako. Gusto ko kasi makapunta jan.
kakapunta lang dyan ng mga kaibigan ko at di ako nakasama. huhu.
wonderful set Mark, though I really am in love with your bricks in focus, just so pretty how you did it.
kahilisa sang trip mo, mark! hehe… as usual nice pictures… pray ta ka nga makabakal na digital para damu pa gid kami makita nga shots. pray lang kaya ko.
Pasama naman, hehehe. andaya. Hahaha. Thanks sa comments ha? God bless.
nanlaki mata ko sa ganda ng mga shots mo…. IDOL KA!
perfect viewpoint for 5th and 10th fotos
nakaka apreciate ako ng magandang perspective kasi related sa natapos ko. napakalinaw ng mga kuha mo. anung cam mo? deretcho ba yan o u have to edit pa yung colors? ako kasi since di ako magaling magpicture tulad mo ay kailangn ko pa i edit minsan at timplahin ang kulay
nakakahiya kasi ipagkalandakan na arki ako kasi yung blog ko walang repleksyon ng pagiging responsableng tao ko hahaha.
hindi ko kasi din mailagay ang mga gawa ko kasi kumpanya ang may-ari. i nexplain ko talaga hehe. ayun. baka mademanda ako. alam mo naman dito sa desyerto – arabo ang mga ibang mga tao praning minsan haha. pero minsan nga subukan ko ding ilagay mga personal ko hanu? sana maging ok.
nweys i visited some of ur posts, aba at talaga palang naguumapaw ang passion at fashion mo sa iyong craft. mahilig din kasi ako sa mga interiors at lalo sa mga perspective and syempre nature.
kunin ko din pala bossing yung wow philippines mo para ma promote ko din sa bahay ko.
online ka pala hehe.
about sa cam, meron ako nakita kaparehas nyan dito sa dubai. halos same price ata sa pinas. mahal din kaya ipon nmuna ako.
huwaw ang ganda ganda naman! sulit na sulit talaga ang punta dyan…lalo tuloy akong nangangarap na makarating dyan!
nacurious naman ako sa torture chamber sa loob mismo ng bakuran ng simbahan….hehehe
GANDA ng mga photo. pero nagulat ako sa photo mo ng grills. hehe kinunan ko rin kase sa ganoong angolo yun nung pumunta kami sa palace.
sulit ang byahe kapag ganito kaganda ang pupuntahan.
hehe oo nga. meron din akong napicturan sa ilalim ng ilaw nung dining table nila. yong kuha yong pabilog na hugis nung ilaw na kuha mula sa ilalim. teka dapat pala ipost ko yun. hehe.
wow ganda ng shots…..alam ko na…maganda pa rin talaga ang pinas…di lang natin na -aapreciate kasi nga wala naman sa kultura natin ang magtravel…..o talgang mahal lang ang budget…pero worthwhile nman talaga di ba?….di ko pa narating itong nasa mga pictures..GANDA!
haha..kapag nakakakita ako ng ganitong simbahan naaalala ko sina Ibarra, Maria Clara, Padre Damaso, Padre Salvi atbp.
Ganda! alagang alaga!
Great shots kapatid!
I was expecting to see beautiful pictures after your previous post. And you didn’t disappoint me. Ang ganda Mark! Parang gusto ko ring pumunta sa Ilocos. Hehe
ang ganda talaga ng shot ng Northern Palace..
gusto mo ba magpunta dun kuya dence? samahan kita malapit nalang sa amin yan… hehe
gosh kuya, bigla kong namiss ang hometown ko… nice pics po pala… very artistic sa mga shots…
tama po kayo… andming yaman sa ilocos kaya pag tumanda ako gusto ko dun pa rin ko mag stay…
Are you accepting exchange links?
nice kaayo ang mga pix mo bro