Cagayan: The Waterfarm and Cagayan River

Just before we leave the beautiful land of Cagayan, we passed by some churches and some remarkable spots in the town. In the middle of our trip, just the perfect and the most scenic time to watch the picturesque sunrise in the mountains of Sierra Madre, we found ourselves stopping by the well known restaurant named The Waterfarm, found along the road to Ilocos Norte.

This eatery is not just a typical hang out place for it features unique theme from its exterior to its interior design. We were astonished with its motif for its store filled with antiques and vintage memorabilia from its ceiling down to its floor. The view from the rear side of the store is an outsized fish pond where you can ride a mini Bangka to go around the lake-look-a-like man-made pond of the Waterfarm restaurant.

Likewise, the food served, like my tapsilog, was delecatably yummy! We were told that the meat of tapa is neither pork nor beef. It was surprisingly a meat of carabao sliced into thin cuts then marinated in their own secret recipe. It was really delicious and worth recommending.

What’s more exciting on our trip to Ilocos is that we were able to see the Cagayan River which is undoubtedly the longest and largest river here in the Philippines. We stopped by a bridge that crosses the river, and gladly took some pictures on it. The water level of the river was said to be shallow since it was highly affected by the severe drought caused by El Nino in the province

Cagayan: Visita Inglesia

Cagayan is not just famous for its abundant caves found in the province, but also known to be a good destination for Visita Inglesia every Lenten Season for its legendary-known century old churches.

And so, on our first day in Cagayan, we already started our Visita Inglesia in the Divine Chamber of the Callao Cave. It is the second part and the main attraction of the Eco-Callao Tourism Zone for its chamber was converted into a church with some benches and an altar.

The next day, which is a Good Friday, we left Tuguegarao City early in the morning to pay a visit to some of the churches located along the way to Pagudpud.

We passed by a lot of religious sites but we only had a chance to stop at the Alcala Church which is the widest church in the province. It was just too bad that the church was still closed and no vendors of the famous Alcala milk candy can be found that early yet.

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For the Visita Inglesia in Cagayan, here are the other famous churches found in the province: Tuguegarao Cathedral, Basilica of our Lady of Piat, Iguig Church & Calvary Hills, Lal-lo Church, Camalaniugan Church and Malaueh Church.

How to get there from Manila:

1. Ride a bus off to Cagayan Capitol (Florida/Victory Liner/Baliwag Transit) - Fare: P600.00 Or ride a plane off to Tuguegarao (Air Philippines) - Fare: 800.00

Cagayan: Callo Cave

Callao Cave, the main attraction in Cagayan Valley, is just a 30-minute drive away from the center of Tuguegarao and is located at the town of Penablanca. It is one of rare ones for it is found at a top of mountain – as we all know, caves are usually found underground. In the main entrance, we were asked to register our names and pay twenty pesos each as entrance fee.

We were surprised that we needed to climb 187 steep steps just to get in to the chambers.The first few steps were quite hard for it has bigger steps compared to the ones at the top that only need baby steps.From the top of the mountain, you could see the wide river of Pinacanauan where some teenagers and families are found to be busy kayaking, grilling and fixing up their tents.

From the stairs, we walked towards the first chamber, the Aviary Room, where there are large openings that allow different species of bird to enter and live inside the cave. The second and the main attraction of the cave is the Divine Room that was converted into a church with some benches and an altar. Also, it has a daylight opening at the top of it so it’s like putting a natural spotlight in the altar. The rock formations in the next chamber were so hard to see because of its dim features and so the locals named it as the Dark room. The fourth was the Cream Room as it was named after the ice cream scoop shaped rock formations found inside the chamber. The last but not the least chamber we’ve seen was the Jungle Room that has animal-looking rock formations. We were not able to get into the sixth and seventh chamber because it was already getting dark and so we needed to leave the place in just a few minutes.

Callao Cave was really a memorable trip since it was my very first time to go cave trekking. The bats, rock formations, stalagmites, stalactites and everything I’ve seen inside are extraordinarily magnificent. By the way, since it's a Holy Week, we considered this as part of our Visita Inglesia.

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Wear comfortable shoes and expect to get sweaty & dirty.

How to get there from Manila:

1. Ride a bus off to Cagayan Capitol (Florida/Victory Liner/Baliwag Transit) - Fare: P600.00 Or ride a plane off to Tuguegarao (Air Philippines) - Fare: 800.00

2. From the Balzain Highway in Tuguegarao, take a tricycle or a jeepney and ask the driver to drop you off at the Callao Cave - Fare: P25.00

Cagayan: Tuguegarao City

After a couple of years, my family at long last decided to go on a 4d/3n summer vacation that will cross the provinces of Cagayan Valley to Ilocos – from north east to north west tip of Luzon.

We started our trip by taking a 45-minute flight from Manila to Tuguegarao last Holy Thursday – April 1.

From our window view, we were devastated to see the severe effect of El Nino to the agricultural land of the province. The crops were noticeably burned by the heat and rivers were getting dried up! Maybe it was the most affected province in our country since Tuguegarao is known for its all year high temperature climate.

As soon as we got off the plane, my brother who was relocated in Cagayan fetched us and started our tour by having a food trip at the Hotel Carmelita located at Diversion Road of Tuguegarao City. Our family is a pizza lover so we made sure to try their local pizza favourites. Their best seller is the Mozzarella and Garlic pizza which is served in 12-inch soft thin crust which we really enjoyed! I haven’t tasted any pizza like that, it was truly delectable! We also ordered Lechon Kawali, Mixed Vegetables and a Sashimi. Everything we ordered was yummy, freshly picked and very affordable.

So far, I noticed that this part of Cagayan looks very similar to the town of Jolo, Sulu – as I’ve seen Sulu in TV, for its numerous non-uniform multicolour tricycles. In spite the fact that these tricycles are very pleasing to the eyes, drivers and even pedestrians must beware of these mini tri-wheel motors for they are as wild as the jeepney and buses in the streets of Manila. Yet, these tricycles are very useful and available to everyone since the ratio of it to the local population is unbelievably two is to one.

Anyway, after the delicious lunch we had, we went straight to the amazing Callao Caves that is located in the town of Penablanca and then visited some of the famous churches of Cagayan the next day.

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You might also want try Tuguegarao’s famous Pancit Batil Patung. This noodle dish has sliced hotdogs, beef strips, an egg, liver chunks, crushed chicharons and freshly picked vegetables. It can be ordered in most restaurants found in the city.

How to get there from Manila:

1. Ride a bus off to Cagayan Capitol (Florida/Victory Liner/Baliwag Transit) - Fare: P600.00 Or ride a plane off to Tuguegarao (Air Philippines) - Fare: 800.00