Ilocos Norte: City of Laoag

An hour from the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse is the City of Laoag where the St. William’s Cathedral can be found. It was built by the Augustinian Friars way back almost four centennials ago to replace the wooden chapel.

This church was already destroyed by a hurricane around 1640s, earthquake in 1706 and a burnt by fire last 1843 but there were no remarks can be seen anymore since it was already restored and re-created like a new one.

Also, we stopped by the Sinking Bell Tower which is just located few steps from the cathedral. It is called “sinking” since it is literally sinking ¼ inch every year due to earthquakes and soft soil foundation. The main entrance to the tower is noticeably different from the others since one must step down the mini stairs and bow their heads just to get inside the tower.

We also passed by the Museum of Ilocos Norte, Tobacco Monopoly Monument and the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Norte. These three spots can be found around the plaza slash rotunda of Laoag City.

Post Its:

Tobacco Monopoly Monument is just behind the Museum of Ilocos Norte, the Sinking Bell Tower is near the St. William’s Cathedral which is also located near the plaza. If you’re still having a hard time to look for this spots, just look up and look for the Mcdonalds sign. The Cathedral is just behind it.

City of Laoag is a 1 and ½ hour car ride from either Pagudpud or Vigan and approximately 10 hours from via bus or 1 hour from Manila.

How to get there:

From Manila or Pasay, ride a Partas bus to Laoag. Or just ride a plane via Airphilippines or Cebupacific.

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.

Post Its:

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.

Post Its:

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