^ Ganyan din ginawa namin during the Holy Week. Ganito yung naging itinerary namin.
Apr 16
- Travel to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. We decided to spend the night there since we are not familiar with the roads.
Apr 17
- Church hopping/Visita Iglesia at the (heritage) churches of Cauayan, Gamu, Timauini, & San Pablo, Isabela. Unfortunately, we missed the church at Alicia.
- We also visited the heritage church of Rizal (Malauag), Cagayan. We missed the churches at Piat, & Alcala.
- Road trip to Sta. Ana, Cagayan. We arrived there at 4 pm. Sta. Ana is Cagayan Economic Zone Area (CEZA).
- Headed straight to San Vicente Port to register & inquire about their tours. Since we arrived late afternoon na, our tour was scheduled the following day. We made boat reservations for 2 persons. We were told to be there at port by 6 am.
- We checked-in at Jomel Lodge (0906-5798625). Luckily, may available pa na vacant room kahit na walk-in lang kami. We stayed at an aircon room with CR, aircon, cable tv worth P1000. The other lodge was more expensive by P500 (Northeast lodge - 09261955678 or 09178741346) for the same amenities. The lodges were right beside Centro Sta. Ana (market).
- May mga canteens/carinderia sa market mismo, thus nagpaluto kami for our packed lunch for the island hopping the following day. The arrangement was idedeliver yung pagkain namin sa lodge at 5:30 am.
Apr 18
- As early as 5pm, naghahanda na kami. However, hindi dumating yung dapat magdedeliver ng lunch namin. Buti na lang, may ibang carinderia na bukas; so doon na lang bumili si hubby ng breakfast & packed lunch namin.
- At 6 am, we arrived at the tourist center in San Vicente port. We just parked our car there. We paid P3900 (P3500 for our special tour plus P300 for the guide, P50/head for the guide at Cape Engano). Thank goodness we reserved a boat kasi nagkaubusan sila ng bangka, yung ibang tourists nakasakay sa bangka na walang bubong. Kawawa sila sa ilalim ng init ng araw. My ibang tours but I lost my leaflet.
- Places we visited:
1. Anguib beach - may bayad pa na P100/head. Pwede mag-set up ng tent and mag-overnight dito but kailangan ng reservations. High tide nung andun kami kaya dito kami naligo.
2. We passed by part of the Pacific Ocean, then between Dos Hermanas Islands.
3. Cape Engano & the lighthouse - may registration muna then you'll be accompanied by a local guide for trekking to the lighthouse. Pwede rin mag-trek from Cape Engano to Punta Verde kaso 7 km iyun. May stalls sa beach which sell halo-halo, souvenirs. Look for your own spot under the shade of the trees. We had our lunch there, then naligo uli. Kaso pa-low tide na nun.
4. Suwangig Cove
5. Punta Verde - trekking to the waterfalls, swimming, picnic-ing.
6. Crocodile Islands
7. Jerolinda resort - this is not part of the usual tour but nakiusap kami na puntahan, at dinagdagan na lang namin yung bayad.
- Back at the port, may CR na puwedeng maligo/magbanlaw for P15/head. Set aside clean set of clothes, toiletries para wala/less hassle. And pwede magsabay sa pagligo para mas mabilis.
- We also looked for the 642-km mark. It's located near the church. Unfortunately, nirerenovate yung daan kaya hindi nakatayo yung mark.
- Travel to Laoag City. We crossed Magapit bridge at 6 pm. Ginabi kami sa daan kaya hindi na namin nakita yung Claveria viewdeck, and yung arko na "Welcome to Ilocos Norte" from Cagayan side. Maraming zigzag roads especially in Santa Praxedes & there were no lightposts along the way. The travel was almost 6 hours (kasama na stop-over for gas and dinner).
