La Union or ELYU ( as the millennials called it nowadays ) officially the province of La Union, and is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region, in the island of Luzon. The capital is the City of San Fernando, which is also the regional center of the Ilocos Region.
The tour was hosted by my good friend, Emy and her husband from March 5 to March 6, 2022. It was my 1st time to travel locally after more than a year cooped at home due to travel restrictions because of the pandemic. Getting a QR pass was easy, just a simple registration online and we are now ready for the tour.
The tour operator is Byahe ni Chef and the plan is to visit the famous and beautiful spots in La Union for 2 days, there were around 12 famous spots listed in the itinerary. In this tour, there were 9 passengers including the host: me and my best friend Beth, my good friend Dey and her family (her husband Rudy and son), my good friend Emy and her husband. As early as 1:00 am on March 5, we were picked up in our house and the travel took 5-6 hours including the in-between stops to used the toilet. We reached La Union at 7am.
Our 1st stop was St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish, The Shrine of Our Lady of Namacpacan, located in Namacpacan Road, Luna. Namacpacan is an Ilocano word which means "one who had given food". According to the history, that on October18, 1906, the town name was changed to Luna, in honor of the Luna brothers, Antonio, the General and Juan the painter, whose mother hail from the town.
Also, the original site of the church was in Darigayos, a barrio of Namacpacan and was transferred in 1741 to its present site as it was heavily destroyed by an earthquake in 1854. The image of the Our Lady of Namacpacan was enshrined in the church in 1871.
The 2nd stop was in Bahay Na Bato or Bato De Luna which in English meant "The House of Stone". This place is nestled in San Juan, in the surf town of La Union. A paradise for art lovers, as they have an open art gallery which you will pay an entrance fee of 20 pesos only .
It was called Bahay Na Bato as it was made from stones and pebbles found along the beaches of Luna, owned by the professional doctors, Dr. Edison and Purita Chan-Noble. Bahay Na Bato is a Spanish type house made of stones and rocks. The place should be visited by creative enthusiast as the house has many fabulous paintings and creative arts. There were many old items, and stuff made of stones,pebbles and wooden carvings.
After Bahay na Bato, we passed by the Man-Made Forest , a typical man-made forest with lots of mahogany trees. shaping like an arc when seen afar. We had fun in this place because of the photo shoots. Several attempts we did for the jump shoot, since it is a main road, frequent vehicles are oftentimes passing by from time to time. The jump shoot took several tries before we achieved it. The best shot is also sitting down solo in the middle of street with green background from the forest.
After Man Made Forest, we visited Baluarte Ruins or the Watch Tower in Barangay Victoria which is a restored 4th-century watchtower. The structures were classified as a National Treasure in 2014 as it is 400 year old located along Luna. I learned from the internet, that the tower collapsed during a typhoon called "Lando". The tower lies along the shore of West Philippine Sea.
According to Google, the 5-6 meter watchtower was built during the Spanish period as a solution to the frequent ransacking of Japanese, Chinese and Moro pirates in the coastal towns of La Union. It was used by the Spaniards to warn its residents against the looters. During World War II, the fortress functioned as the communication tower post for a temporary airfield for the USAFIPNL forces.
Do you love adventure? thrilling experience? If you do, Tangadan Falls is your place, which is our next stop. From San Diego town to San Gabriel Municipality, the travel took 30 minutes. From the municipality, our host hired a tour guide and registered us as it is required before going to Tangadan Falls. BTW, Tangadan means "Looking Up" .
We also rented a jeep that took us in the foot of the mountain of San Gabriel as our van is not made to navigate the narrow terrains, the up-and-down route, imagine a roller coaster - one minute you are up and another minute, gliding down, that's how the road is traverse like a riding a roller coaster. In order to experience something new, we were told to placed ourselves on the roof top of the jeep while navigating the route and experience "TOPLOAD" and it was scary in the beginning but I was told to look straight ahead and don't look down- that is the best way to enjoy the sceneries and the experience which was effective as I love the breeze of the air in my face, Sadly, I was unable to took a video while on top, as I was afraid I might fall or the new cellphone will fall, which is newly bought.
The travel time from San Gabriel to Tangadan Falls by jeep took 30 minutes. When we reached the foot of the mountain, we were told to walked by foot as that is the only way to reached the waterfalls-walking by foot. Our tour guide told us that we have to take 300 steps to reach our destination. We had to stop and rest in between during the climbed down the footpath.
The footpath is not for the fainthearted. But for those who loves adventures and thrilling experience, this place is for you. The footpath took another 30 minutes to climb down. We had to stop several times to catch our breath and energize ourselves and carry on the journey by foot.
When we reached the waterfalls, our hardships were forgotten, and rewarded instead with the beautiful sight of the waterfalls and the greeneries around, The water is such a welcome sight to us as we splashed and relieve ourselves and feel the cold of the water in our body. It was pure joy being in the water that time. The waterfalls is 40 ft. and the water deep is 30 ft. There were many people already enjoying the water, the nature , and most of them are taking their photos, videos and jumping in the waterfalls, it was fun, seeing this many people enjoying the swim and the sceneries around. I was glad I took the challenge, trekked 600 steps and swam in the waterfalls.
After the swim, its time for us to return to our group at the foot of the mountain. For your information, not all joined the trekked to the waterfalls for comorbidities and not up to long walk . So, we walked back and little did we know, that the going back is doubly hard, climbing down is better than climbing up, we had to force our legs in going up the staircase again. Several stops happened again and that included buying our souvenir items like broom, ginger, and honey. I bought the fridge magnet as a reminder that we came and visited the place.
As we walked back, it was good there is a hand rail that we can pulled ourselves up and heaved our way up to the staircase. But there are some areas there is no handrail, and only our sheer determination that we managed to moved up albeit slowly. Luckily, when we felt that we are so tired and breathless, there was a good Samaritan who offered his hand and helped us and pulled us up. He is like a angel that came to our rescue in times of need. God Bless Him !!! When we reached our group, we are so thankful and grateful because we know we delayed the group with our progress. So we had lunch and after eating, off we go to our next destination which is to check-in our accommodation.
In our accommodation, we refreshed ourselves by taking a bath and a rest. That was already 4pm. Our accommodation is very near to the beach, around 5 minutes walk only. After we settled in our room, our next destination is Thunderbird Resort and Casino in Poro Poro Point Free Zone. We wanted to watch the sunset at around 6:06 pm, so we left our accommodation at 5:45pm and headed to Thunderbird Resort.
Thunderbird Resort is an Santorini, Greek inspired resort. The resort was located in Poro Poro Point Free Zone and was called the Santorini of Asia. One thing that captivated our attention is the beautiful sunset here , from light orange to dark orange tint to violet hues, it is indeed an amazing sight to behold. My bestfriend and I took a lot of photos in the lobby of the hotel and outside too. The group had a light snack in one of the restaurant inside and afterwards, took group shots again in one of the white pavilion there. After 8pm, we went back to our accommodation, had dinner again and fell asleep at 9pm. But before I fell asleep, the group had agreed to for an early morning swim and watched the sunrise at 6:13am the next day.
Recharged, we woke at 5:45am for the early morning swim. We took our swimming gear and off we went to the beach as early as 5:55 am. The beach is very near in the house, just 5 minutes walk only.
San Juan Beach – as we all know, is one of the surfing destinations in the country. Though, the sand is not as white as Boracay, hanging out with friends, sitting back and relaxing with its dirty white sand is the best way to simply enjoy the place. Especially, that early morning was not crowded and we found a shallow part of the sea to dipped and felt the taste of the seawater. Our host was left in the accommodation to prepare our breakfast. I did not swim much as the water is deep and the current is strong, I just watched my friends . enjoyed the swim and relished on it with gusto.
After the swim, we hurried back to the accommodation for breakfast and change of clothes and attended the Sunday mass at St . John the Baptist Church at 9:00 am. The church is nearby only as in 10 minutes drive only from our accommodation. St. John the Baptist Church, is located in the municipality of San Juan itself. The church is also considered one of the historical places in the province being a century-old church, constructed in 1707. While inside the church, we noticed a painting of St John the Baptist in a river in the ceiling of the church. After the mass, we took photos in the entrance of the municipality written I Love San Juan as a group.
Back in our accommodation, we waited while our lunch food is being prepared by our host. I even had a nap while sitted in the porch for 10 minutes. When food is ready, we ate with gusto and prepared out stuff for check out.
Our next destination is Ma Cho Temple – The Guardian of The Sailors, A Taoist Temple situated on a hill, 70 feet above sea level. It was built in 1975 located in Barangay II, San Fernando La Union facing the China Sea. It is also recorded to be the biggest Taoist Temple outside China. I was fascinated with the statues of the monks displayed there , there were around 18 of them and took pictures of each, and had solo pose near the temple and off we go to the next destination.
We planned to go to Flotsam and Jetsam and ended in Urbiztondo Beach instead. Urbiztondo Beach, where the waves and surfers meet. We roamed in the beach and noticed many people are surfing in the heat of the sun. After the picture taking, we had the Halo Halo Iloko which was the answer to the scorch heat of the sun, a bit pricey, for 160 pesos. but its delicious and enjoy the sweet treat.
Grape Farm. Our last stop.
Do you love grapes? More so, have you experience grapes picking? It is also a first time for me. Among the popular places in La Union, an interesting place to visit is the Sobrevina Grape Farm. They have no entrance fee but grape picking cost you P350/ per kilo. The staff will offer you a free fruit wine tasting. I bought the blueberry wine which I love, not so sweet but delicious especially when serve cold and grapes to experience grapes picking.
After Grape Farm, we stop in a shop selling dried good and once the purchased is done, we travelled back to Manila. That was around 5pm , in between, we sang as the van had a Karaoke videos which is to entertain their guest. We reached Manila around past 9pm.
Here are our photos taken during the tour.
Baluarte Ruins
Overall the tour was fun, the money we spent in this tour was worth it. My best friend and I had so much fun and laughter watching the pictures that we took. I was glad I invited her in this too. The new experiences are also noted, Top load was scary but I was glad I did it, Grape picking is another new experience and missed the Blueberry wine I bought for 200 pesos only. We also met new people in this tour, Kai and Patty who are good and fun to be with too.
In this tour, gained new insights as I realized La Union has many beautiful spots to offer and look forward to our next visit. In retrospect, my wander lust was filled again with happy memories, good food, good people and a chance to commune to Mother Nature, one of the best therapy that is free and worthy of your time.
Till next tour, we are planning to visit Baler, in Aurora, Quezon next time. Ill keep this blog updated again.
Thank You for your time reading this blog and enjoy life while we may especially during this time. God Bless and Good Health to all.
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