📸 Welcome to our Ilocos Norte adventures - Part 1! 🫶
Hi, Hive peeps! 👋
Rajah Patria here again! For my 5th post, I will talk about my travel experience in Ilocos Norte. It is one of the provinces in the Philippines that has preserved its rich culture throughout the Spanish period until modern times. I believe we can learn more through travelling and immersing ourselves in the environment. #motivationmondays 🥰
❤️ Manila to Ilocos Norte ❤️
📍Manila
We started our adventure by going to the meeting place at SM Mall of Asia so we would be the first to pick comfortable seats.
Since we had not eaten dinner yet, we bought meals and snacks at Starbucks. There were 6 of us: me, my fiancé, his mom, aunt, older cousin, and young niece. I was grateful to be invited on this vacation as it was Tita Ann's treat as she holidayed here in the Philippines.
Then, the rest of the people at the meeting place came, and slowly, we gathered more from different pick-up points before proceeding with the long journey.
📸 Look at the height of the van compared to the people! 🤭
The van is very tall, so you can stand straight and has big legroom where you can put your things under your seats. It was tiring to go about our normal Friday, and we went straight from 6 pm onwards to travel.
Around 10 in the evening, everyone fell asleep, and the van was filled with various music tracks that the driver and his assistant enjoyed. I didn't sleep immediately as I felt uneasy about the unknown and darkness, but eventually, around midnight.
I woke to the light of the sun rising in our van. I saw many trees with few establishments, but the wide road and fellow traveling vans.
📸 My fiancé and I in "formal" poses because we are not fully awake yet. 🥱
The first stop was the church in Paoay. It was magnificent. Perfect for the first stop of our trip. The sun was slowly filling the sky. The back of the church was glimmering. It had an ethereal feeling. The gardens were filled with plants, trees, and flowers, and it was near a school, so we got to see what they looked like there.
📸 The church before, during, and after sunrise. 🌄
📸 Mandatory couple, solo, and aesthetic shots. 🖼️
Then, we stopped by a local diner (carinderia) that served many regional delicacies and cuisines, including their famous Vigan longganisa in "silog" ("sinangag + itlog" / fried rice + egg in English). I was not able to get one because it was sold out, so I ate a pork chop silog with tomato slices.
📸 Ilocos Sand Dunes Adventures with 4x4. 🛻
We continued our day trip to a sand dune where we rode at the back of a 4x4 truck. It was my first time doing that, and it was terrifying and thrilling. I got dizzy with all the bumps and slopes, but enjoyed the mixed warm and cool air flowing through my hair. I gripped my fiancé's hand and the handles as if it were a matter of life and death. I was holding on for my dear life!
📸 Random photos before, during, and after the 4x4 sand dune adventures. 💫
After two laps of the rollercoaster ride and screaming, I managed to keep my breakfast in my stomach. There was a station where you could “ski” or slide down the dune. It was nice and hot. I felt myself again when my fiancé's niece asked her mom if they could ski together since she needed an adult. She declined, so the kid tried her two grandmothers. She was too shy to ask his uncle because he is a boy, so she asked me politely and in a very heart-melting way if I could accompany her. I couldn't say no, and I have a fear of heights and rides.
📸 Video clip of the dune ski/slide. 😷
It was my first time to be this adventurous. I did not know what was ahead since I didn't plan or help, so I did not know what I was signing up for. Shakingly and heart racing, I skied down with her. I was so bad at being an adult that when it ended, she swallowed sand because she did not keep her mouth shut like I said. She was laughing hysterically. In my mind, this kid is crazy, but it was fun. Luckily, they had photos of our adventures there. We all laughed it all off as we ate ice crumbles (we locally pronounced it as "scramble").
📸 Fun and semi-relaxing morning at the beach. 🏖️
The third stop was at the beach. This is where we enjoyed cooling off since we did not have a stop to freshen up. Ram and I have been looking forward to this. With coral-safe sunscreen on, we went ahead and sat by the shoreline. The cold waters touching our skin and the warm sand were relaxing. We did a bunch of things like trying out the viral heart shape lock screen (but failed), making sandcastles with seaweed decorations, burying my fiancé's lower body with sand to turn him into a mermaid with his niece, and of course, photoshooting with nature.
📸 Breakfast, morning snack, and lunch compilation. 🍽️
There was a time when my slipper got stuck in the sand, and suddenly the waves came rushing and took it. I was devastated but too scared to swim in the ocean. It was a great time to surf, but bad for us who are not good swimmers. But Ram hurriedly and bravely ran towards the waves and got my slipper back. I was so scared for him. We buried our slippers in a safe place and continued to enjoy our time there. We then ate lunch at their local restaurant and enjoyed a variety of fresh kinds of seafood.
This is just the first half of day one! There is more to this adventure! I wanted to share my whole adventure there because it is full of memories and beautiful photos. It would not be justice if I tried to fit everything in less than 1,000 words and 10 pictures.
Thank you for reading the 5th article of my 7-Day Writing Challenge! (5/7) 💖
Feel free to share your experience or thoughts in the comments!
Since I have so many topics I want to write about, I decided to do a 7-day writing challenge (originally 30-day) to push myself out of my comfort zone. There will be 7 big categories, one for each day of the week. The first entry was my introduction post, followed by 5 entries. On the 7th, I will share my experience, thoughts, and process of doing this mini-challenge. 💬
So stay tuned for what I have in store for you. 💕
See you around, Hive! 💌
With love,
jahcabelin
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📝Note: All pictures are mine and edited in Canva for enhancement and aesthetics. 🎀
