Why I Fell in Love with Ilocos

Falling in love with Ilocos is not as hard as falling in love with your best friend ;p There are simply too many reasons why one can easily be enamored with this charming region.

free shuttle bus ride in Laoag 

Here are the top 3 reasons why Ilocos region has captured my heart:

Going Loco Over Paoay Sand Dunes

I'm a self-confessed adrenaline junkie. Thus, when our plan of going to Ilocos was finalized, Grace (my adventure buddy) and I thought of trying the 4x4 adventure and sand boarding at the famous Paoay Sand Dunes.

A month before our scheduled flight, we temporarily deferred this plan because of financial constraints. This is during the time when we found out that our 3 other friends are having second thoughts on this trip. But then, just few weeks before this Luzon trip, we decided to make it part of our itinerary. It's now or never!

We really don't know when we could get back to Ilocos (or if we could ever go back) so we better make the most out of it now.

Getting to Sarrat and Batac, Ilocos Norte (The Poorpackers' Way)

Sarrat and Batac are home to Ilocos Norte's rich history. It is in these two towns of the province where we can find the Sta.Monica Church (Sarrat) and the Marcos Museum (and more in Batac). Aside from finding the Sinking Bell Tower, part of our 1st day itinerary is to go to these places.

Sta.Monica Church in Sarrat

What To Do in Laoag

What starts as a simple conversation on our future travel plans leads us to our 7-day trip to Luzon. Our first stop: Ilocos Norte.

Because there's no direct flight from Davao to Laoag, we had to take connecting flights. Thus, we took the 6:25am flight for Manila then the 12:25pm flight for Laoag.

Grace, my pseudo twin sister and adventure/travel buddy, had a funny reaction as we're about to land on Laoag Airport. She thought we are landing on a farm. 

windy!