Ilocos you're worth it!

For those who don’t know Ilocos, it's in the north of the Philippines. If you put your 4 fingers together, you will be forming the shape of the province.

The province is cut into 2, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. The capital Laoag is located in Ilocos Norte and further up north is Pagudpud.

This is a long stretch of white beach that is like Boracay sans the noise and party. Pagudpud is the place where you bring a loved one to spend quality time together.

This is what they claim to be the sinking bell tower,

but actually, it’s more like a rising street level.

In Ilocos Norte is where you will see the Bangui Windmills and the lighthouse, Cape Bojeador. I do not want to flood the beauty of these places with words so I’d rather put photos of them to show you.

A beautiful old structure of bell tower looking over everything


Being at Bangui was so surreal; the place full of windmills didn’t look like it was in the Philippines, it was odd. It was a long stretch of beach that has nothing else but windmills in it (and a boat, lol). They say that the beach is actually a reef and it drops down to nothingness after a few feet from the shore (the thought sends shivers down my spine).

Vigan, is located in Ilocos Sur, and Vigan is one of our UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is a street called Calle Crisologo. The city of Vigan was miraculously protected from bombings 2 times during the war, therefore it was so well preserved and you will see what Manila’s Intramuros would’ve looked like, but maybe better.
It’s difficult not to be engrossed with your camera in Vigan because it’s just beautiful. They say it’s enough to spend a day in Vigan because it’s relatively small, but I disagree; for a person to fully take in a place this nice should be given more than a day to absorb it all! Every shot is beautiful, whatever you shoot is art because architectures around it IS art.


The place was kept very clean and the rest of the new places around it were also built as if it were from the same era.

Ilocos is also a place known for its weaving, the bed sheet covers and such are ridiculously cheap and if it were not for the 15kg limit for domestic flights, I would’ve bought a lot. Those who are obsessed with the bed and freaking beyond haha, this place is grrreat! We actually went to the weaver’s place and met this weaving grandmother who was not wearing any glasses, she said she has 20/20 vision and has been weaving for a few decades now.

Whenever I travel, I get a knack of trying out new things, even the simplest things, trying out just triples the fun for me, for instance, I tried weaving.

I even tried making my own Vigan empanada! Oh, I only got this photo of me eating it! hehe

For those history freaks out there, people who like to buy weaving of native fabrics, for those who loves to eat; this is indeed the province for you. The people are so nice that they take it as an insult if you don’t eat their food! But then again, living in a country where we eat at least 5x a day, I guess the rest of the Philippines is like that too! haha