In a quiet and pastoral setting like the Ilocos provinces of the
northwesternPhilippines, you'd think the only thing that ever happened there was the weather. You'd be wrong. While watching rice grow remains the regional pastime, the area has also seen centuries of revolution and upheaval, dating from when the Spanish arrived in 1572 to as recently as when local boy Ferdinand Marcos was first praised as the savior of the nation then vilified as its worst enemy.
This centuries-long history is conveniently bookmarked for tourists to the area, where every place that's visited reveals another story -- starting with the airport.
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
A mere 45-minute flight from Kaohsiung, the Laoag International Airport hardly seems international in standard. Former president Marcos had it built specifically to facilitate international guests for his eldest daughter's wedding. From there, the attendees were whisked away to the "Malacanang of the North," Marcos' official residence in Ilocos Norte overlooking Paoay Lake. The imposing structure is now a museum through which visitors can roam freely after paying a nominal charge. Afterwards they can travel around the lake to play 18 holes on the former dictator's private golf course, now the Paoay Lake National Park, and tour the bedroom he kept on the second floor of the clubhouse. Be sure to have your picture taken sitting in his red velvet chair with the "seal of the president of the Philippines" engraved in it.
Balay ti Ili is Marcos' ancestral home in Batac, another short drive from Paoay Lake, and showcases memorabilia of the late dictator's 20-year reign, including the late dictator himself, refrigerated under glass in an adjacent mausoleum. Be sure to not have your picture taken here as it's strictly prohibited.
Marcos memorabilia is hardly all there is to see in the area. Few other places in Asia have as close a congregation of World Heritage sites as Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. Minutes from Marcos' refrigerated remains, the Paoay Church sits baking in the sun. It was constructed during much of the 17th century by Augustinian monks who used coral stone brought from the seashore to build the church in the squat, earth-hugging style now known as "earthquake Baroque." A few meters away is the coral stone belltower which served as an observation post of the Katipuneros during the Philippine Revolution. The church and belltower, together with three other Baroque churches in the northern Philippines, were included in UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1993.
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
An even more stunning World Heritage site is found in the Ilocos Sur town of Vigan. Vigan has served as a port of trade for centuries, first by the Chinese and Japanese and later by the Spanish, whose influence is still found along the centuries-old boulevards of the Mestizo District. Tourists and locals alike can ply Mena Crisologo Street from the seashore to St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral in the center of town. Built by Spanish Captain Juan de Salcedo starting in 1572 and modeled after Old Manila's Intramuros District, the entire area was named a World Heritage site in 1999.
Be sure to pay a visit to the adjacent ceramic district where jars traditionally used to salt fish are still turned out by the hundred. RG Vigan Jars is a fourth-generation family-owned business and the biggest of the district's jar makers by virtue of the fact that it has one of the largest hillside climbing kilns outside China. More than 500 of the knee-high jars can be baked in a single firing of the huge kiln.
Anyone more interested in nature than history need look no further than the coastline, and with more than 7,000 islands comprising the archipelago the Philippines offers plenty of it. The stretches of beach and rock outcroppings between Laoag and Vigan alone can provide several days of recreation. Although surfers will have to look much further south to find a worthy wave, there are plenty of activities for beachcombers at the resorts in Laoag, including waterbike, jetski and four-wheeler rentals. For a bit of adventure, take a ride on a traditional barangay fishing boat, which can be rented for afternoon excursions to outlying islands. The most popular beach activity of all, however, is sitting in a patch of shade watching the tide roll in.
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
But the picturesque coastline and the area's collection of ancient artifacts and dead leaders are a sorry secondary reason to travel to the Ilocos provinces; the Ilocanos themselves are the best reason to go. Filipinos have a knack for whiling away lazy afternoons with long conversation and visitors to the area can do no better than strike up a conversation with one of the locals, whose hospitality and easy smiles are legendary. With San Miguel selling for about NT$11 per bottle, the conversations can go on pretty long too.
For more information: on travel to Laoag, Vigan and the Ilocos provinces, contact the Philippines' Department of Tourism, Laoag Regional Sub-office at (63-77) 772-0467 or (63-77) 771-1473.
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
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