Episode 3: Three Quick Stops in Ilocos Norte, Philippines

 Hello, mga Laagan! Allow me to continue my blog on our Ilocos Tour. In this post, I will take you to the three stops we did in our Ilocos Tour! I decided to put these three destinations together in one blog because we only stopped there for 20-30 minutes only and so I cannot talk much about the place. I think this is the most obvious downside of tour packages, you cannot stay long in a specific destination because, the package has a schedule to follow. Anyways, the three places that I am babbling about are the following: 1. Malacañang of the North 2. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish 3. Pasuquin Salt Making Factory - - - - - #### 1. Malacañang of the North (Entrance Only) After our fun and adventurous activities in the Paoay Sandunes, our tour guide and driver brought us to the Malacañang of the North - another famous destination in Ilocos. But, we were very unfortunate because we were not allowed to come inside because it was too early then, around 8:00 AM. Obviously, this place was built because of the late president, Ferdinand E. Marcos, who was born and raised in Ilocos. It was used by their family if they had to come to their hometown.  [//]:# (!pinmapple 18.12818 lat 120.53994 long d3scr)  Since, we were not given a chance to go inside, we just had our pictorials outside. We did not want to miss anything here anyways. So here's my team, smiling despite the scenario.  Our tour guide wanted us to have a photo of us all together, so the other team came close to us while the tour guide take my camera to take this shot. I should also mention that this is the only time that we were complete in one photograph. So, this was something special. After 15-20 minutes we headed to our next stop. I was sad that we were not able to come inside because I knew it would be a good learning first-hand experience about the Philippine history and Ferdinand Marcos who I have known only from the books as a dictator leader.  #### 2. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish It was already very hot when we arrived here, some people from the other group refused to get off the van. But for my team, we vowed to ourselves that we would make the most of our tour. So, despite the scorching heat of the sun, we got off to adore the beautiful and old church. Old churches in the Philippines are always included in tour packages because of their stories, beauty and architecture. And I always find them fascinating!  [//]:# (!pinmapple 18.25055 lat 120.61170 long d3scr) The St. Andrew the Apostle Parish or the Bacarra Church was the second church that we visited here in Ilocos. From the outside, it looks like a regular-sized church but it is really big, the inside can accomodate a thousand people in my estimates. Here's a closer photo of the facade of the church. It looks old, but it also looks very sturdy or strong. You can tell that it has surpasssed earthquakes and typhoons in the past.   When we enter the church, there was no holy mass going on. So I thought it was fine to take pictures. But it was really dark inside so I really could not get beautiful photos. We couldn't miss to have photos of the church so Grace and I asked our friends to take pictures. We were happy that this area was somehow shaded.  We thought we were already done with our pictorial but we also noticed that they also have a small bell tower. The photo below was able to capture the three structures present, the patron saint statue, the church itself, and the bell tower. I really did some editing here because I took this photo against the light source.  We headed to the small bell tower and had our individual photos. I decided to just post my picture and just keep my wife and friends photos on my drive. After here, we got in the van and headed to our next destination... 
#### 3. Pasuquin Salt Making Factory When we booked this tour package, we were given the itinerary of our 3-day tour in Ilocos. That means I had the list of destinations we would visit and I could have checked the internet what to expect in each place. But, I did not do my homework! I wanted to be surprised because I knew in my heart that I would love this tour a lot because Ilocos is one of the top destinations in the country. So, when I arrived in Pasuquin Salt Making Factory, I was totally impressed of the tour package. I know it was not an instagrammable place where people would give you a 👍 or a ❤️ if you post it on your social media platforms. But, I was happy because I didn't expect that we would be somehow immersed with the livelihood and the way of living of the locals in Ilocos.  [//]:# (!pinmapple 18.39288 lat 120.59795 long d3scr) For me, this was an amazing stop because I was able to make interactions with the locals. I asked them questions about how they do their work, how much they can get from this kind of occupation, and how long have they been working as salt-makers. Manong said that the process is so long and tidious, they need to cook it for hours. They did not disclose how much they are earning from this job, but you can sure tell they are not earning so much. And he shared that he has been doing this kind of job for more than a decade for his own family.  The factory was so small and dark that makes it so hot inside and make people bumped into each other, but I did not mind it at all. I was happy that I was able to somehow learned from the locals... These table salts we used to make our food palatable has gone through a very long and tidious process. We should be thankful enough that we have people like Manong who do this for us so that we can enjoy our meal.   #### Final Say I totally had a great time visiting the destinations mentioned above. It was not very interesting to some, but I have seen the beauty of each place. I cannot make everyone like it, but my heart was very full to have gone to these places. A true LAAGAN for me knows how to appreciate every place and can find the treasure in each destination because it entails new experiences and a different story. May you all enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you for dropping by! ❤️