I am particularly budget-conscious when it comes to accommodations, but Pol suggested Playa Tropical Resort Hotel where it had a couple’s promo for 3 days and 2 nights. It was around PhP 6,500 for the whole package including airport transfer service, set breakfast, and use of all the resort’s facilities. It seemed pretty okay for me given that it is a resort. I looked through the resort’s website and found that they also have a private tour service and that was what mattered to me most. We would be able to save on the touring costs because the charge was per vehicle for a certain number of hours, plus gas, and there would be four of us together in the van.
Day 1: Welcome to Laoag! Welcome to Playa Tropical Resort Hotel!
We arrived at the Laoag International Airport late in the afternoon. We were then picked up by our hotel’s transfer service and our trip from Laoag to Currimao took about 45 minutes.
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| Laoag International Airport |
In the resort, we had dinner at a floating hut in the resort’s restaurant called Café Amarra. Aside from the floating hut, the café also has a bar and Japanese style dining setup. We ordered the Ilocano vegetable specialty pinakbet with chicharon, and grilled liempo (because their bagnet was out of stock during that night).
The resort also had a game hall with billiard tables, dart boards, and foosball. Because we were the only guests around that night, we played around after our delicious and very satisfying dinner.
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| Clockwise from left: Pol & I with Imee & JP in a floating hut, a lounge in the hotel, a Japanese dining setup, the guys playing foosball |
It was time to doze off and save our energy for our whole day road trip of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur the following day. The four of us agreed to start having breakfast as early as 7 am.
Day 2, Part 1: First morning at Playa Tropical, Ilocos Norte road trip
Our first morning at the resort left us breathless with the resort’s beautiful view. It was a relaxing environment while we were having our Longanisang Iloko breakfast set at Café Amarra’s floating hut.
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| Clockwise from left: Longanisang Iloko breakfast set, Infinity Pool, a goat by the Infinity Pool, casas at the resort |
After breakfast, we strolled around the resort while waiting for our tour driver. We left the resort at around 8 am.
Our tour started, and we hopped off the van at Marcos Museum and then Malacanang of the North in Batac. However, they were still both closed.
Next stop was Paoay Church, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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| Paoay Church |
When we reached Laoag, we stopped at the Sinking Bell Tower and the Tobacco Monopoly Monument, both within the city plaza. We also bought biscocho from Pasuquin Bakery.
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| From left: Sinking Bell Tower, Tobacco Monopoly Monument |
As our driver drove farther up north, we reached Burgos for the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. As we climbed the old lighthouse, the view from it was very beautiful that it gave me feeling of seeing a green and blue view of New Zealand (no, I’ve bever been there LOL).
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| Cape Bojeador Lighthouse |
Finally, our last stop in Ilocos Norte was Bangui Windmills. Despite the heat of the sun, it was still fun because it was of course windy, along with the photographic view and mighty sound of the windmills.
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| Bangui Windmills |
Half a day had passed so we had a yummy lunch at Saramsam in Laoag. At last, we had a taste of the Ilocano specialty bagnet, and then another order of bagnet, pakbet, and native chicken tinola.
Day 2, Part 2: Ilocos Sur road trip, night swimming at Playa Tropical
After having a sumptuous lunch, we fell asleep in the van so we didn’t know how long it took for us to get to Vigan. We just woke up when we got there. Our driver actually had to wake the four of us up.
We walked around the Heritage Village along Calle Crisologo, and then Burgos Plaza. We also bought empanaditas, bibingka and chichacorn for pasalubong with the help of our driver’s bargaining skills.
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| Calle Crisologo |
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| Burgos Plaza |
Our last stop in Ilocos Sur was the Baluarte (ni Chavit). Because I love animals, the Baluarte was not an ordinary animal encounter for me. Despite my countless trips to zoos and wildlife parks, this one is a must-see!
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| Close animal encounters at the Baluarte, clockwise from left: birds, a camel, miniature horses, binturong (Palawan bearcat) |
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| A tiger at the Baluarte |
Finally after our Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur power road trip, we maximized the use of our resort hotel’s facilities from that night until our checkout the next day. For this night, we had dinner again at Café Amarra. We feasted on chicken-pork adobo, and pinakbet again because it was really good. We stopped ourselves from ordering bagnet because we had two big orders of it for lunch already. After dinner, we swam the night away at the resort’s Infinity Pool.
Day 3: The Balinese-inspired Playa Tropical Resort Hotel, departure to Manila
Our last day at the resort was surely spent to the fullest. We had late breakfast, and we also ate the biscochos we bought. We had them dipped in hot coffee as we munched.
We took lots of pictures around the resort, particularly the villas, the pool, the spa, and their beach front.
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| At Playa Tropical Resort Hotel, clockwise from left: hotel hallway, view of the floating huts, the resort's Solana Spa, the Infinity Pool |
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| The beach front of Playa Tropical Resort Hotel |
And then we had our one last Ilocano lunch at Café Amarra. This time we had bagnet again and pinakbet for the third time. It was the best!
The couple’s promo package we availed from the resort entitled us to a late checkout at 3 pm. We spent the rest of the day swimming at the Infinity Pool.
After our late checkout, we asked our driver to take us to a place where we could buy more bagnet and longanisa, before dropping us off at the airport. He then took us to Batac Public Market. I think I bought a kilo of bagnet and a kilo of longanisa and thought it was enough. When I got home, I realized I should have bought more.
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| Departure area of Laoag International Airport |
Like all the other trips I had, there are still a lot of places in Ilocos that I should go back for. Aside from the Marcos Museum and the Malacanang of the North which were closed when we got there, I missed the Kapurpurawan rock formation and of course Pagudpud. I wasn’t also able to have a taste of their empanada and pinakbet pizza. And I really should have bought more bagnet and longanisa. Ilocos will definitely be on my go-back-to list.
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