Today, I woke up in Tuguegarao again. Tonight though, I’ll be sleeping in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.<\/p>\n
Our call time this morning was at 5:30am and everybody in the group made sure (or at least tried their hardest) to get some much needed sleep. We started the day with a hearty Cagayan breakfast at Director Bless Diwa’s house, of the Department of Tourism Region 2.<\/p>\n
\nFrom there, we set off for Cagayan’s treasured heritage churches. The first stop was Iguig, where the Stations of the Cross on Calvary Hill was. It was beautiful landscape overlooking the Cagayan River. Next was the Alcala church, a beautiful red brick architecture said to be the widest church in the region. We rushed over to Camalnuigan, where the oldest Catholic bell in the Philippines is (forged in 1595), then over to Lal-lo, the former Nueva Segovia with the 300-year old cross overlooking the Cagayan River. Our last church stop in Cagayan was at Pamplona, another beautiful red brick structure.<\/p>\n
One and a half days was not enough for Cagayan, but lunch was waiting for us in Ilocos Norte. From the northeastern tip of Luzon, we made our way across to the northwestern tip. Passing through the Patapat viaduct, we saw the North Korean vessel that ran aground near Ilocos Norte’s beaches last December. It was very<\/em> close to shore and the locals fear that oil must be starting to leak from the ship, which poses a huge threat on Pagudpod and the nearby beaches. <\/p>\n