The first destination for the fifth day of the Lakbay Norte 3 tour was at La Union’s Holcim compound. Today we are going to walk; as evident on my blog’s name, I love walking be it on hard concrete or rough trails.

A brief introduction was in order before we took off. Holcim is a Swedish mining company that supplies cement and aggregates for construction. They have four cement production sites across the country and is one of the leading cement suppliers around the world. Sounds bad for our environment right?
So what’s an ecotrail doing in their production yard? It turns out Holcim isn’t like many of the big bad mining companies out there. They’re actually trying to promote a sustainable way of mining; greening their mining locations, making it as good or even better if its possible than when they first touched the land.

The Bacnotan Ecotrail in La Union is just one of their green projects. Made not only for the enjoyment of their staff, it is also meant as a recreational area for the general public as well.

My alarm quacked twice and I was up and hurrying about my scattered things for my cameras and tripod. This was gonna be our first time to wake up on a beach and I was not about to waste it sleeping on my comfy bed.

The Lakbay Norte team docked at Kahuna Beach Resort in San Juan, La Union the night before after pigging out at the posh Thunderbird Resort. The night ended at 2:30am and with only three hours of sleep, my head was still dangerously spinning.

The beach was deserted as the sky transformed from dark black to warm magentas. I couldn’t find a subject to compose my sunrise photo besides the unmanned lifeguard post. I decided to use the surging surf instead.

A few minutes later and my Lakbay Norte mates were up and breakfast was already being served. Kahuna’s traditional tapsi and tosilogs proved to be a good way to perk up our fifth day of travelling.