House after house, alley after alley, we saw the same thing. Clay makers. The whole town seemed busy mashing, kneading, molding and drying all things clay. Most do it on their front yards, some on their porch—their kids looking on—and a few, right out on the street.

MAKING POTTERY IS A NORMAL DAY TO DAY THING IN BARANGAY ATULU

I’ve seen a few pottery centers in the country, from Vigan’s pagburnayan to Antique’s Tibiao clay pottery, but the scale of pottery production in Iguig is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Everyone seemed hell-bent on mashing these earthen lumps into something more useful. And surprisingly, I didn’t see a single potter’s wheel to mold their clay with. The Itawes of Iguig uses their bare hands, with the aid of simple wooden implements, to form these into jars, vases and even stoves and oven!

1581 marked the year that Spanish conquistadors set foot in Cagayan. Sent forth by the fourth Governor-General of the Philippines, a host of Spaniards marched through the valleys of Cagayan, together with their families, spreading the Catholic faith amongst the locals and building massive brick churches along the way.

OUR LADY OF PIAT’S RETABLO

To be honest, the first thing that comes to my mind when one mentions Cagayan aren’t really old churches, but noodles, their delectable pancit batil patong, to be precise. But as fate would have it, that same noodle dish is forever linked with an old church where it is most popular. The first time I asked locals in Tuguegarao where I could find a mean dish of pancit batil patong, they all referred me to one place, the street adjacent to the old church.