For eight days, a group of travel junkies sped through the highways of North Luzon
in a stickered Victory Liner Bus.  They slept through makeshift bus beds and posh
hotel rooms, tried out adrenaline-pumping adventure sports, ate more than they
should, shared tales and laughter, got addicted to Pinoy Henyo, took uncountable number of photographs and created lasting memories along the road. I present you
the story of Lakbay Norte’s third installment.

D A Y  1 : B U L A C A N > N U E V A E C I J A
Norzagaray’s Pinagrealan Cave
Bass Fishing at the Pantabangan Dam

D A Y 2 : K A L I N G A > C A G A Y A N
Toploading from Tuguegarao to Tabuk
Whitewater Rafting at Tabuk’s Chico River
Sunset at Buntun Bridge
A Night at Las Palmas Hotel

D A Y 3 : I L O C O S N O R T E
Pagudpud’s Patapat Viaduct
Lunch at Pagudpud’s Kapuluan Vista Resort
Pagudpud’s Blue Lagoon
Dinner at Johnny Moon Café
Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center

D A Y 4 : I L O C O S N O R T E > L A U N I O N
Paoay’s Malacañang of the North
Birdwatching at Paoay Lake
Stand Up Paddle Boarding at Paoay Lake
The Sand Dunes of Paoay
Ilocos Empanada
Dinner at Thunderbird Resorts Poro Point

D A Y 5 : L A U N I O N > B A G U I O C I T Y
Sunrise at San Juan’s Kahuna Beach Resort
Hiking through Bacnotan’s Holcim Ecotrail
Lunch at the Provincial Capitol
Te Quiero Tapas Bar & Restaurant
Airsoft Shoot ‘Em Up
A Night at Camp John Hay’s The Manor

D A Y 6 : P A N G A S I N A N
Dawel River Cruise
Matutina’s Seafood Restaurant
Go Karting at Kart City Tarlac
La Maja Rica Hotel

D A Y 7 : Z A M B A L E S > P A M P A N G A
Subic’s Jungle Survival at Pamulaklakin Forest Trail
The Ritz Tropical Spa at Subic
Dinner at The Verandah
A Wild Night at Widus Resort and Casino

D A Y 8 : P A M P A N G A
Porac’s Puning Hot Spring
The Historic Camalig Restaurant
Lubao’s Prado Farms


R O A D   U P D A T E S
DAY 1 Caving at Norzagaray & Bass Fishing at Pantabangan Dam
DAY 2 Toploading & Whitewater Rafting at Kalinga
DAY 3 Shooting Landscapes and Surfing at the Blue Lagoon
DAY 4 Paddle Boarding & Birdwatching at Paoay
DAY 5 Hiking at Holcim’s Ecotrail & Airsoft at Baguio Country Club
DAY 6 River Cruise at Dagupan & Go Karting at Tarlac
DAY 7 Puning’s Hot Springs & Lubao’s Prado Farm
DAY 8 Jungle Survival, Spa Time & Pinoy Henyo at Subic 


Lakbay Norte is an annual media familiarization tour around North Luzon organized
by North Philippines Visitors Bureau in cooperation with Manila North Tollways Corporation, Victory Liner, McDonalds, Petron and Universal Robina Corporation.

In the tradition of Lakbay Norte tours, we just finished eating at the historic Camalig Restaurant in Angeles City and we were gonna eat again; this time at Prado’s Organic Farms in Lubao. I almost swore off eating until I saw what they prepared for us.

The vibrant yellow walls of Prado Farms’ entrance greeted us upon arrival. The next thing I saw was a gate made from welded gas tanks, it looked so absolutely heavy and very, very artsy. I knew we were in for an interesting afternoon right then.

Our 4x4 emerged from a cloud of dust and was eaten by a narrow gorge. We were rumbling through the lahar-laden wasteland east of Mt. Pinatubo, our destination a lone resort at the foot of one of the most destructive volcanoes of the 21st century.

Looping around North Luzon for a week, we have seen some pretty spectacular places and most of us were really not expecting much for the last day of the Lakbay Norte 3 tour, I mean what else can they throw at us? A whole lot more, as it turned out.

The jump off point to Puning Hot Spring is at Sapang Bato in Angeles City. Dubbed as Station One, it’s where we chose our 4x4’s. We piled on the back of the trucks and within minutes were racing across the road, passing Station Two and rumbling down the dusty landscapes of Porac.

Let’s meet at room 3402 later were words that were being passed around as our luggage was being stowed off the bus and we were being herded to check out the rooms and amenities at Widus Hotel in Clark, Pampanga. It was Lakbay Norte’s last night and a strange bond seemed to link the busload of travelers that were pure strangers just a week ago.
A gurgling fountain set on dark slate rocks in the middle of the lobby surrounded by minimalist white walls gave me a good preview of what this hotel has to offer. Formerly dubbed Hotel Vida, the hotel has now been transformed as the hotel component of the Widus Resort and Casino.

The Lakbay Norte bus smoothly ran through three hours of rolling afternoon landscapes at the SCTEX. The view outside was poetic but inside our bus, all hell was breaking loose; the team had just discovered Pinoy Henyo and everyone was rolling and howling with laughter all over the narrow hallway.
We were all plastered and hungry by the time we reached the parking lot of the Mimosa Golf and Country Club in Pampanga. Dinner was gonna be at The Verandah, one of the restaurants at the renowned tee club.

Being on the road for a week; exploring dark caves, riding raging waters on a rubber raft, speeding on mini F1 racers and doing all sorts of sporty adventurous stuff that I’m really not used to makes me yearn for a bit of respite. A soft comfy bed at night or better yet a full body massage perhaps.
On the seventh day of the Lakbay Norte loop, I got my wish; the group was gonna be treated for a full body pampering at the Ritz Tropical Spa in Subic. Everyone was looking forward to this part of our trip and we were hopping down our tour bus like rabbits after a carrot as we stopped in front of the spa.
The Ritz doesn’t look like much outside, their signboard needs a bit more glitz and the façade is pretty nondescript; mottled yellow walls, woven sawali ceilings and to make it more confusing two Shishi Chinese lion guard its entrance.
Everything changes though once you enter their glass doors; their lobby is beautifully decorated. Amber-colored wall line the octagonal lobby, softly lit by luminous capiz windows framed by billowing white curtains and glowing golden leaves overhead. The effect is calming, as if giving us a good preview of the next hours in their hands.
After a quick shower, some headed for their bubbling Jacuzzi before trooping to the massage houses located at the maze of seemingly old and rustic cottages at the back of the spa.
Named after spices and flavors, the cottages are finished in rough concrete painted in vibrant hues of yellows, greens and blues. Old wooden doors, capiz sliding windows, rusty vintage lamps, weathered lintels and carved railings saved from old houses are all charmingly incorporated in the design.
Dressed in robes, we were asked to lay face down on the massage beds, we’re gonna be treated to a Swedish massage. Cool minted oil was slathered on my body and the graceful yet strong hands of my masseuse started gliding over my haywired muscles. I felt every fibrous strand of my muscles relax as she expertly applied pressure all over my body.
I was trying so hard not to fall asleep, wanting to savor every relaxing stroke over my tired body. And as far as I can recall, I didn’t or at least I think I did not. It was hard to notice the passing minutes and before I knew it, she was saying we were done. I can’t believe an hour has already passed, it was over much too soon.
We then tried their sauna afterwards but I can only stand sweating rivers for ten minutes and had to get out and shower after.

Fully rejuvenated from our weeklong fun and strenuous loop around North Luzon, I was thinking maybe we can extend our tour and do one more week; and perhaps we can visit The Ritz in Subic afterwards again haha.

    The Ritz Tropical Spa
    Blk. 76, Bicentennial Park, Rizal Highway, CBD
    Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales
    Telephone: (047) 252-6088 | (047) 252-3342 | (047) 252-3347
    E-mail: the_ritz_tropical_spa@yahoo.com

    GPS Coordinates: 14.824133,120.28951 | Click to view location on Google Maps

He flips the bamboo, scratches off thin strips off its outer skin using his sharp jungle bolo then clumps them together and starts vigorously rotating a small piece of wood over it. Seconds later a puff of white smoke emits from his work and fire eventually flare all over the bamboo strips.
Meet Kasuy, an Aeta jungle guide at Subic Bay Freeport’s forest, he’s gonna be our survival instructor inside the Pamulaklakin Forest Trail. He has been teaching American G.I.’s how to survive inside jungles before and he’s gonna be teaching those same things to us.

It was the sixth night of Lakbay Norte and everyone was already feeling the effect of non-stop traveling through the roads of north Luzon. After a full day of cruising through the Dawell River in Dagupan and speeding through the race tracks of Kart City Tarlac, the group called it a day and retired to the La Maja Rica Hotel.

This 40-room boutique hotel at the heart of Tarlac City was once a junkyard of sorts. Before the hotel, a half-century old warehouse once stood on its ground. The Pascual Family took notice of this and decided to transform the eyesore into something beautiful; the La Maja Rica Hotel.

The flag was waved and I pushed the gas of my go kart as hard as I can. Hard right, full throttle forward, an s-curve, hard left and a looping right curve; the wind was whipping hard through the open kart, everything’s a blur and my adrenaline was pumping high. Welcome to Kart City Tarlac!
The Lakbay Norte crew was welcomed by Mr. Pio Arugay, one of KCT’s brainchild and he immediately led us to their videoke room.

Kart City’s fame is not limited to high-speed chases; they also serve a mean panizza. It’s basically a thin crust pizza sliced into strips that you then roll into bite-sized balls. We never minded that we’re still full from our lunch at Matutina’s Seafood, KCT panizzas (and regular pizzas as well) are simply superb.

Being a TV-soaked kid in the 80’s, the first thing that came to mind when I heard that the Lakbay Norte gang’s gonna have lunch at Matutina’s Seafood Restaurant was of us eating at a long table filled with all sorts of sumptuous seafood dishes with Matutina of the John & Marsha TV show character doing the serving.

But when in you’re in Pangasinan, ask any of the locals and the same imagery would probably be conjured, sans the squeaky-voiced Matutina character in the background, of course. Matutina’s Seafood Restaurant is a household name in the said province; it equates to good dishes from the sea much like Dampa is for the Manileños.

An hour has not passed since I devoured a whole arm-length grilled bangus  (milk fish) after the Dagupan River Cruise and here we were again, noisily piling in at the Matutina’s Seafood Restaurant branch in Urdaneta City for another round of foodfest.

Huge colorfully decorated bangus sculptures greeted us at the wharf leading to Dagupan City’s newest tourist attraction. The breeze coming from the Dawel River was refreshing as the Lakbay Norte team boarded the floating platform that would tour us along the green waters of the river.
Similar to the famous Loboc River Tour in Bohol, Dagupan had also launched its own river cruise. It has almost the same rectangular boat capable of seating sizable amounts of tourists and it plies a similar scenic route. Only difference is that there is no buffet table and there’s no band serenading the visitors.

I cannot believe that I’d be staying at Baguio City’s premier hotel for one night.

I always fancy staying at The Manor every time we visit the City of Pines, but its rates are too steep for mere mortals like us. We’d usually just saunter in their lobby, checking out the fireplace, the quirky political chess pieces at one of its nooks, then head over the gardens at the back for some photos.
The air was chilly as we alighted from our Lakbay Norte bus and unloaded our baggage at the hotel foyer. Warm lights illuminated the expansive wood-paneled lobby, the blazing central fireplace warming the nippy Camp John Hay night coming in from the hotel’s open doors.

Designed by Architect Ruben Payumo, the four-star hotel is instantly recognizable with its Canadian fir logs façade. It sits on a hilltop, the former location of the camp’s main clubhouse, emulating a classic European Manor towering over the land.

Slowly inching my way through the thick underbrush, the sunlight piercing through the tops of the giant pine trees, and my hand firmly gripping a heavy submachinegun—I felt I was part of some elite black ops unit somewhere in Laos or Vietnam.

But it was all make-believe. What I have in my heavy gun were plastic pellet ammunitions and I was not in some far-flung godforsaken place, in fact I’m in Baguio City, at the backyards of the Baguio Country Club.

The main activity for the sixth day of the Lakbay Norte 3 tour was to mercilessly shoot each other out at the pine forest of Baguio City.

► CHECK OUT: BAGUIO TRAVEL GUIDE

It was weird to be suddenly in Baguio without enduring the usual six-hour bus ride from Manila. An hour hasn’t passed yet since we ate lunch at La Union’s Capitol and here we were preparing to chow down again, this time at Baguio’s Te Quiero Tapas Bar & Restaurant.

Te Quiero, which literally means I Love You, is one of the newest food joint in the City of Pines. Part of the Microtel hotel in Baguio City, it sits loftily above the towering pines of the city.  
The restaurant has a modern chic interior; white and yellow walls, huge windows, red furniture and lots of textures. I specially love the airy dining hallway that’s lined with red paintings over a stone wall.  On one side Te Quiero’s windows open to the bustling Victory Liner bus station, but look on the other and you’d see nothing but pine tree tops.

Standing majestically on top of a hill overlooking San Fernando City is La Union’s massive Provincial Capitol.

Originally located at San Fernando City’s current City Hall, it has been transferred to its present location after the Japanese bombings of the Second World War. Construction started in 1949 and was finished a year after.
Unifying the province’s 19 municipalities and 1 lone city, the Capitol stands as a testament to La Union’s name which literally means The Union.

The massive Capitol sports a Neo-Classical look, with towering pillars out front and terraced balconies on its east and west axis. It would have been more formal if painted in white, but I guess pink is okay too.

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.

Us who likes cameras like sunrise and sunsets. Unlike the former, sunrises are harder to shoot since you have to wake up earlier than normal and lumber through the dark all by your lonesome self. The Lakbay Norte 3 caravan rolled into San Juan, La Union the night before and we got to have our very first beach front; finally a chance to shoot a sunrise.
With only three hours of sleep due to an almost all-night chat session with the guys (good thing there were no beers involved or I would probably be unable to wake up for the sunrise, or was that a bad thing?), I woke up to my quacking alarm and proceeded to the still dark beach of La Union.

The trip to our lunch destination, the Historic Camalig Restaurant in Angeles City, took a full hour and for once during our eight-day tour of Luzon, the Lakbay Norte team was actually hungry! The excitement-filled trip to Puning Hot Springs must be the culprit for this strange sensation in our tummy. It was something we haven’t felt for quite sometime, and it was totally unacceptable! So eat, we must!

The heat was intolerable as we boarded down the comfort of our air-conditioned bus. Good thing the grounds at Camalig were well-shaded by huge trees.

Close your eyes and think of whitewashed walls, massive archways, blue domes and Atlantisian artworks. Picture the azure ocean, sparkling pools and sprawling greens. Think Greece and imagine Santorini. Now open your eyes.
You really don’t need to fly all the way to the Mediterranean to experience all these; a drive down San Fernando City in La Union will do. And for Lakbay Norte 3’s fourth night, we were lucky to do just that, we’re having dinner at Thunderbird Resort!

A tour of Ilocos Norte would not be complete without tasting its famous orange-colored empanadas.

While the empanadas most Manileños know are made of crusty bread, the ones being sold in the streets Ilocos are quite different. Instead of bread, the crust is made of rice flour and in place of the usual giniling, its filling is stuffed with egg, bean sprouts and garlic longanisas.
There are actually two versions of the famed Ilocos Empanada, those that are made in Vigan and the ones beng sold in Laoag and Batac. One can immediately see the difference between the two by just looking at them; Vigan’s has a more subtle color than the orangeier version of Batac.
Batac’s Empanada, which is commonly referred to as the Ilocos Empanada uses achuete to color its crust. It’s also much thicker than its Vigan counterpart; making it somewhat harder to eat when it gets cold.

But who would want to eat cold empanadas right? The best way to gobble these orange delights would be to head to Batac City and check the stalls some meters from the Marcoses ancestral house.
The place is an empanada haven, stalls upon stalls of glowing orange half-moons line its corridors and they’re all freshly made. One can order a regular serving which has a filling of grated green papaya for a lesser price or get a special order with bean sprouts and Ilocos longanisa for a few pesos more. But wait there’s more, one can have an even more special empanada by having its stuffing doubled! Customize your fillings with a single egg and double longanisa (single double), a double egg and a single longanisa (double single) or two eggs and longanisa (double double). Sinful, I know, but once those orange things get in your hands and you have your first crunchy bite, you’ll definitely forget how bad this stuff probably is for your health.

But we only live once, so indulge I say.
So how do you want your empanada? Single Double? Double Double? How about adding a bowl of piping hot Miki with it? And don’t forget to put in some of those spicy Ilocos Vinegar too! Yumm!

    Batac Empanada
    Batac City, Ilocos Norte
    GPS Coordinates: 18.053882,120.563917 | Click to view location on Google Maps

       LAKBAY NORTE IS AN ANNUAL MEDIA FAMILIARIZATION TOUR AROUND NORTH LUZON 
       ORGANIZED BY NORTH PHILIPPINES VISITORS BUREAU