Tuguegarao is a city located on the northeastern side of mainland Luzon. It is about 485 kilometers away from Metro Manila and is part of Cagayan Province in the Cagayan Valley Region. The province is bordered by Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Kalinga, and Isabela. Tuguegarao’s main claim to fame is the record temperature it set for the Philippines at 42.2°Celsius in 1912 and 1969.

But temperature aside, Tuguegarao has a few tourist spots up its sleeve that might surprise travelers who usually just pass through it on their way to the nearby town of Penablanca for spelunking, or Palaui Island and Claveria. It has a couple of historical churches, one of the longest bridges in the country, and a delectable noodle dish—pancit batil patong—that can rival the best of what the Philippines has to offer.

Before taking that bus ride up north once again, think about dropping by Tuguegarao City and let this travel guide and trip itinerary open your maps towards the hottest city this side of the Philippines.

After getting fully drenched by the boatride to Palaui Island, two tableful of bounties from the sea welcomed us—plates of crisply fried tilapia lathered in tomatoes, fresh seaweeds, hinalabos lobsters, shrimp sinigang and lumot. Lumot?! Yes, lumot. Lumot as in sea algae. Can we actually eat these?! I asked myself in disbelief.

And so goes our culinary adventure in the Province of Cagayan, a mix of familiar dishes in between food totally alien—but not less delicious—to us. There is, of course, the ubiquitous northern noodle dish, the pancit batil patong, in almost all the places we visited. But indeed, there is more to the north than carabeef and noodles.

 

 

CHICHARABAO

  WHERE TO BUY: LIGHTHOUSE COOPERATIVE YBANAG FOOD PRODUCTS, TUGUEGARAO • GPS COORDINATES MAP: 17.613028, 121.726361

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Tuguegarao City’s version of the chicharon (pork rind), is strangely enough, not made from pork, but from carabeef. Dubbed as the chicharabao, this uniquely Cagayan snack is lighter than your usual chicharon and without the crisply fried fat and meat. It is made from precisely cut carabao skin which are popped on an extremely hot cauldron of cooking oil. It comes in three flavors, garlic, onion & vinegar and, my favorite, hot & spicy. A note of caution, this snack is extremely addictive.

 

 

PAWA

  WHERE TO BUY: AROUND PIAT BASILICA, APAYAO ROAD, CENTRO, PIAT, CAGAYAN • GPS COORDINATES MAP: 17.786678, 121.480211

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Besides the venerated Black Virgin Mary, Piat holds another heavenly gem along its church grounds, the sweet pawa. The bite-sized snack is made from steamed glutinous rice filled with sweetened grounded peanuts. We were able to sample it for desserts when we visited the Cagayan State University for a brief tour of their farming facilities—which is free, by the way. But if you don’t have the time to visit CSU, there are readily available on the streets near Piat Church.

 

 

YBANAG LONGGANISA

  WHERE TO BUY: PUBLIC MARKETS AROUND CAGAYAN

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Made by the same guys that produce chicharabao, Tuguegarao’s version of the pinoy breakfast favorite, the longganisa, is made from, guess what, carabeef. Like the Vigan longganisa and Baguio longganisa, it is on the garlicky side with bits of fat interspersed with meat, making it really flavorful when slowly fried to a crisp. If carabeef’s not your thing, which is a shame since it is more flavorful, they do have a pork version of this one too.

 

 

PUTOFLAN

  WHERE TO BUY: SEGURO SNACK HAUZ, GATTARAN, CAGAYAN • GPS COORDINATES MAP: 18.106224, 121.671517

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After finishing three pieces of fried chicken, a scoop of veggies and a helping of pancit batil patong, we were treated with a variation of puto in the town of Gattaran by Seguro Snack Hauz. These are soft rice cakes made from flour and egg yolks, but with twist, it has sweet leche flan bottom. Lovely little things.
~ PHOTO BY MARTIN SAN DIEGO FOR NPVB

 

PANCIT BATIL PATONG

  WHERE TO BUY: CARINDERIA STALLS AROUND CAGAYAN

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We’ve had a total of four servings of Tuguegarao’s famous pancit batil patong throughout our journey across Cagayan Province. Indeed, this noodle dish, a concoction of miki, minced carabeef, topped with crunchy carajay and poached egg, and paired with batil soup and chopped onions is so popular, it’s available not only in Tuguegarao where it originates, but all over Cagayan as well. Besides Win-Mae Panciteria in Tuguegarao, we also dined on it at the towns of Gattaran, Lal-Lo (surprisingly, they use sotanghon as noodles and not the traditional pancit batil patong miki) and Aparri. Those last three were served in a bilao, good for big groups like us.

 

 

SINANTA

  WHERE TO BUY: CARINDERIA STALLS AROUND CAGAYAN

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Another noodle dish by the Ybanags, sinanta is usually eaten as snacks and served during birthdays. The soup is a mix of everything—sotanghon and miki noodles, chicken, pork and clams, all swimming on a soup flavored with patis (fish sauce). It is usually paired with pinakufu, a sweet rice cake, and hot choco. Talk about a mix-matched combo! This isn’t only popular in Tuguegarao, but the whole of Cagayan. Point in fact, it was served to us as a pre-dinner appetizer at the Lyceum of Aparri!

 

 

LUMOT

  WHERE TO BUY: JEROLYNDA WHITE BEACH RESORT, STA. ANA, CAGAYAN • GPS COORDINATES MAP: 18.516046, 122.159253

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And finally, lumot. Served with a host of seafood, lumot is lato’s (which they call pukpuklo, by the way) lesser know cousin. Both are seaweeds, the former having a more algae-ish consistency. Which is, of course, quite apt, since it is a kind of green algae. The taste is a tad similar to lato, which is salty, like sea salty. Speaking for myself, I can’t eat this on its own, but it definitely goes well when paired with fried fish and lobsters.

~ PHOTO BY MARTIN SAN DIEGO FOR NPVB

 

CAGAYAN PASALUBONG

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And as if these are not enough, we also brought home a taste of Cagayan with us back home. Besides Tuguegarao’s chicharabao, Ybanag longganisa and carabeef tapa, we also brought home packs of Alcala and Lal-lo’s carabao milk candies. And personally, after tasting how good the local chili dip is with pancit batil patong, I bought a couple of bottles of Puti’s spicy chili garlic dip in Lal-lo.

 

THIS TRIP IS PART OF NORTH PHILIPPINE VISITOR’S BUREAU'S (NPVB) LAKBAY NORTE 6 TOUR,
A FOUR-DAY MEDIA FAMILIARIZATION TRIP AIMED AT PROMOTING NORTHERN DESTINATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES.

It was almost twilight when I hefted my backpack from our Lakbay Norte bus. Like the rest of the day, it was drizzling. Totally bushed from visiting the churches of Cagayan and with rumbling tummies from helpings of Tuguegarao’s scrumptious pancit batil patong, it was finally time to rest. Or so I thought.

Coming from an all-night bus travel from the province of Nueva Ecija, it was with immense pleasure that we’re again sleeping on a real bed. And Balai Carmela’s fitted our needs perfectly.

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.

We braved the scorching afternoon heat to find souvenirs to bring back home from Tuguegarao City. We walked, scouring the local market and the main avenue of the city, finding nothing. Tuguegarao isn’t really that prominent on the tourism map and its lack of souvenir shops is quite understandable.

Tired, defeated, and dehydrated, we finally went back to our hotel, Holiday Plaza Tuguegarao, and asked where we can find some pasalubong.

INSIDE LIGHTHOUSE COOPERATIVE’S PASALUBONG STORE

Apparently, there’s only one place to buy souvenirs in Tuguegarao City. One of the friendly staff told us to head over to the lighthouse along the city center. We were taken aback, there’s a lighthouse in the city?!

Well, not a real lighthouse, but rather, a cooperative named Lighthouse along Luna Street.

► CHECK OUT: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

There is absolutely no argument, Jomar’s has the best pancit batil patong in Tuguegarao, but we were tipped off that it has another branch near the city’s Buntun Bridge; a branch of sort anyways, Jasmine-Jomar’s Panciteria. With our obsession with this noodle dish at fever pitch, we hailed a tricycle one afternoon and decided to check it out for ourselves.

BUNTUN BRIDGE IN TUGUEGARAO

We timed our visit right before sunset, might as well take some photos of Buntun Bridge, the longest bridge this side of the Philippines, along the way. We looked for a way down the banks of Cagayan River, hoping to find a nice spot to pass the time and ready our tummies for another bout of pancit batil patong.

► SEE: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

Every morning, our measly complimentary breakfast meal at the Holiday Plaza Hotel Tuguegarao always left us wanting for more. So after finishing our breakfast off in a single minute, we’d head over to the nearby Dim’s Resto, a tapsihan near the hotel, to continue our meal.

SIMPLE INTERIORS AT DIM’S RESTO

One would think that finding a tapsilog place in a bustling city like Tuguegarao would be a piece of cake, well, we thought wrong. Here, panciterias rule. It took us quite a bit of hunting to find a place selling good old tapsilog. During our three-day stay, we only found a single eatery selling our favorite morning fare.

Dim’s Resto is a simple carinderia along Blumentritt Street. It has no air-conditioning and has a bare concrete floor complemented by colorful wood furniture. It seemed popular enough with the locals, so we instantly sat down to check their menu.

► CHECK: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

About two years back, coming from an week-long trip from the towns of Claveria, Pagudpud, and Calayan, we made a quick decision to drop by Tuguegarao City as we were about to board a bus bound to Manila. Since it was such a spur-of-the-moment move, we scrambled across the web, scouting for the cheapest accommodation we could find before our bus passes through the city.

Pensione Joselina was the first one we found and a quick call from our cellphone confirmed us for the night.

We arrived at Tuguegarao City at around eight in the evening. Finding Hotel Joselina was easy enough. After a few questions for directions, we were at the inn’s gates in less than five minutes.

► DIG DEEPER: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

I became obsessed with pancit batil patong after trying out a plate at a roadside panciteria in Tuguegarao City a couple of years back. I’ve scoured Manila since then, trying to find that perfect eatery that serves the same pancit dish. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Looking for a restaurant selling one was hard enough, finding one that has the same legit flavor as those in Tuguegarao was nearly impossible.

INSIDE JOMAR’S PANCIT BATIL PATONG IN TUGUEGARAO

After several restaurants, I thought I finally found the perfect one at Jibs Pancit Batil Patung in Manila. My taste buds thought it has that same zest as those in Tuguegarao City—where this particular noodle dish came from. But during my recent trip to this city up north, I tried out the pancit being offered at Jomar’s Pancit Batil Patung, and realized I thought wrong.

► CHECK OUT: PANCIT BATIL PATONG IN METRO MANILA

It was literally along the street of Tuguegarao City where I first had my taste of the region’s famous pancit batil patong noodle dish.

We arrived in the city’s downtown area around eight in the evening. We bought a few cans of Red Horse from a grocery store and before going back at Pensione Joselina (now Hotel Joselina Tuguegarao), where we were staying, we passed a makeshift, hawker-style eatery set along one of the main avenues of the city. And since it looked quite popular with the locals, we decided to try it out for ourselves.

The rest, as they say is history.

► CHECK HOTEL JOSELINA’S DISCOUNTED ROOM RATES

EVENINGS AT TUGUEGARAO CITY

During our recent visit to Tuguegarao City, we were determined to find this guerilla-type pancit batil patong stall again, not only to relive that first moment where I tasted my now ultimate favorite noodle dish in the country, but also to have another taste of their offerings.

► EXLPLORE: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

Tuguegarao City holds the record for having the hottest climate in the Philippines. And on in this particular day, we really can’t quite dispute that. We were sweating buckets as we moved through the city’s busy streets, walking through shades and sprinting along open areas as we made our way to the Tuguegarao Cathedral.

TUGUEGARAO CATHEDRAL’S MYSTERIOUS WALL DECORATIONS

The baroque-style cathedral stood proudly against the midday heat. A handsome brick sentinel, watching guard over the whole city. On its symmetrical façade—framed by Solomonic twisted pilasters—we could glean cryptic clay casts; two bolos with a six-pointed stars, roosters, mysterious characters topped with crowns.

Church architecture aficionados were quite particular with the cathedral’s broken and crested pediment, a style they said, typical to Cagayan churches.

► EXPLORE: CAGAYAN VISITA IGLESIA

I tasted my first pancit batil patong dish the night before at a guerilla-type roadside eatery along Bonifacio Street near Hotel Joselina Tuguegarao, where we were staying. I was instantly hooked.

This was about two years ago and it was my first time to visit Tuguegarao City. The next morning, we hunted for a proper panciteria, asking locals as we went along. They were all saying the same thing, go to the Tuguegarao Cathedral, there’s one along its left wing. We followed their advice and we found Ed’s Panciteria (amazingly, it was just across Jomar’s Panciteria, which would later become our favorite pancit batil patong restaurant).

INSIDE ED’S PANCITERIA’S SIMPLE INTERIORS

It was basically a shack with a bare ceiling, unfinished floor with a few plastic chairs and makeshift tables. The thing that made us decide to eat there was the number of locals having their fill of their noodles, a good indication that this place serves a mean dish.

► EXLPLORE: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

What we really wanted to do right after arriving from a grueling twelve-hour bus ride from Manila to Tuguegarao City was to gobble a plateful of pancit batil patong from Jomar’s Panciteria. But it simply wasn’t possible, we were too doggone tired and all we wanted was to stretch out and sleep.

And that was exactly what we did. From nine in the morning, all the way to the late afternoon, we did nothing but snooze our heads off at the city’s first international hotel, the Holiday Plaza Hotel Tuguegarao.

THE HOLIDAY PLAZA HOTEL IN TUGUEGARAO

The four-storey, four-star hotel became our home for our three days of food-trippin’ through Tuguegarao’s panciterias. We were welcomed by two beautiful gals from the front desk and were escorted to our third floor room with no fuss. They have an elevator, so no need to trek all the way to our designated room.

► EXPLORE: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

A day of toploading, whitewater rafting and bridge hunting can make any traveler crave for a soft bed to curl up on at the end of the day. Luckily, the Lakbay Norte team has the Las Palmas Hotel as the sponsor for the team’s second night of the Northern Luzon tour.
Although the hotel’s façade isn’t really that remarkable, its interiors in contrast are well decorated, warm and cozy. The rooms are spacious and tastefully done, the bathrooms are superb too! I totally dig their interiors, minimal yet not bare and cold like most modernist designs. But what I really liked about the hotel was their staff, very welcoming and helpful!

With nothing to do right after riding the waters of Chico River, I and a few of the Lakbay Norte guys decided to visit the nearby Buntun Bridge for a sunset shoot. The sky was already turning some reds and oranges over as our tricycle roared into the roads of Tuguegarao.

There was almost nothing left of the beautiful colors we saw from the highway as we alighted from our ride. The sun was already out but there were still a few afterglows. Well, we were already on location, turning back’s a waste of time so we shoot with what we have.

Tuguegarao’s Buntun Bridge is the longest river-spanning bridge in the country. Its 15-section span crosses the Cagayan River and connects Tuguegarao to Solana Cagayan. It’s so long you can sing the full Philippine National Anthem from end to end.

The bright Lakbay Norte bus lights went out and night lights turned on. We slept the ride from Pantabangan to Tuguegarao with Victory Liner’s aircon chilling everyone to the bone. Our bus rode rolled through the asphalted roads of Northern Luzon for seven long hours.

I awoke at five in the morning, it looks like we stopped and I don’t have the slightest idea where. The sky was still dark as I alighted from the bus; shaking sleepiness off, trying to wake my legs and bringing back some warmth into my rigid body.
It turned out we’re in Tuguegarao already and we’re gonna be staying at the Las Palmas Hotel ‘til tomorrow. That doesn’t mean we got to rest on their soft beds though. After moving our bags, a quick shower and a quicker breakfast, and we’re on the road again; this time on a jeepney bound for Kalinga. We’re gonna rough out raging waters of the mighty Chico River.

The second day of Lakbay Norte 3 started at 5:30 AM. Finally getting full rest on a real bed at Los Palmas in Tuguegarao, we immediately boarded a jeep that would transport us for this day’s itinerary; a full day of whitewater tumble and rumble at the mighty Chico River in Kalinga.

Two hours into the cold and windy ride, we transferred to the jeepney’s roof, were gonna ride topload style! This was gonna be my first time to ride atop a jeep and after seeing the photos taken from such viewpoints, I was quite excited.
Hanging on for dear life, we roared through the zigzags of Tabuk. After an hour of scenic vistas, tree tunnels, sundried coffee beans laid out on the streets, craggy rock formations and chilly weather, we arrived at the border of Tabuk and Pasil.

With our rafts inflated and our briefing done, it was time to ride the rapids! It took us three hours to traverse the waters of Chico River, passing both calm waters and raging rapids. The view was breathtaking, almost Tolkienesque in fact. It was almost impossible not to imagine the two gigantic Argonauts to appear on every bend of the river.