Northern Invasion First Leg - Tuguegarao Malapit sa Araw

Mad waves, blue waters, wild carabaos in deep green pastures, these perfectly describe Palaui Island, at least that's what some bloggers say about this enchanting island. I have been wanting  to visit Palaui since August last year but since it is located at the tip of northern Philippines and the weather is very unpredictable, thanks to global warming, there had already been quite a number of plans that have been cancelled. My friends and I however did not drop that desire, we'll go there when it's sunny and when we're free of any obligations with work and  with school, since we're all taking our masters degree. Then, April came, it's my birthday month, we have five free days from work due to national holidays just in time for the summer break in school. So what was first planned to be Palaui Getaway turned into Northern Invasion.

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                                         "A" is Palaui Island

There were barely two days for me to prepare everything for this trip because I needed to complete all school requirements first. We thought of buying life jackets and sundresses but with the help of some blogs, we were able to save some money. However there is another obstacle, only three of us will go, from eight last year who went to Sagada, to only three this year. Some are already working in foreign countries, some have new beliefs, some have other groups to join for the long break. Good thing Marvin, my very sociable friend, have an extensive network, he was able to invite two. One is a dorm mate back in college, Byrone and his high school classmate, Vincent. 

After confirming the final number of people who will be joining the trip, we tried to reserve seats in a bus to Tuguegarao. But it was like fate that we can't be in Palaui. We asked our friend Crisel who is a native of the place and asked for her help, fortunately, her mom personally knows a conductor who can reserve tickets for us, but one day he sold the tickets because he totally forgot about our reservation, which we technically did not pay for. Marvin then tasked Byrone to do the job since he just came from an out of town assignment for work and he'll pass by the terminal, but his mind was afloat, he passed by Cubao and never got to reserve tickets. I also tried booking online but there were no seats available since it's a national holiday and for sure, everybody would be going home. We almost gave up going to Palaui because we can never get a bus reservation in the first place. Then Marvin recalled that Vincent lives near the terminal close to UST,  and he was able to reserve tickets because new trips were opened. Boom. I see my Palaui dream coming true.

Crisel and I arrived at the Florida Liner terminal for our 11pm trip. She'll be joining us to Tuguegarao because she'll be our host for the Tuguegarao leg of the trip. Marvin had her name in the itinerary, wahaha. Bea arrived next then Marvin and his friends. So we talked how each other is related to Marvin (birthday party niya ba 'to?). Come 11pm, time to board the bus. This was the first time that I have seen these pink buses and also the first time that I have felt the Semana Santa rush for the terminal is jampacked with people going to the province to temporarily escape their fast paced lives in the metro.

Biyahero-filled Florida Lines terminal, April 4, 21:35.

 It was already past 12 when the bus started to run around the streets of Manila. We braced ourselves for the 12 hour trip but it turned out that there's no 'on the way to Tuguegarao' just yet because we had an early stop over in the bus' garage because they fixed something in the bus and it kind of creeped me out, I was like 'this bus will be in a very long trip and you guys are not sure up to the last minute that it's in a good shape for the road trip, whaaaaaaaaaat?!'.

The roads of Manila are so alive even past midnight. There were still a lot of people in the streets and it appears like they're just having dinner. I can't explain the heaviness I feel when I am here, I can't really feel that I am safe, then I realized that we're off to Tuguegarao! So, I slept in most parts of the trip, there were times when I wake up and nice sceneries in the window surprise me like they are paintings. In Nueva Vizcaya, the roads are similar to that of Baguio and Sagada. The view is almost identical, with deep ravines and a nice view of the skies, but the vegetation is different, there were no pine trees. Then in Isabela, there are savannas, like your Windows wallpaper. Hectares of grasslands looks well maintained minus the lawn mower. The mountains are so sure of their contours, it's so majestic.

Window seat view, National Hi-way, Aurora, Isabela.

After 12 hours of thinking, eating, sleeping and singing along with songs in my IPod, we finally set foot at Tuguegarao City, the 8th hottest place on earth, 42.2 °C temperature has already been recorded here (http://expertscolumn.com/content/tuguegarao-philippines-recorded-8th-hottest-place-earth), mas uminit pa sa pagdating ko, wahahaha.  

First view of Cagayan... it is Solana.

Crisel's kuya and her mother's friend fetched us in the terminal. While waiting, I got to know Vincent, he offered us sweets like lollipops and Skittles and I also realized that I wasn't able to bring my lip balm, so we passed by Mercury Drug to buy and Vincent asked me to buy Claritin for him, he has allergic rhinitis, I also sneeze a lot most mornings, a doctor told me it's some form of an allergy also but I have never taken in Claritin, hehehe. We arrived at Crisel's house around 12 and a sumptuous lunch is already waiting for us: sweet and sour tilapia, tortang talong, singkamas and saging with Coca Cola products as drinks (Marvin: smile). 

Lunch break at the kubo by the garden, Crisel's house.

After lunch, we quickly freshened up, changed clothes and then from there, Northern Invasion officially started, 13:54 in a summer day in Tuguegarao, hoooooot!   

First stop: Buntun Bridge, one of the longest in the country next to San Juanico bridge which connects Leyte and Samar. Buntun Bridge traverses the country's longest river, Cagayan River. Well, only Marvin and I enjoyed this stop because everyone did not want to get off the car for a reason that I think you already know.

Buntun Bridge, a more than 1km bridge traversing Cagayan River.

Then we are on our way to the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat, 45 minutes from Tuguegarao City where we prayed for a while and lit some candles for the safe trip we have had. You can actually touch the image from behind the altar as this was believed to be miraculous.

Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat.

After that, we headed to Callao Cave. The route we took was quite longer than usual because according to Crisel, the bridge which serves as a shortcut was under construction. We paid 20 pesos each as entrance fee to the Callao Ecotourism Zone when we arrived and then off we go to the cave. You need to take 184 steps of stairs first before you get into the cave. There were 7 chambers but we only got to see 5 because it was muddy that day and we arrived late in the afternoon so sunlight was limited. There is a chapel inside and sometimes, they have masses according to our little tour guide.

The chapel of Callao Cave.

After the tour of the cave, our young tour guide ( I already forgot his name), shouted 'muroran' to people to the opposite side of the Pinacanauan river. A boat for us arrived right after. 

The boat ride costs 500 pesos for 8 people and if you would want to wait for the circadian flight of bats from the side of a limestone rock, you need to add 100 pesos. The water is so clear, it was tempting to swim and relax, however we did not bring extra clothes. There were actually some groups enjoying the cold and clean water on a summer day.

relaxing escape

Then after some minutes in the motor boat going against the gentle current of the river, the guide asked us to keep our electronic gadgets because we are now at the 'muroran' part, Ilokano word, if I remember correctly, for 'paulan'. At first, I thought it was the name of the river, so I kept the water proof camera that Bea lent me, I forgot that it's water proof. It was like Rio Grande in Enchanted Kingdom but here, it is not by chance that you would get wet, you'll get wet for sure. Ang saya. The boat went close to the mountain and got us wet from the showers above (ano kayang meron sa taas?).


We then reached the part of the river with rapids, and we would never go there. So we waited for the bats, according to the boatman, they usually come out around  6:00 but that day, they never did, we waited for half an hour. may attitude na rin ang mga bats? Dami kayong nga bangka na naghihintay sa kanila. Good thing the sunset was a nice view as well, so it's somehow a consolation for the circadian flight, but not a good enough replacement...

the bats come out from here every 24 hours

colors of the setting sun by the Pinacanauan River

After this, we saw the Capitol Building which looked like Parthenon from afar. 

The Cagayan Provincial Capitol.

We also visited St. Paul University of the Philippines, where there is a nice chapel. 

Next we dropped by the Tuguegarao Cathedral or the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral where there were preparations for tomorrow's procession, a Good Friday. It's facade is of bricks and white pillars and its bell tower is towering indeed.

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral

When you go inside, the cathedral is so huge, four columns of pews can fit in.

It was already past 8:30 when we realized we have not taken dinner yet so went in search of Tuguegarao's famous pancit Batil Patong but we were in the province and lights are turned off pretty early, all restaurants and eateries are already closed, except for Jollibee and McDonalds. If you would go to Tuguegarao, be sure you have a perfectly drawn itinerary because road trips will get most of your time, like what happened to us, the places we visited are not closely located to each other plus we did not get a taste of the pancit.


So we went home instead, Crisel's mom prepared dinner for us again: fried bangus, monggo and ensaladang kamatis at sibuyas (natuwa dito si Vincent dahil ngayon lang niya nakilala ito at naging instant paborito, inubos niya lahat). After taking a quick shower, we had socials: checked out our FB accounts, watched American Idol and played UNO cards, and at 1am, we started our journey to dreamland. 


That was how day 1 ended, my first birthday travel looks promising. Northern invasion, to be continued...