On the 26th we headed North. We were quite an ensemble! A caravan of two vans, two maids, three kids; (Tinton, Jaime and Natalia), a driver, Chelong, Joseton, Isa, Lucia, me, a few suitcases, toys, pillows, etc. for all. We stopped in San Fabian, a coastal town in Pangasinan on the way to Baguio. We passed by the central plains which were completely devastated and covered with lahar by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo several years ago. This is not lava, but gray fine volcanic ash-miles and miles of it.
We stayed in a beautiful beach resort called Sierra Vista. It was quite a jewel with the China Sea on one side, a river on the other and a view of the Cordillera range and the mountain provinces. The water was so warm, Lucia went skinny-dipping at night. She just couldn't wait for a sea dip under the full moon.
After the second day there, Joseton suggested we go further north to check out the Ilocos province, go to Vigan (where there are numerous Spanish churches from the 1500's). Vigan is the town where my great grand uncle, Father Jose Burgos (a national hero) lived.
It was an interesting Spanish-style village but we were tired, hot and hungry. We stopped and had lunch. The kids rode horse-driven carriages with their dad, while Lucia, Isa, Chelong and I went for a walk through the historic and oldest part of town where all the Spanish-style houses were still intact and we stopped in some antique stores.
We spent the next day bound for Laoag, the town were we veiwed (infamous) Marcos' embalmed body as it lay in a glass coffin in a mausoleum which we toured next to his ancestral home. What a stage! A big mausoleum, all black-painted walls, spotlights on Ferdinand while dramatic classical music blared. The Ilocanos still revere him. His wish was to get buried in the "Burial Ground of Heroes", the government refuses to do so, therfore he is 'ala Evita and Stalin. It was pretty eerie. We were awe struck and shocked by the display as we didn't know what we'd see when we entered the black room.