Northern La Union Province with kids

If there's a province I want to live in, it's La Union. Driving distance from Manila, on the coast, cooler weather, drier heat, arid landscape, less traffic, fresh produce from the mountain provinces nearby, and a very chill pace of life. I love visiting up there because in one trip we get relaxation, adventure and LOTS of culture. It's a 5-hour drive away, but it's unique location in the North West Luzon gives it a different feel that's as if you've taken a flight to get there- but you haven't. You've just survived a 5-hour drive with kids, is all :)

So what do we love about it:

1) We love the unique beaches. La Union is known for it's surfing, particularly in San Juan. There are two surfing seasons July to October and November to March... making for impressive waves! Most popular place to surf is at San Juan Beach, lots of info at the San Juan Surf Resort website. Note that this can be a difficult place to take young kids to enjoy the beach, as the waves can get high and undercurrents strong (if this is the case, thankfully a protective and knowledgeable local will come running to tell you it is NOT a good idea to take your kids swimming here-- just ask them to point you to where kids can swim). With children/beginner level surfers, the waves when we went in late Jan were too high. We learned that there can be gentler waves at Taboc Beach (access through the resorts, like German Sunset resort). We were also able to surf with kids in the next town north, Bacnotan (more about that below).

 San Juan Beach

 Playing in the waves on a day it was ok to. Two days later the undercurrents were too strong.

During a different visit in November, waves in Luna, La Union (30 min north of San Juan), were very gentle- too gentle to go surfing. But, what's unique about Luna beaches is that they are not sandy beaches, but pebble beaches. Pebbles in different shades of gray, red and green! In fact, a major export of Luna are pebbles and you will see locals collecting them and organizing them to be transported. If you are looking for an inexpensive, but clean place to stay in Luna- we've stayed at Pebble Beach resort, which has big, clean rooms (about 3K for a room with two queens). Amenities are basic but they have a great, quiet beach.

Pebble Beach, Luna in the month of November

The beaches in San Juan, Taboc, Bacnotan and Luna are all public, no part owned by a resort or anything- you can walk on any stretch of beach you like... and it's all fantastic.

2) We also love how each town has its own culture and sights to offer. And that we can drive between these towns easily ("Country roads, take me home, to the place, where I belong"... rang through my head as we drove). I don't really want to compare it to another place because it has it's own authentic character, but in my heart, it reminds me of the summer vacations of my childhood in the South of France- where we'd stay in one town, and embrace it, relax pool- or beach-side there, and make it our home for the week--- but then venture to other quaint towns to explore them and their unique characteristics. First of all, here's a pic from the road in LU. The arid landscape also adds to the South of France feel... and oh yeah that's one other thing we love about LU- the weather! Drier! And also cooler (dropping to 72F/22C in the evenings and mornings- sweatshirt weather!). And also, so breezy! Okay... following is a list of the things to enjoy in each of the towns in this area.

SAN FERNANDO
Is the capital of La Union province. It's where your grocery stores are as well as an awesome, big palengke/wet market. We got beautiful produce here as well as fresh fish- in fact we threw it all together for a boodle fight style dinner, since we also found banana leaves there. Of note, is delicious buko all sold along a line of buko stalls- have you ever seen one so big?

Interesting produce at the palengke like these native tomatoes which were delicious, and a type of bean I have never seen before

SAN JUAN
Is a 15-minute drive along the coast north of San Fernando. It is a colorful, hip, hippy surfing town, with cool hang-outs and trendy, artsy places to eat (I got my tips from amommabroad and carlosandveronica). With a fierce beach to enjoy! As you leave the town of San Juan, there are lots of pottery stalls like the one pictured below.

The kids chilling at Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel

Snacking on S',mores Dip and Horchata at El Union

One of the stalls selling San Juan-made pots

BACNOTAN
Is a 10-minute drive north of San Juan, also along the coast. Less touristy than San Juan, it's beaches are quiet (of people, not of wind and waves). It's where we stayed in a choice airbnb house, more of that below.

LUNA
Is a 30-minute drive north of Bacnotan. Sites to see here are:

a) Fishing at dusk, it's an experience. We've done it 4 times now and it's so cathartic to watch the local boys and men go out on boats to fish, and then the neighbors run onto the beach to help pull in the nets for the daily catch. Those who help get a share of fish, and the rest goes to market. The fishing is at 5pm everyday (unless waves are too big) in barangay Rimos No. 5.

 

b) See how Luna's specialties of bibingka (cassava cake) and tupig (sweet glutinous rice roasted in banana leaves) are made at Orang's bakery in barangay Sto. Domingo. The whole process is fun to watch, and the results, a delight.

 

    Bibingka                                                       Tupig

c) Visit Baluarte- an old watch tower from pre-Spanish times to protect La Union from Spanish, Chinese and Moro pirates. There's something about it's story that is stirring- it gave protection and defense to La Union and yet is so weak (due to its building materials of coral bricks and egg whites, and poor foundation) that it collapsed in a typhoon in 2015. It's considered a national treasure and has since been reinforced.

Baluarte before it collapsed and was reinforced in 2015

d) Visit Bahay Na Bato in barangay Nalvo Norte. It is a private family house turned open-to-tourists for a visit. It's basically a very tasteful house on the beach with stone sculptures by Korean artist Bong Kim. It feels a little tourist trappy, but the sculptures are impressive, and the ambiance of the breeze and pebble beach isn't something you can regret too much. 

BANGAR
Is 15 more minutes from Luna, or 30 minutes directly from Bacnotan. What it's got? WEAVING! Visit De Castro's Weaving (at Central West #3) to see and be inspired by loom weavers making Inabel fabric, blankets, and towels characteristic of this region. De Castro Weaving is a large factory where no machines are used- just hands, looms, manual sewing machines, and hard work. You can buy products here, and even order customized and personalized ones. All for inexpensive prices (120 pesos for a bath towel, 350 pesos for a queen-size blanket, 20 pesos for a dish towel, 120 pesos for a pair of pillow covers). The hard work is beautiful to behold, as well as the looms and materials themselves, and of course the products- you just want to take everything home and take care of it. On the same street are two other vendors of woven products, C-something Weaving and Nuguer's Weaving. Both of these sell products woven by women in the neighborhood.

3) We really loved the beautiful, relaxing, perfect-for-families-and-friends beach house in Bacnotan on Airbnb where we stayed. See the listing here.

What's so great about it:

-Has two bedrooms upstairs with queen beds in each and a shared bathroom, two bedrooms downstairs (one with a twin bed, one with a queen bed downstairs) also with a shared bathroom, and then a living room/dining room area and full kitchen with oven, stove and fridge. There's also an outdoor patio for outdoor eating and lounging and enjoying that breeze! This was a great house for sharing with another family.
-It's native character thanks to the thatch roofs and wooden furniture, some of it antique, from the Phil
-There's a pool
-It sits ON the beach and has a glorious view. The beach isn't private but might as well be with hardly anyone walking by. The beach is entertaining- black volcanic sand, large expanse of it to play on, and fun fun waves! We were able to surf here.
-Kid-friendly: there are great family board games and children's books stored in the living room, my 3-yr-old could stand in the shallow third of the pool, there's a nipa hut on the beach for kids to hang out in, and the kids who we didn't have a bed for slept on futon mattresses in the bedrooms which were provided.
-The hosts are a kind and very on-the-ball couple, Gena and Ignacio, who are in their late 70s. They have lived in the US for 30 plus but retired in Phil. Not really retired though, as they are busy working on a hospital board and doing community social work. They were wonderful hosts, welcoming our group with open arms and not afraid of the 4 adults and 8 kids we were. In fact, Gena was so great in making sure the place was comfortable for the kids. Look at the cute beach chairs she set up. She also organized a helper for us to have there (500 pesos per day). She, Lila, turned out to be so valuable in helping us to keep track of our kids going between the pool and beach. The Ignacios live in a part of the large rental house, in their own bungalow. So we'd see them going in and out and it was always a pleasure to see them and feel at home with them (for me, it was very familiar and like having my parents nearby, helping me out and being so kind to the kids). Gena is extremely available for any questions I had during the day. The Ignacios also have some staff on the compound who were also wonderful and available to answer questions.
-The house is secluded but safe, just a few minutes drive from the main road. And a 2-minute drive away from Bacnotan town where there's a wet market, bakeries, a supermarket for dry goods, and an Andok's (roasted chicken) should you need a ready-made dinner.
-The house turned out to be where we wanted to be all day! Enjoying the view and relaxing in the very comfortable space that it was.

View from the house at dusk (the photos of Bacnotan beach above are from the same view)

Playing on the beach in the morning

Playing at the pool at the front of the house 

Living room/dining room/kitchen area

The rooms

We spent 3 full days in La Union with a half-day on each side. This made for a great balance of enjoying the house/pool/beach and exploring the nearby towns. Finally, something to keep in mind is that a stay in La Union could be paired with a trip to Baguio (about 2.5 hours away), Sagada (about 4.5 hours away), or Vigan (about 2.5 hours away).

Bicol with kids part 2: Catanduanes

CATANDUANES

To get to Catanduanes from Legazpi, we drove 1 hour to Tabaco City (on a Sunday, which meant no traffic, woo hoo!) and caught the fast craft Eugenia ferry, which makes the ride to San Andres, Catanduanes, 1.5 hours, instead of 3 hours, like the other ferries.

Ferry cnosts PHP320 for adults and PHP145 for kids (age 5-11). There is a PHP30 terminal fee.

From San Andres, a driver from the AirBnB rental picked us up and drove us the 1h30 minutes to Puraran Beach, where we stayed for 5 nights.

You can also take a ferry to Virac, which is 1 hour from Puraran Beach.

To get back to Manila, we flew Cebu Pacfic from Virac. A tiny airport with a terminal fee of PHP100 per person. 

ACCOMODATION IN PURARAN

Puraran Beach is known for it’s surfing. It was our first time trying surfing there, and it was great!

It’s a gorgeous, very natural beach:

We stayed in an AirBnB which a friend recently starting renting out, which we were excited to try. While it’s nothing fancy, it is the only house to stay in at the beach- the rest of the accomodation are rooms (bahay kubos) of the 3 resorts there. It’s a spacious houseonly a 2-minute walk away from the beach. It has 2-bedrooms with a bathroom each (1 bedroom on main floor, 1 bedroom on the next floor up). It is equipped with a lounge area on each level, and a kitchen which has all your basic necessities. The best part of the house- ok, there’s three best parts. One is the nipa hut on the top, roof level of the house- where we enjoyed hanging out while it was raining, where we star-gazed at night and where in the morning I would sit and listen to the chirping of the birds and sounds of the waves, seriously so many sounds! And watch the night sky turn into day. The second thing is the caretaker of the house, Onyong, and his wife. He is there for whatever you may need! Which for us, included rides in his trike and surfing lessons from him- he’s also a surf instructor. Oh, he also climbed a coconut tree for us to get us a buko so the kids could have a fresh drink after a hike we did. His wife is also available to cook and do laundry if needed. The third thing, is the house comes with 4 surf boards available for use. Which is a great deal, bc to rent one surfboard per day is PHP400.

A pic of the outside of the house:

It's the one on the left. The one on the right is a bahay kubo of one of the neighboring resorts.

Some pics of the inside of the house:

The view from the roof of the farmland next door. The green pathway leading up to the house:

 The Nipa Hut at the roof, and a view at 5:30 in the morning:

Kuya Onyong, the caretaker, taking care of us

A couple things to mention:

a) So I am saying the house is nothing fancy, but the more I think about it, for the area- it is fancy! In that in this area, you really are in the “bukid” as they say – wild land. I only realized how true this was, when the supermarket in Virac where they told me to stock up at was really, the only supermarket close by- an hour away. Not only that, there really was no wet market close by either. And I had to get our food from Puraran town, which is just above Puraran Beach- but all they have there are some sari sari stories… where the only fruit available is bananas, and the veggies available were limited to what someone brought from Virac that day. One time I bought the last three good carrots from the store. To get to Puraran town from the beach is a 3-minute trike ride, or a 15-minute hike up. This house provides a great way to be out in the bukid but have space, beds, bathroom and a kitchen to use, as well as a great nipa hut on the roof and an area on the ground floor where we put plastic tables and chairs out to be able to eat outdoors.

The best-stocked sari sari store in Puraran, with its fruits and veggies

b) So if you do go here, do stock up on groceries and fruits and veggies in Virac before coming. There is yummy bread sold in the sari sari stores in puraran, freshly made by the bakery there. Also, anything special you need like sunscreen, diapers--- bring it all from home!

c) There are three beach resorts in Puraran to stay in, all basic and all right next door to each other. There’s Puraran Surf resort, Surfer’s Paradise, and Majestic Puraran resort. I didn’t go to Majestic resort, but we did eat many meals at Puraran Surf and one at Surfer’s Paradise. At Puraran Surf, the grilled fish, mixed veggies dish, potato and sweet potato fries (from freshy cut potatoes), the chicken curry, chicken adobo and pork sinigang were all very good. Meals were inexpensive, PHP 600-700 for our family of 7. Surfer’s Paradise is where we got two surf instructors from, for 150PHP/hour. They were helpful with the kids.

The food at Puraran Surf resort

d) Another eatery worth mentioning is at the top of Puraran beach, there is a little shack called Pamplona Foodtrip which serves fruit shakes and where the nightlife of Puraran is at. Just kidding, it’s so quiet here! But it is fun to venture up there at night and talk with the locals and get food and sit in this shack. There’s popcorn for p5 a bag nearby, pork bbq for p10 a stick close by too. And we ordered chopsuey at Pamplona food trip which was also good.

Enjoying Pamplona Foodtrip nightlife

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO IN PURARAN?

1) Binurong Point – this is a beautiful lookout point that you hike up to and then have a view of meadows, cliffs and ocean all around you. It looks like what I imagine Batanes to look like. Take a trike for 15 minutes in the direction of Virac, and then there’s a turnoff for Binurong point. At the bottom of the hike, you pay P20 per person as well as for a guide (they said pay him/her P200 and up). The hike up with kids took us 45 minutes, and is hard work so you do want to go when it’s not too hot, like early in the morning). There is also hardly any shade at the top, so the earlier the better. Some people go there for the sunrise. Views at the top of the hike:

2) There’s another lookout point called Balacay, this is a 15-minute trike ride from Puraran, and is a minimal walk to the lookout point.

3) There’s waterfalls to visit about an hour away from Puraran called Hulugan Falls, and on the way, there’s a lagoon with tidal pools to go visit. Kuya Enyong, the caretake of the house, is also a tour guide;) He knows all these places and is the one who told me about them all and showed me photos on his phone, even though we didn’t end up going.

4) Because of friends being into Survivor, I was interested in going to visit the Caramoan islands from Catanduanes. Just FYI to get there, you have to go past San Andres to another port (Colon?) and take a 45-minute ferry. We were loving Catanduanes so much, we didn’t end up going.

Bicol with kids part 1: Albay

Just returned from a fantastic 7 days in the Bicol area and jotting down my notes.

First of all, we did 2 full days in Albay Province to see Mount Mayon, primarily. And then 4 full days in Catanduanes Province, at Puraran Beach.

ALBAY
For Albay, we flew from Manila into Legazpi airport on Cebu Pacific (tickets were on promo for about PHP4000 per person). We stayed just outside of Legazpi City, in Daraga. This ended up being a great location to see what we wanted to see, and to stay away from traffic in Legazpi City.

ACCOMODATION
We stayed at Balay de la Rama Bed and Breakfast, which is a pleasant, airy house with rooms, plop in the middle of the everyday town life of Daraga- but yet has nice greenery around it. To get there was a 10-minute drive from the airport. We paid PHP150 for a van (which we got just outside the airport, there are lots of people there asking if you want to use their car service). We got two adjoining rooms (called Ibon and Hangin), which each have a queen bed for PHP2000 and we paid PHP500 for an extra mattress in each room. The rooms were basic and clean, and rustically decorated. These two rooms are on the top floor of a 3-level house, and there’s a lounge area just outside the two rooms that was great for us to have space to sit and relax in. There’s a third room on this floor, called Mayon – should you need another room for your group. I loved being in the middle of local life- tricycles, jeepneys and buses pick people up right outside the house’s gate. One downside is the road noise at night (windows of our room faced the road), but being in the province, it was minimal and we just embraced it (as well as the roosters in the morning). Mayon room doesn't have windows facing the road and may be more quiet. Karen, who runs the B and B, was super nice and helpful, and all the staff working there were great. We needed transport to Tabaco City to catch a ferry and one of the staff drove us in the B and B’s car for PHP800. The rooms include breakfast for 2, and were substantial. Oh and most importantly, this is the view from the balcony of the level the rooms are at:

This is the view of the B and B’s garden, we ate breakfast just inside of here:

What the hotel rooms and lounge area look like:

WHAT TO DO
1) Enjoy Bicolano food. Bicol is known for it’s cuisine, particularly for the spiciness of it’s food (use of sili or chili). Two dishes to try are Bicol Express (stew of pork and veggies cooked in chili and coconut cream) and Pinangat Roll (shredded taro leaves, shrimps, pork, and ginger wrapped in a taro leaf and cooked in coco milk). We tried these at a wonderful restaurant called Balay de Bicol in Daraga itself, just a short tricycle ride away from the B and B (PHP8 per person per ride). This is an ancestral home-turned-restaurant which was tastefully decorated, and wonderfully equipped with a terrace where we enjoyed lunch in the heart of the provincial life! They have a large menu- the kids enjoyed their french fries and chicken nuggets.

Inside and outside of Balay de Bicol

Bicol Express and Pinangat Roll

A local also recommended that we try the Chili-flavored ice cream at 1st Colonial Bar and Grill. There’s actually one branch in Daraga and another one in Legazpi. We went to the one in Legazpi in the LCC Mall, which is near Embarcadero Mall and Puro, the boardwalk of Legazpi (see below). This was a great place to eat with kids. Large menu, all Filipino food, but kids could pick out what they wanted, pancit noodles, ribs, lumpiang shanghai, or sinigang! (Really, it’s all there). I had the Bahay Kubo salad which was delicious, and has the veggies in the children's song, including peanuts and sesame seeds. And yes, the waiters did sing Bahay Kubo to me as they brought out the salad. This was an inexpensive place, under PHP1000 to feed our family of 7, and that’s including ice cream. And whoah! The ice cream, so many local flavors to choose from! Chili, Ginger, Calamansi, Melon, Gabi, Malunggay, Pili nut, Cacao and Vanilla (shown in the pic)…. What a fun experience!

Bahay Kubo salad

Ice cream flavors

2) Enjoy Mount Mayon! This was our main reason for going to Legazpi. We were not planning to, but ended up experiencing Mount Mayon through an ATV experience, using Lava ATV rental company, which was a superb company to use with kids. For a 2.5 hour tour (the Green Lava tour), it cost PHP1600 per ATV. We needed 2, and loaded kids on with us. Every group has to take a guide who is on his own ATV, and he rode with 2 of our kids with him. So, basically, kids ride for free. There is a shorter 45-min tour (Cagsawa tour for PHP69), and a longer 3.5 hour tour (Black Lava tour for PHP1950). For our tour, we rode through streams and farmlands, and barangay and jungle, to get to a view point where we had an awesome view of Mount Mayon. The kids absolutely loved adventuring on an ATV and I loved being able to show them this aspect of the Philippines (the country life), this way. Outside (versus in a car), and on a moving vehicle (versus them walking which wouldn’t have lasted very long in the heat!). Zooming though Filipino landscape as a family like that was memorable and so exciting! At the tope, we rested and enjoyed the view for 45 minutes before returning. There is buko juice at the top (PHP 25).

LavaATV Company is located just next door to the parking lot/market area of Cagsawa Ruins. They are open 6am to 5pm. There are a few other companies located nearby. We appreciated the upfrontness of this company (they have all the prices listed) and didn’t feel them trying to get us to spend more. And they made sure we were comfortable and safe, and our guide was great with the kids. They have a hose and toilets to use after the tour, and a place to lock up valuables.

The ride up the trail 

We passed a barangay where there was a lady weaving Abaca outside of her home. So amazing!

3) Other things we did:

a) Went to Legazpi’s boardwalk, Puro (take a jeepney to LCC center, and walk to Embarcadero, then take tricycle from there). From here there’s a great view of Mayon rising from the water, and also a pier that is fun for the kids to walk on. Taho guy, Sorbetero, chicharon and quail egg vendors--- they are there for a snack ;)

b) Enjoyed Lignon Hill nature park. This turned out to be a 30-minute hike for us bc trikes/jeepneys are not allowed past the entrance to the park (for which there is an entrance fee of PHP10 or 20 per person). So we had to walk to the top. Private cars are allowed to drive to the top. There’s a 360 view of the area, including Mount Mayon. Some snack places (we had a good veggie omelet up here) and some souvenir shopping. Popsicle sticks with even Chili flavor are available up here for PHP10. But the best part, really is being surrounded by lots of greenery: lawns and trees and bushes.

c) Visited Cagsawa Ruins. A 10-minute jeepney ride from the B and B. It’s ruins of Cagsawa town which was buried by lava in 1814, including a church. Quite touristy but there’s a nice view of Mayon, and still worth going to to enjoy the green of the area and the overgrowth in the ruins (and play hide and seek in it). There’s a lot of souvenir shopping here. More than I could take home, unfortunately!

d) Daraga Palengke. I ventured to this wet marker early one morning with one of my kids (5-minute trike ride) away from the B and B. My, what a sight for the eyes! Lots of rice-based treats to try. One that I had never seen before was this one, a type of puto where they put rice flour in coconut shells and cook it by steaming them, and then putting sweetened grated coconut in the middle.

WHAT WE LOVED ABOUT ALBAY
1) Okay it was so fun to get around in trikes or jeepneys and not worry about renting a van and driver. Hopping on and off of trikes/jeepneys and figuring out how the network runs was fun and freeing! And felt totally safe and secure.

2) I think people all over the Philippines are so nice, but the Bicolanos have some extra warmth and honesty. A big thing for us, was nobody trying to get us to pay more just bc we were tourists/foreigners/from Manila. Trike and jeepney drivers never asked for inflated fares, and all were honest in how much they charged. One trike driver even gave me back the money I paid for my child, bc the child was free, but I didn’t even realize.

3) The majesty and adventure of Mount Mayon was unforgettable!

For more about Bicol travel, see Bicol with kids part 2: Catanduanes

Recipe: Panecillos de San Nicolas

Click here for a recipe and how to make these heritage cookies from Pampanga.

And click here for a detailed background and history of these cookies. 

Enjoy!