(From left: Me, Haggeo, Leander, Neil, Erik, Dave and Gabriel) We often edit our batch mates who are missing in the photo. By edit, I mean in the most obvious, poor and ugly way of editing.

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My best friends in mountaineering, Plata y Siete always wanted to have a trip out of town. Luckily, Erik, the oldest in our group, had to change the oil on his newly-bought-car: a Toyota Hilux and needed to break in 1,000 km for it to be used in full capacity. He would be driving from Manila to Cagayan Valley. Upon learning about it, the gang decided that we're going on a road trip.

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The Little Complications

In riding a car in America, the amount of seats is equivalent to the maximum people allowed inside the car. However, in the Philippines, you can squeeze all the people you want inside as long as there's a space and the cops won't find out. We were really surprised to know that Erik's mom was coming with us. He forgot to mention it. Thus, the drawbacks. We should behave throughout the trip and there were 7 of us plus Erik's mom that were needed to be squeezed in a 5-seater-vehicle.

The 3-day road trip was scheduled January last year (2016). It fell exactly in Gabriel's and his girlfriend, Joan's anniversary; hence, he couldn't come. So, Plata y Siete had Erik's mom as a proxy for Gab. I personally thought that I should back out, too even if I really wanted to come. It's because I had no money with me yet and it's for the sake of my friends so they could fit in the car. But they persuaded me so much that I still went with only a hundred pesos in my pocket.

On the day of the departure, Erik and his mom picked us up in Cubao along EDSA. We were all on time for the meet-up except for one, Dave. Because we were on a high way, we couldn't stop for a long time and Erik's mom was kinda hurrying because they left home late. We were also full at the back of the car and didn't seem like another person could squeeze in. That's why he was compelled to take a bus to Ilocos and meet us in Vigan. We hoped that Dave's bus could catch up with us, immediately.

(From left: Leander, Haggeo, me and Neil) We were the first ones to arrive at the meet-up location. The rest were running late.

Bacnotan

(From left: Erik, Neil, Haggeo, Leander and Yours Truly) We took a groupie after lunch.

Our first stop was in Bacnotan, La Union. Our friend, Haggeo is from there. We only paused for lunch, took sometime to take a leak, withdraw pocket money and continued in our journey. Our destination for the day was Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Vigan City

Posing for an instagram-worthy-photo but there were too many distractions

We stopped in Vigan to wait for Dave and to sightsee as well. Vigan is Ilocos Sur's capital which is one of the New7Wonder Cities of the world. We dropped by at Saint Paul Metropolitan Cathedral first, then went to Crisologo Museum to check out things a little. We visited the famous Calle Crisologo and bought pasalubongs to take home for our families. Lastly, as recommended by Erik, we tasted Vigan's empanada to be able to compare it later with Batac's specialty.

Vigan's Cathedral

Inside the cathedral

(From left: Neil, Leander, Erik, Haggeo and me) Inside the Crisologo Museum

Inside the museum

The fabled Crisologo Street

(From top to bottom- left to right) Statue of Leona Florentino, an old, defective wagon, an ancestral home, a kalesa and a I Heart Vigan block near a souvenir shop

Vigan's Empanada(Credits to: Herde La. Yumul)

Batac

Plata y Siete at Batac City Hall

Batac is located in Ilocos Norte which is somewhat like Erik's hometown. Before going to the place would be spending the night, we stopped at the Riverside Empanadahan to eat our dinner. We stayed at Erik's aunt's home (formerly his grandparent's home) for the night . It was already dark when we arrived but it didn't stopped us from strolling and buying drinks to sneak in and out their house. And we stayed up pretty late.

Waiting for our empanadas to be served in Riverside

Batac's Empanada(Credits to: BLAUEARTH)

Batac: Home of Great Leaders

Quality time with each other

Bangui Windmills

A panorama of the coastline with windmills

Our destination on the following day was Cagayan but we stopped by at Bangui to see the windmills. These 20 units of giant and powerful wind-gatherers were erected along the shoreline positioned toward the South China Sea.

A selfie with the wind turbines

Pagudpod

A panorama of Saud Beach

Of course, it's a must to enjoy Pagudpod's beaches so we also dropped by Saud's Beach to take a swim. We had our lunch there and enjoyed a little of the sea breeze before continuing on our trip.

A mandatory selfie before going for the swim

A quick card game while waiting for the food

A groupie after the swim

Cagayan Valley

Erik's house surrounded by rice fields

We arrived at sunset in Cagayan. We were shocked to find out that Erik is an ultimate haciendero (farm owner). Their land stretches out around their home. We had a tour around the house and outside as well to their tree house.

Plata y Siete ventured to the treehouse

The haciendero at his backyard

By the morrow, we watched the helpers dry the fish pond at the back and catch all the tilapia (kind of fish) for breakfast.

Cleaning the collected fish

The main dish

When we thought we were set out to go back to Manila after our delicious meal, to our surprise, it wasn't the end. We had a little walk inside the forest to a hidden spring for a quick swim. That spring seemed bottomless. My legs got tired kicking the water until we found a bamboo to step on.

The gang stopped swimming for a quick group photo

Haggeo jumped into the cold water

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Byaheng Norte: Manila to La Union-Ilocos Sur-Ilocos Norte-Cagayan

We bought sukang iloco (Iloco's vinegar)as pasalubong, too. We went our separate ways upon coming back to Ilocos; since, Erik and I have to be back in Manila right away and the rest still wanted to have fun and surf. So to conclude, Batac's empanada was definitely more delicious than Vigan's.

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