Sand Boarding In A Tropical Island?

---

I asked the security guard in the mall where the food court was. I asked him in Tagalog (the language of Manila where I’m from) he answered me in Ilocano, the local language which I do not understand. For those who might argue that I should say dialect. No, it’s not a dialect because it’s completely different from Tagalog. When two people cannot understand each other when they speak, they speak different languages. Anyway, I did not understand him because I only know Tagalog. I did not ask him to repeat it in my language as I thought that might be rude. We should not expect everyone to speak our language when we travel. He said the word escalator anyway and that was enough for me. I found the food court when I went up the escalator.

I've always wanted to see a desert but I haven't had the chance so far so I had to make do with what we have locally. The sand dunes in Ilocos. Deserts are only present in big continents and small tropical islands like the Philippines are not supposed to have them. But in the northern province of Ilocos where many a tanned beautiful maidens come from lies a few square kilo meters of sand dunes that would make you think you are not in a tropical island. The allure experiencing another type of sports that includes standing on a board drew me there.

Me and my friends invited some of our friends to drive Ilocos, twelve hours from the capital where we live for some much deserved R&R during the long weekend. The twelve hour drive was painful of course. I wonder if I'll ever be able to afford a car that would be comfortable to sit on for long periods of time. I think only a limo can do that. I've only ever seen one here.

Villa Carlina Resort had some very confusing road markers that got us lost a couple of time. The pointy part of the arrow on the first one was indistinguishable so we went the other way. The second one looked like a house with a pointed roof so I though it meant straight ahead to a dodgy looking house you had to pay me to stay the night there. Fortunately that was not the place. I did not see the arrow but we went left from there and finally found the resort. They were having electricity problems in the resort so there was no running water. Not a problem because Saud beach is less about a hundred meters away and the cool breeze was coming in. The food was expensive and there was a fly in my soup! I stopped eating when I saw the fly but I may have maggots in my stomach now. What’s nice about Saud beach is that there are no establishments along the beach. The beach is lined with trees and all the establishments are behind them. No touts to bother you either. Later we visited another beach called blue lagoon and it was nature gone cheap. Hannahs resort was there and they had monstrous statues of dinosaurs, super heroes, animals and Obama. We thought about doing kinky poses with the American president. I say throw all the other statues and keep Obama. They made the beautiful beach look like a cheap confused theme park. Money spent on those things should have been spent to make better gazebos and landscaping! It was just soooo tacky! So if ever you plan to go there go to Saud beach.

Another attraction there is the rock formations in Kapurpurawan. It’s another tourist trap with nothing noteworthy to see. I’ve seen better rock formation. It could have been nice if there weren’t so many people there. The windmills looked interesting though. I just wish there weren’t so many.

Sunday afternoon we went to Paoay. It’s claim to fame is the sand dunes. I’ve never been to a desert. Although I’ve seen one from far away while hiking the Great Wall in China. Here we rented 4X4 Jeeps to take us sand bashing. The weather was perfect because the sky was overcast so it wasn’t so hot. A lot of fantasy movies were shot in this location.

We were all so excited about trying sand boarding! That was the last activity in Paoay and we had so much fun. You may stand or sit on the board but you’d look like a loser if you do the latter. Sand boarding is a lot easier than surfing, wakeboarding and snowboarding. I never fell from the board. Maybe because I’m already used to balancing myself on a board.

We passed by a former house of the Marcos family. They call it the Malacanang of the north. Of course it was huge and the lagoon behind it was fabulous. I felt uncomfortable though hearing people praises for that evil family. I heard a lady said “Times were much better during the martial law period because it was a peaceful time”. Really? All those people assassinated and all the money they stole from the government and the business men? I’m so sick of people glorifying the past. Marcos loyalists are spreading lies that make them appear as saints and the young people who have no idea what really happened are now idolizing that filthy family of thieves. Look, if they were so good the dollar rate wouldn’t have gone from three pesos to a dollar to 25 before they left! The Philippines may have been the second biggest economy in East Asia when they came into power but look how behind we were compared to the rest of South East Asia before they left in 1986. I wish the young people would actually read history books rather than just believe everything that is shared in the social media. Filipinos are so fond of glorifying the past. When bad people die only good things are said about them.

We got lost on our way to Vigan and ended up in Curimao. It's pronounced the same as "Kurimaw" which has negative connotation in Tagalog slang. When someone says you look like a Kurimaw it means you're ugly. I didn't know we were doing disparaging the people of Curimao all those years. Even bayag which means mans balls in Tagalog means something completely different in Ilocano so you can say that word in Vigan without offending anybody.

Monday was spent in Vigan. It’s famous for Calle Crisologo. It’s an entire street line with old Spanish houses. I LOVE Calle Crisologo. The old houses that were almost dilapidated transports you into an era more romantic than ours. All the windows were made of Capiz. I appreciate that not all the buildings are geared towards tourism. There was a funeral house, a day care center, and other businesses that made it feel more like an actual village where people lived. Baluarte, which is the ranch of a rich politician who I'm sure got his fortune from corruption is another tourist destination in Ilocos. It looked much prettier on television than it does in person. Total waste of time. Animals were treated badly by the handlers and the people who watched the animal show. So if you were to go in Ilocos, all you need to see are Pagudpod, Paoay, and Calle Crisologo in Vigan.

---

Photos

I'm the King of the Desert!
Me sand boarding in the sand dunes of Paoay

Sand boarding Wipe out!
sand boarding the wrong way.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Languages vs. Dialect
You are right communication is the key. The Philippines has so much to offer and looks like you found another great location. Looks like a great trip. Thanks for blogging.