Cagayan Valley: Tuguegarao City, Piat and Penablanca

 Cagayan Valley one of the highlight of my 5 straight provincial tour that includes Isabela, Quirino, Cagayan Valley, Apayao and Kalinga, the hottest province in the Philippines the home of one of the most beautiful Cave in Northern Philippines the Callao Cave. The people there speaks Ilokano, Tagalog and Itawis, they understand english very well,  I was really excited to go to Cagayan Valley especially on its capital the Tuguegarao City because not only to visit the place but to meet my friend who happened to be a magician like me. so, this tour is really cool and rock.

My friend picked me up in the bus terminal around 1am and we went directly to his apartment where he lives together with some of his classmates. I rested for a while and we had our dinner that time.


welcome dinner from a great friend

we woke up early morning and gave me the souvenir shirt and keychain that I had requested from him before I went there.

cool isnt it? thanks to him

We immediately went to bus terminal to ride a van bound to Piat, Cagayan Valley where the famous Basilica Minore of our Lady of Piat is located. 

tricycle on its way to van terminal

Meet Kram one of the finest magician in Cagayan Valley Province. 

welcome to the Basilica Minore de Nuestra Senora de Piat

 

the interior vie of the church.

 



 

We went inside the church and pray for a while. the church interior was very relaxing then we went to the back of the church to touch the statue of the black virgin mary through the hole that was made for the devotees.

religous souvenirs can be bought outside the church.

 


souvenir stores can be found outside the church, you can find shirts and keychains. Piat is also home to one of the Cagayan Valley's delicacy called "Pawa" and before I left Piat I took the chance to try one.

 

 

 

after our church visit, we went to the famous brook in Piat called "Bukal ng Buhay" where it is believed to heal any kind of sickness.

 

It took us 15 minutes walk through the muddy road to get to the brook. there is a caretaker on that area who guide the tourist where to get water , I decided to consume my bottle of gatorade to fill water on it.

we only stayed in the brook for couple of minutes then we went back to Tuguegarao City, it was easy to go back since there were jeeps and vans in the area available bound to Tuguegarao City. it was a tiring trip to visit the church in Piat but it was reallly worth it. upon arriving in Tuguegarao we quickly hopped in a tricycle to bring us to Jeff's Panciteria the famous restaurant that won multiple times in a cooking competition for the famous delicacy in Tuguegarao called "Pancit Batil Patong"

Pancit Batil Patong is a noodle dish way different from what we have here in Manila the noodles are thick, it has ingredients like chicharon, egg and vegetables. It always serves with a hot soup use to mix  with the noodles. Pancit Batil Patong is not complete without the soysauce with chili and calamansi.

Jeff's Panciteria home of the famous Pancit Patil Batong.

this restaurant looks like an ordinary from outside unlike other panciteria in Tuguegarao but according to my friend this is the best place to try the Pancit Patil Batong, you can also see the proof around the walls of this panciteria where pictures of their achievements and recognitions in cooking are posted.

 

nice combination for the shirt and pancit.
 

after we freshen ourselves up we tried to find a tricycle that will bring us to the main attraction in Cagayan Valley, The Callao Cave, located in Penablanca. we found a tricycle that cost us 600 pesos back and forth that will bring us to the cave plus the waiting time it took us about an hour to arrive there.

souvenir items are available outside the cave

entrance to Callao Cave

 

 

so excited one of the most beautiful cave in the Philippines

stricly no guide no caving

before the caving, we were oriented by our guide about the rules and regulation. as simple as one two three, take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints and burn nothing but fat our tour guide was very helpful and jolly she even  guided us through the hunded steps on the way to the cave, explaining all the rock formation that includes praying angel, dragon, banaue rice terraces and more.
Honestly, I was really amazed inside the cave especially the part where a small chapel was situated. It was one of the most beautiful things Ive ever seen in my journey. according to our tour guide there were already 7 couples who got married inside the church, sounds great to be one someday. yes, I did even said to myself that I want to be married on that cave. We paid 20 each for the environmental fee and tip to the tour guide.

 

 

 

 

I prayed and thanked God for all the blessing that He had given me on that journey to let me see the beauty He had created, to appreciate life to the fullest.

 

Judea and Mark the sweet couple who helped me with my journey to Cagayan Valley province.

We really enjoyed the tour, in exchange we showcase our magic skills to our tour guide and other tourist inside the cave, according to her we were the first magicians who performed inside Callao Cave it is really a grea pleasure and we really appreciate that.

 

 

 

we continued our performance even to those staff outside the cave and we succeed to amaze them. Magic really brought me everywhere I always thank God for giving me such skills.

this is the highlight of my Cagayan Valley tour, I felt satisfied when we left the place one thing was for sure we made a history.

 

 

We went to Tuguegarao City and visit St. Paul Cathedral, located in the heart of Tuguegarao. We thanked God for the safe journey and amazing experience that we had in Piat and Penablanca.

We went to Judea's house one of my friend who accompanied me in my tour and we took our dinner in their house. I will never forget how good they were to me, I will never forget the feeling of acceptance that they showed me. We had a short conversation and a magic show inside their house.

look how sleepy I was. :)

delicious food prepared by Judea's family
 

That was my last night in Tuguegarao City,I spend the rest of the night talking magic with my friend Kram thanking him with all the things he did to me. I promise to go back to this province where I really felt I was belong.



first time to eat Pato.

 

Just few blocks away from Kram's residence there is one place there that sells duck and dog not to make them a pet but to eat. Kram asked me to try both but I only ate Pato and I will never eat dog, I was really amazed that someone was selling those things in Tuguegarao City. Kram was the first one who wake up in the morning before me , he never forgot to served me a cup of coffee every morning while preparing for other food.

I will always thank this couple for helping me and being a good friend

this journey wont be possible without these cool guys.

I will go back to this province to explore more about Cagayan Valley attractions after I finished my mission to travel all the provinces in the Philippines. My trip to Cagayan Valley is one of the best travel experience that I had not only to the beautiful attractions that it offers but the Cagayano who became hospitable and good to me.

How to get there:
There are 2 ways to get to Tuguegarao from Manila either taking 12 hour bus ride or fly via Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines travel time less than an hour.

Thank you for reading :)