Tuguegarao Revisited

By blissfulguro At Monday, February 2, 2015 10

I remembered the last time I was combing the streets of Tuguegarao, it was scorching hot and it seemed that me and my buddy were the only explorers around and yet we loved it. We were yearning for a comeback, and so we did.

The first two visits were quite passing; we made Tuguegarao as our last stop for our epic trips (Palaui Island and Babuyan Islands). Yes, we took Tuguegarao for granted and we needed much more time in exploring it. Aside from eating loads and loads of our favorite pancit batil patong in every panciteria we saw, we chilled most of the time.

We spent the first day looking out for the perfect pancit in town (I will surely dedicate a separate post on this one) and snoozing in our cozy hotel in downtown Tuguegarao. And then we cooled down with some bottles of beer in our chosen local hang-out place along Tuguegarao’s main road (Bonifacio Street).

Anne’s Restobar, our stop after a long day’s cycle of snoozing and eating and walking around. And then people-watching. And then carriage/wagon-watching. And then the fun chitchat between me and my buddy that ended as the stillness of downtown Tuguegarao started to linger into our senses.

It’s a busy city during daytime but turns into an old school town at night. And at around nine that evening, we ended our first night. It was quite early but the vibe was slowly hushing us to sleep. And so we indulged and gave in.

The next day, we decided to check out the Buntun Bridge by hopping on a tricycle (25 pesos each). It is the second longest bridge in the country and the view of Cagayan River was just amazing from that standpoint. We bravely crossed this river bridge while taking a few snapshots and felt the vibrating path as cars and trucks passed by us. We then decided to move on and check the view under the bridge.

We found a pathway leading to the grassland just below the bridge. The water wasn’t that inviting (I wasn’t even thinking about jumping into it) but the cool breeze was just too perfect for chilling. My buddy started to look for the perfect spot for that wonderful sunset shot while I rested on the grass and just enjoyed the view.

What's underneath?

The next day we checked out some nice stuff before heading home. The locals led us to Lighthouse Cooperative Store at Luna Street that houses local products. We bought numerous Chicharabao (Water Buffalo chicharon), Carabeef Tapa and Longganisa and some pure honey from Babuyan Islands.

It was a short but sweet stay at one of the not-so-popular holiday destinations in the country but we were happy and pleased with how it all went. Before leaving, we loaded on some pancit batil patong on our favorite panciteria, we are so predictable.