As it entered its tenth year, the #NLEXLakbayNorte continued to promote more tourist destinations in Northern Luzon. However, due to the global pandemic, the usual five to six-day caravan across several provinces was curtailed to a shorter trip focusing on just one province. This writer of Nomadic Experiences was recently invited to participate in the two-day familiarization tour of Nueva Ecija. Following IATF-enforced safety protocols, we explored other must-visit places in the province known as the “rice granary of the Philippines”.

Prayers often trumped all. Indeed, ours were answered after a day of failed incursion to Callao Cave due to heavy rains. A glimpse of the blue skies appeared. This meant our sea voyage to Anguib beach and Palaui Island was greenlighted and thumbs-upped by the Coast Guard. Yet, what they say about "be careful what you wish for" held true, since unbeknownst to us that time, the weather still had a trick up its sleeve to surprise us.

The last several years had seen the city of Angeles in Pampanga shed its red-light reputation by showcasing its rich culinary culture and heritage. The result was a newfound interest among tourists in exploring many of its nooks and crannies to satisfy not only the appetite for food but also for historical curiosities. One of the popular places to visit in Angeles City’s heritage district was the Pamintuan Mansion.

During the first night of our #LakbayNorte8 in Pampanga, we were taken to a lawn-covered ground surrounded by towering trees in Clark. “We’re going to go glamping,” our host told us travel writers and vloggers as we got out of our chartered bus. Surveying the scene, I immediately saw the rows of tents pitched for us and a wooden table full of charcuterie boards screaming of an incoming feast.

Now in its eighth year, Lakbay Norte once again concluded a media familiarization tour participated in by travel writers from online and print publications. It is organized by the North Philippines Visitors Bureau in partnership with Victory Liner as a way of promoting Northern Luzon as a premier tourist destination. This year's itinerary took the more than twenty travel writers and photographers to the places of Subic and Clark in Pampanga and to the surfing town of Baler in Aurora. Here’s a quick rundown of all the places highlighted by #LakbayNorte8 as possible destinations for travelers heading to this part of Luzon.

Thrice in the past, spread over a decade, I found myself in Baler always tugging a surfboard. Despite failing to achieve consistent long rides over the waves, I recognized the cherished vibe reigning in this seaside town. There is an inexplicable, vibrant sub-culture that continues to attract an expanding list of my friends and acquaintances to re-root themselves among the surfing community here.

Malolos Heritage Town in Bulacan is one of the most historically significant destinations in the Philippines. Home to Barasoain Church, the Kamestisuhan District, the Malolos Cathedral and dozens of ancestral houses, the city served as the capital of the First Philippine Republic and remains one of the country's finest heritage destinations. Growing up in a time when a ten-peso bill was enough to buy me a bowl of arroz caldo and a bottle of soda, I always found myself being reminded of the historic significance of Malolos’s Barasoain Church, whose image was printed on one side of the currency. Coined from the term baras ng suwail, meaning “dungeon of the defiant,” the walls and four corners of this church were once the rendezvous point of anti-colonial Ilustrados.

Conversely, as history is told in a myriad of ways, it is also forgotten in innumerable ways. Eventually, the story of Malolos took a backseat among other places of historic importance across the country.

Hundreds of years after what is believed to be the earliest industry that thrived in this part of Cagayan province, the historic town of Iguig is picking up right where its ancestral settlers left off. By continuously shaping a living heritage through the delicate hands of its artisan townsfolk, the soft natural rock material called clay finds a permanent home and purposeful rebirth here.