Bolinao lies in the northern tip of the Province of Pangasinan. It is reachable via provincial roads in Tarlac and roads via Dagupan City. Bolinao is known for its white sand beaches in Patar. Bolinao is now a favorite weekend destination for everybody.
October 29, 2016
It is already 7:30pm when we arrive at La Parola Resort in Bolinao because we left Alaminos City at 6pm. The drive is not that far; just the road is quite dark. Though it’s well paved, we cannot just speed up since I am not familiar with the place, especially during night driving. From the Bolinao Highway, the road going to Patar Beach is also concrete.
In the afternoon, I re-confirm our booking at La Parola Resort for an aircon room with own CR and kitchen. We are all waiting for the reply unfortunately there’s none. When we arrive at La Parola, we understand why there is no reply. There is no mobile network available in the area. And unfortunately, there’s no more aircon room for us. At the resort, they offer us the fan room and a shared bath for half the price. The owner also informs us that some aircon units will be available only tomorrow should we decide to transfer.
I park the car near the cottage and take our things to the room. We have not eaten our dinner yet so Mia and I look for things to eat. We end up buying frozen yellow fin tuna to grill for dinner. Good thing I am bringing my rice cooker, that helps us a lot with our food. Our late dinner is at 9pm. Thanks to our bread, cookies and other stuff to munch while waiting for our food to cook.
The location of our cottage is simply a few steps at the beach area. You will clearly hear the gushing waves. Just imagine bigger waves since the place is in an open sea and fronting the West Philippine Sea.
We are thankful for the good weather that we have starry night in Bolinao. I am eager to witness the Milky Way and eventually come out at 3am to spend some time stargazing at the beach. I am really having fun looking at the stars unfortunately I haven’t seen the Milky Way.
Oh by the way, for those who are bringing their tents with them, you may pitch it at the beach. I have seen several tents around and I think it is safe enough to do so in the area.
October 30, 2016
No call time for us. We can sleep all we want. Actually, we all get up at 8am when our room is starting to heat up. Only few itineraries are set for the day, just around the place. Elvin makes some coffee and we have a light breakfast together.
Since aircon rooms are already available, we take our things and transferred it there before going out to see the more of Bolinao. Now we have a one bedroom with own bath, a kitchen, stove and a terrace. Not the typical lavish accommodation, this one is just right to survive the weekend.
Our first destination for the day is the Lighthouse. It is just a few meters up the hills from La Parola. We only have a quick stop for picture-taking purposes. Nothing is special at the Lighthouse itself. It is the same with other lighthouses in other places. What is nice is its location. That wonderful view surrounding the lighthouse makes it special.
From afar, you may see the blue ocean with the waves curling up near the shores. It is nice to see the picturesque scenes of green trees coupled with the blue seas. I admire the place as you can seldom see buildings.
Next stop is the Rock View Resort. It is a private resort that welcomes visitors who would want to wander the beautiful rock formations at the beachfront. They also offer both fan and aircon accommodations. However, their swimming area is quite small. If you have seen the waves plunging into the rocks, one might choose not to swim anymore.
For us, we only come there for the view. They really have a nice rock formations and I bet it is nice to spend a sunset at the tip of the rocks. Just a walking distance, they have a gazebo at one of the rock edge. The location is nice since it is quite higher than other rock formations. You can clearly observe the waves plunging at the rocky edges. Oh before I forget, the cool breeze makes you stay more under the sun. Make sure you put your sun block on.
Since Rock View Resort informed us earlier that they don’t have any stocks available, they cannot offer us food for lunch. We ask for recommendation from the caretaker of the resort on where we can eat our lunch. She tells us to check at Mangunguna Grills, a drive further back to town. Along the way, we also try to checkout for eateries until we happen to pass by a barbecue stall. However the don’t have rice so they cannot accommodate us. Bing just has a bite of barbeques just to satisfy her hunger.
Driving further to Mangunguna, another eatery near Puerto del Sol is open but all food displays are finished. So we move forward until we reach the restaurant. I parked the car on the side along the road while they look for a table for us to dine. When I discovered that a space is enough for a car near our table, I immediately transferred the car near us.
Mangunguna have open cottages with tables and chair set up for dine in customers. Since it’s past 12 already, we immediately place our orders. We simply choose the group menu with grilled fish (sungayan), grilled liempo, and grilled squid. Maybe they have not anticipated the flock of visitors that the service takes about 30-40 minutes per table. While waiting for our food, we have fun with the mathematical equations translated in Bisaya. The food is good and for the price it is quite expensive for the serving and the service.
The final stop for the day is for the Wonderful Cave. Actually, I already know about the Enchanted Cave in Bolinao. I have not known other caves until I have asked one of the locals. He suggests to just visit Wonderful Cave since it’s just the same with Enchanted Cave. The only difference is the swimming pool and it is relatively cheaper in Wonderful Cave.
It is actually true that Wonderful Cave have lesser visitors maybe because it is not that advertised. The signage also of the Wonderful Cave is not that visible. The road to the cave is not paved but it is in good condition. The parking is right at the entrance of the cave. It is a private property and the owners are just around the area.
There is one group ahead of us when we get there. Good thing the place is not crowded. The cave is quite small. It is not that deep since daylight can reach the portion of the cave though there is still a need to put lights to illuminate the cave surroundings. The water is very clear, quite cold and not that deep. The owner says that it goes with the tide; if it is high tide, the water also rises. What is surprising is that the water is freshwater and not saltwater.
I forget to bring my change clothes so I swim with my undies. Oh well, not only me but Elvin as well. Good thing we’re only few in the caves. Just right when another group arrives, we are also moving out of the area.
When done fixing ourselves, we drive right away to a market to buy fresh fish and other stuff for dinner. It is quite distant from the cave. The place is a small market along the road. Several stalls are selling fresh catch of fish and some are selling meat and vegetables. One whole fish and several pork chops for grilling, we also have another whole fish for “kinilaw” and they lady vendor is filleting it for us.
All our foodstuffs are set and we’re off to go back to La Parola. We need to be there before 4pm to watch the sunset at the beach. Just in time, we arrive at our cottage. We set everything ready, preparing all things for dinner and plans to cook it after sunset.
At near 5pm, we are at the beach. I pitched my Cadbury open tent (first time to use it after 6 years). The sunset is stunning. We are thankful for the good weather that we enjoy the sun, sky, sea and sand. Before cooking our dinner, we have a quick dip at sea while waiting for the sundown and afterwards, we go back to our cottage to prepare for our dinner.
Bing prepares the kinilaw while I make a soup out of the fish bones and head. Mia already sliced all the spices and vegetables while Elvin is preparing our grill. While waiting for our food, coffee is served. Our kinilaw also is ready and I can’t help myself but did a pica-pica. It took a while to cook the pork chops and the fish, yet we’re all patiently waiting for it to cook. And while waiting, we also have time to fix ourselves, freshen up before dinner. Just in time for us to finish fixing ourselves, all foods also are done and we are ready for dinner.
After dinner, we’re back at the shore to just spend the night under the stars. We put the tent facing the sea. Elvin has a Bignay wine so we drink it there at the beach. What I love about the place, no mobile network so we are all there to bond with each other. At past 9pm, we finished drinking the Bignay wine and we called it a night.
As usual, I got out at dawn to check for the galaxy, and I failed the second time around. However, seeing a bunch of stars in the sky is really a gift. I am loving it so far.
October 31, 2016
A very good morning for all of us at our cottage. I wake up when Bing calls for a coffee. I didn’t notice that I have a good sleep after my dawn stargazing. Now, starting our day with a good coffee plus trimmings courtesy of Mia from Coffee Bean.
While having coffee, Bing is also preparing our breakfast. She’s cooking spam, scrambled egg and dried fish. Then, I have a quick dip at sea; just few minutes of swimming since it’s hot already though it’s still early morning.
After breakfast, we fixed ourselves and packed our things. We are set to drop by at Bolinao Falls before going home. Along the way, it’s our (Elvin and I) turn to enjoy the sunroof. It’s such a nice experience having fun at the sunroof on a sunny day in Bolinao.
There are two waterfalls in Bolinao. Since it’s already noontime, we choose the nearest waterfalls, which is Bolinao Falls 1. From the highway, it is about 4-5 kilometers of rough road going to the parking area of the waterfalls. From the parking area, the waterfall is still a few meters walk down passing thru the rice fields.
Bolinao Falls 1 is a small waterfall with turquoise waters. There is an entrance fee of Php50/head when you go down the waterfalls. They are not issuing any receipt; maybe they are residents in the area. However they are going to ask you to check first the waterfalls before payment.
There are plenty of people at the waterfalls since it’s a long weekend. There are no tables and cottages in the area; you have to secure your things at one place near the river. It is also safe to jump at the waterfalls since it’s only a short waterfalls. You may opt to just swim at the water basins above the falls.
We only stayed for a while there and we’re back at the parking area. We had a buko juice before driving back to the highway, now we’re going to Manaoag for a Church visit. It is also quite a long drive from Bolinao to Manaoag. Passing thru towns of Lingayen and Dagupan.
We arrive in Manaoag at 6pm. Just a short Church visit and we’re off to drive again. We had our dinner along the way before hitting the expressway. After 3 hours, we arrive Manila safe and sound.
Been here: October 29-31, 2016
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