Sunday, June 1, 2003

Trip to Pangasinan: Bolinao and Manaoag

This year, we decided to head for the beach for our summer vacation. Vangie and I started scouting for the beach we were going to, with the following criteria in mind: white sands with clean and clear water; relatively near yet not crowded; somewhere that can easily be reached by public transportation; and one where we don’t have to cross a body of water to reach it. We started our rese arch about one month before the trip. Surfing through the net, I focused my search in Region I. Bolinao in Pangasinan kept appearing and started appealing to us. I found a few sites recommending the White Beach there, particularly in Barangay Patar. I also found out that Bolinao has the second tallest lighthouse (in case you are curious, Cape Bojeador in Ilocos Norte is claimed to be the tallest) in the Philippines. It has also a lot of caves. St. James Church has a stunning structure of dark coral rocks. It also has the only museum in Pangasinan under the auspices of the National Museum: Bolinao Museum. With this information, we decided to go to Bolinao.