Welcome to another Carlotta Family Road Trip Adventure. This time, we are doing the Northern Luzon Loop starting in Manila, going thru the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet and back to Manila via Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan. The trip will take 7 days and 6 nights away from home. We are planning to leave on Christmas Day and be back in time for a New Year's Eve celebration at home. Traveling with me (Joey Carlotta) are my wife (Miren) and our 3 children, Nina (21), Inaki (18) and Timmy (16), all seasoned road warriors. We will be traveling in a 2.5 liter 6 cylinder 4X4 Suzuki Grand Vitara. We intend to stop in San Juan, La Union (1st night), Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte (2nd and 3rd night), Sagada, Mountain Province (4th and 5th night) and Baguio City, Benguet (6th night). The primary objectives are family bonding and outdoor fun but, personally, I look forward to being able to drive over the top of Luzon (thru Claveria, Cagayan) and thru Halsema Highway (aka Mountain Trail) between Sagada and Baguio City in the Mountain Province. If the Halsema Highway proves to be bad or risky, our alternate route home from Sagada will be back down to Nueva Viscaya and thru the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. This is a half-day drive so we will have to cut the trip short by a day and leave for Manila on the 30th to be able to get enough rest for New Years' Eve. This blog is intended to document the trip and show the photos taken along way.

T minus 39 days.

written by  Joey Carlotta on November 16, 2007 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Northern Luzon Loop (CANCELED)
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Worthy to note are the references I use in planning trips. First and foremost, I would like to mention the Luzon edition of the Philippine Road Atlas and Stopover Guide published by E-Z Map. It has been an invaluable tool and source of entertainment at the same time. Even armchair travelers wishing to virtually tour the country are well-advised to purchase a copy. It is packed with tips, details and local color. Comments and observations can be humorous too coming from non-Filipino authors. My deep respect stems from the fact that they have apparently driven all those roads and visited (or at least researched) all those places. I bought my copy back in 2001 and it is getting a bit dated. I will check for a newer version next time I am at the bookstore. Too bad they don't have an on-line publication. I might also add that I am a great fan of the magazine called Cruising, a monthly publication of Manila Bulletin. It is in fact the only publication I buy on a regular basis.

I also use maps. In fact I like maps and collect them. I am never without a map in the car or when traveling with someone else. My all-time favorites are the Roadmap of the Philippines published by National Bookstore and the localized maps by E-Z Map. The first thing I do when I arrive in a foreign country is to look for a map in the airport. This came in handy when I visited Shanghai, China where asking and giving directions proved difficult since I didn't speak the language. I quickly found that pointing to my desired destination on a map to a taxi driver always did the trick. On the other hand, maps do not work very well as visual aids when asking for directions from the locals in the Philippines. In fact, I have become wary about asking Filipino locals for directions. Rather than admit ignorance, I have in more than one occasion been led on wild goose chases. I have also found that the local police are most helpful and reliable.

Finally, there is the Internet that I use extensively. But finding proper information there is as chancy as coming across an occasional TV feature while surfing the tube or printed article in your favorite daily or Sunday magazine. With the increasing use of blogs, a web search would come up with a profusion of personal accounts that are at best incomplete and at worse completely inaccurate. One good thing about them are the rants or raves about restaurants and resorts or hotels which are difficult to discern from the commercial websites of these establishments. Still, the Internet presents the handiest and most varied source for information. It has also inspired me to write this blog in the hope that other families or individuals find the information useful in planning their own trips.

T minus 38 days.

written by  Joey Carlotta on November 17, 2007 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Northern Luzon Loop (CANCELED)
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A primary consideration in planning a trip is the route to be taken. Of course there is the financial consideration but you won’t know how much you will spend if you don’t know where you are going, where you will be staying and what you will be doing. You can always scale down later. On this trip, it really wasn’t very difficult to decide because I have been wanting to do 2 things for the longest time and these are a) to drive over the top of the main island of Luzon and b) to drive thru the fabled and supposedly picturesque Halsema Highway locally known as Mountain Trail. Driving thru the top of Luzon is a much easier objective with sufficient stops in between and relatively good roads ensuring safe passage. Driving the Halsema Highway is different story altogether. They don’t call it Mountain Trail for nothing.

Until recently, the road has remained mostly in a state of disrepair with attempts at paving washed away by landslides that occur yearly during the Monsoon season (June to October) when many accidents and deaths occur and the road is often closed to vehicular traffic. It is still represented in most maps as a dotted line which does not bode well. Recent efforts by the government have apparently resulted in some success between Baguio and Mt. Data (about halfway) with the remainder projected to be completed sometime next year. Still, passage is advised only for the sturdiest of buses and public utility vehicles that regularly ply the route or capable high-clearance and/or 4-wheel drive vehicles. It goes without saying that driving skill and a penchant for self-punishment is required. Despite all this, the route promises great vistas and an experience that can only be had in about the last patch of pristine mountain countryside traversed by a major road. Having put this off for so long, I want to do it now before the road is finally fully paved and the stretch goes the way that Baguio did. Nonetheless, the final decision to proceed with this leg of the trip will depend on the actual road condition to be inquired from the nearest Department of Public Works and Highways office and/or from a bus driver who had just recently passed the route. I do not intend to risk life, limb or property for a thrill that may prove costly.

Another parameter in planning the route was driving time between stops. While my wife will act as back-up driver, I wanted to limit each leg to not more than 6 hours. On this basis, I wish to avoid the alternate 12-hour route home passing thru Nueva Ecija that does not present anything remarkable to see much less worth spending the night for.

The final decision made on the route for this trip was whether to start by way of the western coastal road or start with Baguio and (try) to do the mountains first. The deciding factor again became the Halsema Highway. Getting detoured so early in the trip could put a serious dent on the whole thing. Reservations for resorts and hotels already made this early will be missed and we could certainly find ourselves without a room in the inns on Christmas week. The only place we would skip starting thru the western coastal route would be Baguio in the event that we got detoured in Sagada. Fortunately, the hotel in Baguio did not require a deposit.

The final route is as follows:

Leg 1

Route : Manila – Bulacan – Pampanga – Tarlac – Pangasinan – La Union
Travel Date : Dec. 25, 2007
Estimated Distance – 270 Kilometers to San Juan
Approximate Driving Time: 6 Hours

Leg 2

Route : La Union – Ilocos Sur – Ilocos Norte
Travel Date : Dec. 26, 2007
Estimated Distance – 290 Kilometers to Pagudpud
Approximate Driving Time : 4 Hours

Leg 3

Route : Ilocos Norte – Cagayan – Isabela – Nueva Viscaya – Ifugao – Mt. Province
Travel Date : Dec. 28, 2007
Estimated Distance – 490 Kilometers to Sagada
Approximate Driving Time : 6 Hours

Leg 4

Route : Mt. Province – Benguet
Travel Date : Dec. 30, 2007
Estimated Distance: 130 Kilometers to Baguio
Approximate Driving Time : 6 Hours

Leg 5

Route : Benguet – Pangasinan – Tarlac –Pampanga – Bulacan – Manila
Travel Date : Dec.31, 2007
Estimated Distance – 240 Kilometer to Las Pinas
Approximate Driving Time – 6 Hours
Total Distance Traveled – 1,420 Kilometers

Leg 4 Alternate

Route : Mt. Province – Nueva Viscaya – Nueva Ecija – Bulacan – Manila
Travel Date : Dec. 30, 2007
Estimated Distance – 410 Kilometers to Las Pinas
Approximate Driving Time – 12 Hours
Total Distance Traveled – 1,460 Kilometers

T minus 37 days.

written by  Joey Carlotta on November 18, 2007 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Northern Luzon Loop (CANCELED)
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