WHY ABRA PROVINCE SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT TOURISM
DESTINATION
By:
Nickson Garcia
Abra Province is
located among the Cordillera Administrative Region and was the major
destination of Untold Adventures Philippines for the month of July 2016. The
province of Abra has been on my list of province to explore for quite some time,
but lack of tourism information on the internet made my research quite a
challenge. Luckily for me, I was able to contact the right person at the best
time we needed each other.
Due to lack of
information on WHERE and WHAT to explore at Abra Province, I am making a list
of possible reasons why Abra should be your next destination.
1.
Cross the TANGADAN tunnel
Tangadan tunnel
is located at San Quintin Abra which measures at least 40meters long and serves
as entry way before reaching Abra province proper. Beside the tunnel is the
Gabriela Silang monument which was built in order to commemorate her heroism
during the revolutionary era.
2.
Taste the homemade MIKI pancit
Located at
Bangued Abra, we had our breakfast at Patucanay pancitan which is home of Miki
pancit. For an amount of PhP35.00, one can enjoy this tasty delicacy.
According to
locals, there are lots of homemade miki pancit canteens all over Bangued and it
is open as early as 5:00am. Regardless of their status in life, people come and
eat on these places. As simple as it looks, it taste really good.
3.
Appreciate art at GABRIELA CARIŇO SILANG art gallery
This ancestral
home located at Tayum Abra wherein some living members of the Cariňo family
resides is now a home for thousands of arts and antique collections of Retired
Ambassador Rosario Cariňo. Inside are some art works of famous painters such as
Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo and Pablo Picaso. It also displays extensive
antique items which were collections of Ambassador Cariňo during his tenure as
an Ambassador.
An entrance fee
of PhP100.00 per person and PhP15.00 for students (but FREE for Abra locals) are
being collected as fee. Unlike any other museum/art gallery, this tour can surely
make your tour worth it.
4.
Pass by DON MARIANO MARCOS bridge
Located along
Abra Kalinga National Road, this well known bridge connects municipalities of Tayum
and Dolores. Did you know that the
bridge was named by a Presidential Decree No 422 signed by the late President
Ferdinand Marcos entitled “NAMING
THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE ABRA RIVER LINKING THE MUNICIPALITIES OF TAYUM AND
DOLORES, ABRA, AS “DON MARIANO MARCOS BRIDGENAMING THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE ABRA
RIVER LINKING THE MUNICIPALITIES OF TAYUM AND DOLORES, ABRA, AS “DON MARIANO
MARCOS BRIDGE”
5.
Explore the SIBUD-SIBUD cave
For cave
enthusiast, a newly opened Sibud-Sibud cave should be part of your itinerary.
Located at Tineg Abra, this cave is still considered to be unexplored by many
and is reachable along the road going to Tineg proper. Just like other caves,
several rock formations can be seen. However, one should be creative enough to
imagine these rocks do look something. As of the moment, further exploration of
the cave is recommended in order to properly manage its existence.
Just a concerned
tourist reminder, be prepared by bringing appropriate gears and to proper take
care the cave by not damaging or writing anything in it.
6.
Be dirty with a DIRT BIKE
In coordination
with the Abra Enduro Club of Bangued Abra c/o Mr. Joy Lalin, dirt bike was one of
the modes of transportation we used as we reached most of our tourist
destinations at Abra. For those who wanted to try something new, dirt bike is a
MUST ride at Abra and this is different from a normal “habal-habal” ride.
Surely, the roads reaching to the destinations might be undeveloped and muddy
but riding the dirt bike can make the experience a little bit exciting. Who
wouldn’t love extreme anyway, right?
7.
Rock climb the PIWEK ROCK formation
Do you
appreciate rock formations made of limestone? Then Piwek Rock formation is perfect
place to be at Abra. You may identically consider Piwek as similar to those
limestone rock destinations near Manila but what differentiates it from the
others was its ranging water which is ideal for water rafting/tubing. There are
also rock edges which are perfect photography site.
8.
Be comfy at ORIGINES hotel
There are many
hotels around Bangued Abra but Origines Hotel served as our hotel for the
weekend. It is very comfy and spacious which can accommodate for a minimum of
four (4) persons per room for a minimal fee. It also has a restaurant and
conference room, which is good for meetings and celebrations.
An air
conditioned room (good for 4) can cost around PhP1,800.00/room while non-air conditioned
cost PhP800.00/room.
For more information, you may visit them by clicking here.
9.
Get a little extreme on a MILITARY truck
Throughout the year,
UAPH has been traveling to different places in the Philippines using different
modes of transportation that is available and this event is no different at
all. Military truck has been our primary mode of transportation around Abra not
just because we wanted to be special butthe tourism sites are mostly located on
secluded areas which requires a heavy duty vehicle. Personally, a 4x4 vehicle
may do but it will be a struggle. The roads going from one tourism site to
another are mostly muddy, uphill and rocky which makes the military truck a
perfect vehicle which would make it a one of a kind experience.
10.
Fall in love at KAPARKAN a.k.a MULAWIN FALLS
Probably the
highlight of our tourism exploration in the province so far, Kaparkan Falls or also
known as Mulawin Falls is a rice-terraces like waterfalls. It is described as
such since it is similar to the famous rice-terraces in the mountain province.
What differentiate one from another is that Kaparkan Falls has a clear sky blue
water for every terraces. The falls extends for almost a kilometer and situated
in the middle of the falls is a gigantic Balete Tree thus, making the whole site
worthy to see.
These are just some
on the tourism sites that can be explored at Abra. We strongly encourage every traveler
to put Abra province on your next list of province to explore. As for the
whole store of our experience, it will be posted in a separate article in the
coming days.
I would like to
take this opportunity to thank sir George “Joy” Lalin (globe – 09275609121)
who, through his efforts, made this memorable experience possible. We at UAPH
commend your efforts to make Abra Province a must visit tourist destination
this 2016.
For more pictures CLICK and SHARE the following links
For ABRA Province itinerary, click here.