Summer travel destinations

A huge chunk of the urban population goes on exodus during Lent. Whether or not that reflects how people have little regard for the religious significance of the occasion is beyond me. I only know that people take advantage of the four-day vacation because it is a paid vacation, Lent usually falls after the school year has ended and, ergo, a good time to unwind from the stress of work and school. Those who have families and relatives in the provinces go home for reunions. Those without choose to travel to the most exotic destination that they can afford. Last year, we did a tour of Boracay, Aklan and Panay. This year, we were thinking of going north. Laoag, Pagudpud, Batanes and Vigan. Nice plan, eh? I’ve done my research, believe me, and mapped out a great itinerary.

I know, it’s only February and it seems crazy to be thinking about the summer vacation. What can I say? I’m stressed out and I need a vacation badly. Besides, the wise traveler knows that in this country, airline tickets must be bought and accommodations reserved long before Lent. Wait much longer and there won’t be any airline tickets nor decent accommodations left. It makes a lot of sense to start thinking about the Lenten break now than later. Or so I thought. The itinerary having been laid out, I started on the logistics part and started hitting snags one after the other. Let me explain.

Plan A: Fly to Laoag, rent a van and drive around the Ilocos region. This was THE PLAN. Bask in the sands of Pagudpud, visit the heritage sites in Vigan and, after having our fill of bagnet and Vigan longganisa, proceed to Batanes. While it is easy enough to get a flight to Laoag, only regional services ply the Laoag-Basco route. These are 16-seater planes that won’t make the flight unless all seats are paid for. If you’re a group of ten, you’ll have to divide the cost of the six remaining seats and pay for them if you want to make it to Basco. Otherwise, the plane will never leave the tarmac. Ferry service between Laoag and Basco is a thing of the past. Unless I stumble upon better information, we decided it was a very financially stupid plan.

Plan B: Drive to Laoag with an overnight stopover midway (La Union, most probably), and proceed as in Plan A. This was what my daughters wanted. The long road trip means lots of opportunities for taking photos and it’s a chance to view the entire countryside which is never possible on board a plane (my younger daughter hates flying). The problem with the Laoag-Basco leg was compounded by the fact that my husband refused to check the car in some car hotel or similar service in Laoag. He was not going to spend a night without his beloved car (okay, truck — it’s a Nissan Frontier) in sight. So, Plan B was ditched almost as soon as it was hatched.

Plan C: Fly directly to Basco. Now, this was partical. We figured we could do the Ilocos road trip later in the summer. Batanes, they say, is THE place to visit these days. Batanes, they say, is like being in the Philippines but feeling you’re not in the Philippines. Batanes, they say, makes you feel proud to be a citizen of this country. Everyone I know who has been to Batanes says it is the ultimate tropical destination — panoramic views, lighthouses, mountain treks and unending seas all untouched by wanton commercialism. I checked direct flights and decided it was going to be SEAIR. I was about to book online when I saw the price — P6,135 per person and that’s one way.

I did some quick thinking. I knew that group bookings always get better deals. Travel with a group and you get discounted prices. Since we are going on this trip with friends, I thought it might be a better idea to start checking packaged tours. I left my monitor and keyboard and picked up the phone. Well, a 4D/3N packaged tour, all in, costs around P20,000 per person. And the Lenten rates are higher by a few thousands. Okay, I told myself, it’s going to be no-shopping trip anyway (no malls nor markets in Batanes) so it might still be a viable plan.

Then, the worst happened. The Basco to Manila flight on April 12 (Easter Sunday) was fully booked; only three seats were left in the April 11 (Black Saturday) flight. And I thought to myself how much cheaper and less problematic it would be to go to Singapore or Hong Kong or Bangkok instead so long as one keeps a tight rein on the shopping sprees. So many airlines and tour packages to choose from and flexible arrangements are possible too.

My mind flew back to that column I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the Tourism department’s intention to train local government officials on how to market their areas as tourist attractions. I know — I know — that there is no shortage on beautiful beaches, amazing dive spots, breathtaking mountains and exciting caves in this country. But if the cost of travel is prohibitive, Filipinos will look for less expensive travel destinations or not travel at all. This isn’t an issue of nationalism. It’s a money thing.