Mt.Province - Kalinga - Abra - Ilocos Sur
With much eagerness from the Coast to Mountains ride, my amigos and I set off to yet another epic offroad ride, one that I might not do again in the near future (or til my sore butt heals).
Taking off from Baguio, our 1st night is spent in idyllic Sagada, our homebase for many of our rides. On the second day, we ride over 160kms of dirt roads that take us through the towns of Bontoc, Tinglayan and Lubuagan in the Mt. Province. Exhaustion setting in, we enter the Province of Kalinga in the afternoon and reach the remote town of Balbalan, where we stay the night in the community of Balbalasan. The hundred year old guest house of the Episcopal Christian Women is a time capsule of sorts, made of pine wood from its floors, walls and even ceiling. Dinner is prepared for us at the St. Paul's School. No mobile phone coverage in this place. Nice!
Click on photo to see it on a map
Third day we leave the kind people of Balbalasan (yes I will return with the wine and the danggits) and head to Abra. The road is as harsh as we started, with lots of uphill climbs and rocks jutting out of the trail. The soil is so dry that it has turned powdery, which makes the dirtbikes dance like drunken ducks. We reach Abra and have lunch of Bangued longganizas (superb!) and then stay the night at Pamora Farm, where French chickens grow organically and in a free range setting. While resting we were treated to their famous pate on whole wheat bread and aromatic french coffee. Yes, during dinner we had fried chicken mairnated in herbs, and lettuce and tomates, freshly picked from their own organic garden.
Well rested, the fourth day was as we expected.... tough. The Abra river crsisscrosses over the province and we had to cross it many times, both on our bikes' own power and by modified bancas with platforms.
Click on photo to see it on a map
In one river that we crossed, I took the wrong line and ended up swimming and drowning my bike. Felt good though as the heat was beating down on us and the water was cool. After reviving the WR450F, we head off again towards the town of Tubo.
...continued...
With much eagerness from the Coast to Mountains ride, my amigos and I set off to yet another epic offroad ride, one that I might not do again in the near future (or til my sore butt heals).
Taking off from Baguio, our 1st night is spent in idyllic Sagada, our homebase for many of our rides. On the second day, we ride over 160kms of dirt roads that take us through the towns of Bontoc, Tinglayan and Lubuagan in the Mt. Province. Exhaustion setting in, we enter the Province of Kalinga in the afternoon and reach the remote town of Balbalan, where we stay the night in the community of Balbalasan. The hundred year old guest house of the Episcopal Christian Women is a time capsule of sorts, made of pine wood from its floors, walls and even ceiling. Dinner is prepared for us at the St. Paul's School. No mobile phone coverage in this place. Nice!
Click on photo to see it on a map
Third day we leave the kind people of Balbalasan (yes I will return with the wine and the danggits) and head to Abra. The road is as harsh as we started, with lots of uphill climbs and rocks jutting out of the trail. The soil is so dry that it has turned powdery, which makes the dirtbikes dance like drunken ducks. We reach Abra and have lunch of Bangued longganizas (superb!) and then stay the night at Pamora Farm, where French chickens grow organically and in a free range setting. While resting we were treated to their famous pate on whole wheat bread and aromatic french coffee. Yes, during dinner we had fried chicken mairnated in herbs, and lettuce and tomates, freshly picked from their own organic garden.
Well rested, the fourth day was as we expected.... tough. The Abra river crsisscrosses over the province and we had to cross it many times, both on our bikes' own power and by modified bancas with platforms.
Click on photo to see it on a map
In one river that we crossed, I took the wrong line and ended up swimming and drowning my bike. Felt good though as the heat was beating down on us and the water was cool. After reviving the WR450F, we head off again towards the town of Tubo.
...continued...
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