I resigned from my job after a good effin’ 6 years as a corporate slave. After receiving my last pay and not knowing what to do with it, my friend, who is also my former workmate and had also resigned, decided we’d take a quick trip to Elyu and Baguio.
It was just a spontaneous trip and my friend, Yana, bet her life on me as her tour guide since I’ve been to these two provinces already.
Elyu, “LU,” which stands for La Union, became one of my favorite surfing spots after my last visit in 2015. I promised myself I’d come back to surf and hang out with some newfound friends – so here I am!
I brought my friend, Yana, to The Circle Hostel since she’s not picky and wanted to try it out. We stayed in one of their hammocks, which only costs 350 pesos per night. I know, I know – it’s not as comfortable as hotels or resorts, but it’s always worth trying at least once. Anyway, life isn’t always about being comfortable.
Anyhow, we arrived at 10am in the morning and very hungry after the 4-5 hours bus travel from Cubao straight from our flight from Cebu. So, I brought Yana to one of my favorite restaurant with one of the best view!
Now look at that view! Damn, why am I so fat here???? So yeah, that’s our view while taking our lunch!
After lunch, we didn’t waste our time and went surfing. Also, our other former officemate, Karl, who is also a very good friend of mine, is in Pangasinan. Since it’s just a 2 hour away to Elyu, he went there and joined the fun.
The next day, our hostel told us they had a scheduled trip to Tangadan Falls. I wasn’t able to visit it the last time I was here, so I was really thrilled to go.
Tangadan Falls is a two-tiered waterfall, with the second tier being the highlight. It features a wider and taller 40-foot cascade, along with an even larger catch basin.
How to Get There
We took a tricycle arranged by our hostel, and it took about 30 minutes to reach the jump-off point. From there, the trek takes roughly an hour, including a river crossing with scenic views.
There’s another, easier route that only takes 15–30 minutes of trekking from the jump-off point. You just need to take a tricycle, then a habal-habal. But where’s the fun in that?
At night, we enjoyed watching live bands while drinking some beer. Then the rest is history, since I blacked out from drinking too much alcohol LOL.
The next day, we have to say goodbye to Karl as he needs to head back to Pangasinan while we need to go to Baguio.
I have tried the Baguio to Elyu route before when I went solo traveling, so I already have an idea of which bus to take. Also, if you go to the San Fernando bus terminal, there are a lot of options available there.
We stayed in La Brea Inn, where I usually stayed because while it’s cheap, it’s also situated in Session Road, which means easy access to everything.
We had our tour the next day since we’re too tired to function when we got there so we just dozed off and call it a day.
The next day, we started our tour by visiting the StoBoSa Colorful Houses. This is a project by Department of Tourism and painted the houses with different colors. It reminds me of Colors of the Favela in Brazil but I’m not sure if this project is inspired by that to attract tourists.
Next stop is the Strawberry Farm! It’s my first time here, so I’m quite excited to see what’s there. You can actually go strawberry picking here, but when we arrived, it wasn’t the season, so there was nothing to pick. Instead, we just bought some strawberries.
Then we went to Mines View Park for more sightseeing. Since this is my second time here, I wasn’t as excited anymore, BUT there was something that caught my attention, so I immediately took some photos of it. Hah!
Look at this very cute boy!
That’s it for our Elyu and Baguio trip.