Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: Vibrant and Frenzied Tuguegarao: Evening City Tour by Trike

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Vibrant and Frenzied Tuguegarao: Evening City Tour by Trike

Vibrant and Frenzied Tuguegarao

Evening City Tour by Trike

Tuguegrao, Cagayan Series 2

We stayed in our room to rest for a while after

we arrived at Pulsar Hotel at about 4 PM,

…ordered a room service for snacks,
and we all had our first taste of

the famous Pancit Batil Patong.

At 5 PM, we went to the lobby and informed the
front desk that we plan to have a familiarity tour
of the city and we requested for a taxi, but we were
told that there are no taxis in Tuguegarao yet,

…but they gladly fetched a tricycle for us.

The kids were excited as it would be their first

tricycle ride, while it has been almost two

decades for me and my wife’s last tricycle ride.

It was a noisy and bumpy ride and our friendly driver,

Nestor took us around the city and its major attractions.

Our first stop was the St. Peter Cathedral.

The historic church’s ground was already dark

but we still managed to take some photos.

Nestor then took us to the back of the church as
he pondered that the back door may still be open.
The church backyard was well lighted where
there was a makeshift basketball court,

…and lovely park with a figure of
the Virgin Mary as a centerpiece.

Our trike driver was right-
the rear door was still open.

I was able to take photos

of the ancient church,

…that was in a state of disrepair,

… and undergoing renovation

during our visit.

The church is a major attraction

of the city and extra effort should be done

to improve the cleanliness and sanitation

of the really, very smelly toilets.

My wife requested the driver to take us

to St. Paul University as she wanted to see

the school, being an alumna on its Goa, CamSur

branch from pre school, elementary until high school.

The school was already closed but we were

able to take photos in front of the school.

That was enough for us and.we were happy

He then took us around to the very busy

city center where I took photos of some of the

important landmarks in the heart of the city.

Tuguegarao City is the capital of Cagayan

Province and the Regional Center for Region 2,

...and just like any other developing cities

in the Philippines- it is raucously noisy,

…streets choking with vehicles,

…scattered with popular fast food chains

in every block and every nook and cranny,

…adding to the wonderful cacophony of disorganized

chaos characterizing this rapidly progressing city.

Tuguegrao Centro, no matter how chaotic

is a must visit for every tourist in Cagayan,

…as it where one will experience sights and sounds,

feel the pulse and the vibrancy and the life of the city

that uniquely reflects the urban Cagayano way of life.

We returned to our hotel when it started to rain.

Surprisingly, our ever courteous w,elcoming and very reliable
trike driver asked for only 150 pesos that we found a little bit
underpriced, and not compensatory for his excellent tour guiding
services - so we gave him 500 pesos and he was thankful.

We were lucky, we had a congenial Cagayano

welcome from Nestor. These are the kind of people
that touches your heart and make you feel good

that despite all the hardships, they never take advantage,
willing to help and be of service even to strangers like us

Nestor is one rare breed that makes you feel proud
thinking there are still honest and hardworking people
like him, and luckily, we found one in Tuguegarao.