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IBA TO PANGISINAN |
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Even though Iba is less than a quarter the size of Olongapo, it is the capital of Zambales Province. Downtown Iba is about a half a mile from the beach which keeps most of the traffic off the National Highway. Iba isn't a particularly pretty city, but it does have it's own charm. However, they do have a great central market where you can buy anything from balut to a barong. Mavel went wild here and bought enough fruits to last us for a month. For less than a hundred pesos, you can hire a trike for a couple of hours to drive you around Iba and surrounding areas. To get here, you can take one of the many air conditioned buses from Olongapo or the Sunset Gardens Hotel provides a daily shuttle from Angeles City. About a mile north of Iba is the Palmera Gardens Hotel. This is certainly the finest hotel in the area (actually I think it's the only hotel). There are plenty of resorts up and down the beach, but these are mostly for day use or overnight camping. There is a 5 story hotel being built on the north end of the beach, but I don't think it will be as nice as the Palmera. For less than a 1000 pesos, you can have an air conditioned room with hot water and cable TV. The rooms overlooks the swimming pool and restaurant. Here, you can almost have the whole beach to yourself. Even though there were plenty of people in the hotel, on most days, we saw only one or two other people walking along the beach. The only complaint I had about the hotel was that I thought the restaurant was a little too expensive, however, the food was excellent. They can probably afford to be expensive because they have the only restaurant within walking distance, however, a trike into Iba only cost P15. On The Way To 100 Islands On this trip we did not have a car, so we took the Victory Liner from the terminal in Iba. I don't recommend this because there are very few (if any) air conditioned buses heading north. Also, the route requires that you change buses in St. Cruz. Actually it wasn't too difficult because we only had to wait 15 minutes for the next bus to Alaminos and it's only a 1 hour ride to St. Cruz and then another hour ride to Alaminos. My suggestion would be that you make arrangements for a day trip to 100 Islands. The hotel management can arrange a car and driver to 100 Islands and I think they quoted us a price of P2000 for a return trip. One day is plenty of time to drive to Alaminos, rent a banka to the islands, swim and barbecue at one of the many isolated beaches and then return to Iba in time for dinner. But Mavel and I had plans to continue on north to Vigan, Loaog and Pagudpud so we did it the hard way. Acoe This letter is from Roger Bound at the Rama Beach Hotel. Since Mavel and I were on a bus, we weren't able to stop along the way: "Acoe in Zambales is a mining town, once active in chromite mining but now defunct, though most of the superstructure is still in place. The town still exists, schools, housing, hospital, church, etc., though the population is now only a handfull of people. I have not been up there now for over a year, but from local knowledge, the road is still passable but rough in some places, which would require care with an ordinary car. There are no major climbs or necessity for 4 wheel drive, but the road does become rutted in some areas, requiring care if you do not have a great deal of ground clearance. When I was last up I used our L300 van and had no problems. There are people living at the start of the road and I would suggest asking them of the conditions, before going or just take it easy and turn around and come back if you find it too difficult. It is a lovely area and has spectacular views of the coast at about a third of the way up. It is very much like Baguio with similar climate due to its elevation. The road to Acoe actually leaves the National Rd. at Lucapon about 10 Km. South of Sta. Cruz." Masinloc From Masinloc to the mining town of Coto, Benguet Mines is now developing this area as a tourist attraction, beautiful swimming areas, accommodation in the old mining quarters and well worth the drive, about 1.5 hours from Iba with a good road into the mountain. Masinloc also offers some fine restaurants and night clubs. Also near to Masinloc in Palauig is Mt. Tabanacal (also known as High Peak) and at 1037 meters is the highest peak in Zambales. Fortunately due to it's inaccessibility it remains a pristine Rain Forest area, for the adventurous that like to hike, this is a real treat. |
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