Paoay Sand Dunes

When talking about a place, one might say that ah, this place is this because is has this x and attribute. Yet in reality, within a place are a number of places, each of which has a distinct feel. We want to tell you about places in Ilocos - Ilocoses. Kindly say it with us, Ilocosessss. The sand dunes of Paoay is our first in Ilocoses. Paoay is one of the towns in Ilocos Norte, which is the norwesternmost province of the Philippines. There are three words that you need to remember - beach, pine, desert, fun. The fourth is not a word - its the experience. #vague BEACH The tropical desert areas of Paoay can be accessed through Fort Ilocandia. Fort Ilocandia, which has the only five-star hotel in the North, is a public piece of land; it is open to everyone. To go to the desert, try to find the resort below.

Fig. 1. The beach area is chock-full of sun. By the way, this blog post is written like a research paper. Hehe. Walk left through the beach area.

Fig 2. Ilocos has good blues during the early months of the year. /

Fig. 3. Sand that does not itch because people do not seem to frequent the beach. /

Fig. 4. You wont see this rubber heart anymore. It was picked up by David as a souvenir. Its in his cabinet in Quezon City now. PINE Walk further and youll witness an strip of coniferous trees parallel to the beach. A story about the pine forest is that during Ferdinand Marcos time, the trees were plan ted to prevent the desert from expanding inland. It turned out, however, that the deserts expansion was seaward.

Fig. 4. Not only in Baguio. /

Fig. 5.There are some flowers, too. /

Fig. 6. The area is hot and dry. These are kind geography students who were in a February trip with David. Turn left where the pine trees end. Tall sand hills mark the turn. There are cement posts, too. Climb the sand hills to have commanding views of the beach, trees, and the blue sky. Dont wish for rain or clouds or youll miss the fun.

Fig. 7. Remember the TV series, Lost? / DESERT The eolian environment is amazing. Short plants grow to be eaten by cows (which you wont probably see there roaming all the time). But their poops are. :p

Fig. 8. This is not a poop. Its just a misplaced photo and is actually in the beach area. /

Fig. 8.1. This is poop. This is what nourishes the glorified desert grass. /

Fig. 9. The faux wheat fields of Paoay. Glorified desert grass. The eolian environment is amazing. The best time to go there is during February or so, when the sky is clearly blue and the landscape is golden brown. eolian - of arid nature, lack of moisture, bring H2O. Again, bring H2O. There aint sari-sari store in the desert, son.

Fig. 10. The landscape gains a green tint during the wet months. /

Fig. 11. Green desert aint bad at all. /

Fig. 12. There are scattered pine trees in the area. /

Fig. 13. Maximus also saw this in the movie, Gladiator. /

Fig. 14. A dehydrated eolian man. /

Fig. 15. Vega in what David calls an arabic fabric. Such fabric is better than sunblock. It only covers selected parts of the body, though. :p /

Fig. 16. The Exodus. Vega as Moses. / We tell you, exhaustion may bite you while having fun in the desert. The eolian environment makes one drier than tuyo that you need to have bottled water and a dry towel with you. Dont forget that there are pockets of cow poop along the path, too. But how do you get back to where water is? Walk through the sand dunes but do not walk away from the pine trees (and do not do it alone, its scary). You will find a barbed -wire fence along the path. Walk until you reach the cornered fence section that turns to the left. You have to twist your body through the barbed wire like in a remborak as if youre a contortionist. /

Fig. 17. 1. What if there was a Tyrannosaurus Rex running after you and you have to get through this fence? :O / Walk further and you will find lots of garbage near a road and you will find

Fig. 17.2. Faux sand. Even though it has ripples, this is not sand. These are rice grains being dried on the road to salvation. Faux sand. Youre smelly now. You must be in a stony parking area where your driver must have parked your auto near the five-star hotel.

Fig. 18. Stone! (better than eolian sand and the hot air in the desert) /

Fig 19. Bus! And aircon, too! / There. Remember - beach, pine, desert. Hug the pine trees that you may not miss the barbed-wire. Bring water and towel(s) and youll have more chance of fun in Paoay, one of the Ilocoses. Ilocosessssss! :) Next post: Paoay Church!

/ PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS IN PAOAY SAND DUNES: Set ISO to 200 or lower. The light is intense so there is no need for higher ISO sensitivity. Set aperture to smaller, too. Try apertures higher than F/8. Shutter speed? We forgot what apt shutter speed to use. Haha. *the shots were taken by David and Vega using camera phone and Nikon entry-level DSLRs. Please do photo reply! :)

- David and Vega