🇵🇭 SANTA • Pandemic Memories in the Manila North Road

The reason why I like the town of Santa is because much of its land area is covered by a national park—meaning, the town has a spectacle of forest reserves, pristine mountain ranges, low-key springs, and biodiversity that probably is unknown to an average Ilocano (including me).

• What a great way to reminisce about my pandemic experiences. I realized that it was not a bad season at all. I came to understand and learn about my province more intimately.

• My context for this blog [...] is the story of Santa in relation to the Manila North Road (MNR) during the pandemic..

• [...] the Manila North Road [...] facilitates us to have a glimpse of the panoramic townscapes and adventures awaiting a curious town explorer.

🇵🇭 SANTA, ILOCOS SUR

From the excruciating process of obtaining my travel documents in Makati to a private van ride back home in Ilocos, many of my significant pandemic stories are all in my hard drive. Of course, breaking free from the stringent regulations of mobility at that time was also a process worth keeping in my hard drive. Even the smallest hint of freedom gave me chills of excitement. It was like a "there's no mountain high enough" or "I will cross the ocean for you" moment to finally break free even for a moment.

Note: MacArthur Highway and Manila North Road are the same. In Ilocos Sur, we simply call this road as "highway" because this is the only national highway in our province that directly connects us to Manila. The official name MacArthur Highway or Manila North Road is not commonly used in Ilocos Sur.

 ►  Backstory: I am breaking free!

I'm writing the opening spiel of this blog post today—2024-November-02; and I couldn't be any happier to finally lessen my backlog of pandemic stories. This story happened on 2021-December-19. My pandemic memories were intentionally saved by me in a format where I could revisit the actual events. As much as I want to store everything in my brain, it's not just possible for me to remember every detail. So, my significant pandemic memories of being locked in ▼ METRO MANILA

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until the day I went home to Ilocos were all documented and saved in my drive.

Because of these circumstances, our random ride on 2021-December-17 led us to the town of Santa while plying the almost empty ▼ MANILA NORTH ROAD

🇵🇭 LUZON ISLAND • MacArthur Highway or Manila North Road (Local Guide + Review)

This is a travel blog compilation of the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway). (MacArthur Highway). This is the only primary highway that connects my province Ilocos to the rest of the world on the ground.

🇵🇭 SANTA • In the photo is my brother waiting for me on the seawall along the Manila North Road with the view of the Luna Hill at the background.

Even though I've been to Santa countless times—countless enough that the town has become so usual and ordinary in my perception—my pandemic imprisonment opened me to another perspective. At that time, I saw the town of Santa from a different light. Its idyllic beauty, the majesty of her mountains (my favorite in Ilocos), and the sparkle of its sea exuded more meanings.

It's only 15 minutes away from ▼ VIGAN

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on a scooter, but my Vigan-washed view of things changed differently.

 ►  Manila North Road: a window to the charm of Santa

As a local of Ilocos Sur, I am pretty much familiar with the nooks and crannies of the MacArthur Highway segment of Ilocos Sur. I probably know more detail than what an average Ilocano may know. This is because I'm fond of paying attention to details, and I document them in my notes for future reference; and if someone would ask me which is my favorite part of the MNR aka Manila North Road (another name for MacArthur Highway), that would be the total stretch of Santa and a segment of the road up to Sulvec Bay in its neighboring town of Narvacan.

🇵🇭 SANTA • The Manila North Road is a gateway to the wondrous corners of Santa.

The reason why I like the town of Santa is because much of its land area is covered by a national park—meaning, the town has a spectacle of forest reserves, pristine mountain ranges, low-key springs, and biodiversity that probably is unknown to an average Ilocano (including me). This vast area makes the town of Santa a poetic destination for creatives and those who appreciate the kind of character that Santa has. The great thing here is the presence of the Manila North Road that facilitates us to have a glimpse of the panoramic townscapes and adventures awaiting a curious town explorer. While on this road, the external glory of Santa's natural masterpieces can be seen closely, yet so far; clearly, yet elusive.

Meanwhile, the people of Santa live in a narrow plain—dissected by the Manila North Road—in between the gigantic mountain ranges and the mouth of the Abra river. The people of Santa live in a paradise they may have not recognized—maybe because it’s a “normal” thing for them. I have other reasons why I like the town of Santa, but that's a story that deserves another spotlight. My context for this blog by the way is the story of Santa in relation to the Manila North Road (MNR) during the pandemic.

• Luna Hill

To be honest, the look and location of the mountains located along the highway of Ilocos Sur are very familiar to me; however, I didn’t really know the name of some mountains that could be seen from the Manila North Road.

The specific mountains in Ilocos Sur that I could name are the Mt Bullagao (at the Abra-Ilocos Sur border), My Tupira (in Bantay), and Mt Gusing (in Narvacan). All of these mountains are visible from the highway. The name of the rest of the mountains are unknown to me.

🇵🇭 SANTA • The Luna Hill is one of the prominent mountains alongside the Manila North Road in Santa.

Thanks to this website Peak Advisor for allowing me to decode the mystery of the mountain’s name. Its rich graphic data is very helpful to me in learning more about my province—especially our Ilocos mountains.

According to the Peak Advisor website, the name of the mountain in the photo above is Luna Hill. It rises 486 meters above sea level.



In fact, the MNR runs through a portion of its slope in Magsaysay District. The slope of the Luna Hill extends down to the shoreline of Santa. Luna Hill is part of the larger group of protected landscapes called the Northern Luzon Heroes Hill National Park which occupies much of the terrestial area of the town of Santa.

This mountain is very visible from the MacArthur Highway.

• Santa Seawall

Another notable site along the MacArthur Highway is the Santa Seawall. The highway runs on top of this seawall serving two purposes. My brother and I dropped here to take photos of the beautiful landscape of Santa. This is also one of my favorite spots along the MNR segment of Ilocos Sur because it’s loaded with the wondrous view of the municipal waters of Santa and the gigantic Luna Hill on the other side.

🇵🇭 SANTA • The Santa Seawall protect this segment of the Manila North Road from coastal erosion.

• Magsaysay District Beach

From the Santa Seawall segment of the MNR, you can also view a portion of the ▼ COASTLINE OF MAGSAYSAY

🇵🇭 SANTA • Magsaysay District Beach (Local Guide and Review)

This is a travel blog compilation of the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway).. From the highway, I descended to the beach area for documentation.

🇵🇭 SANTA • The Manila North Road runs alongside a portion of the Magsaysay District beachline in Santa.

 ►  Post Scriptum

What a great way to reminisce about my pandemic experiences. I realized that it was not a bad season at all. I came to understand and learn about my province more intimately.

In regular days, a ride along the Manila North Road is more like a necessity or synonymous to daily grind; but during the pandemic, a ride on this highway was a poetic luxury. The natural landscapes that decorated the route are worth every moment during the pandemic—a takeaway I carried with me even after the pandemic. That’s the reason why I’m writing this story now.

▬ END OF STORY ▬
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UPDATE HISTORY FOR THIS BLOG POST

2024-December-03:
• Related posts configured and added.

2024-December-02:
• This post was published.