Adams Exposure [Part 2 of 2]

A feast with the indigenous peoples

After an exhilarating four-hour hike to Maligligay falls, I hit the road again to the town proper of Adams, Ilocos Norte. From Sitio Maligligay to the town proper is another 15-minute motorcycle ride. My next destination was a river cottage where a small feast was waiting for us.

My companions from The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), except Dr. Antonio, haven’t returned from their hike yet. So, while waiting, I took the chance to set up the food for photography. On the table were the most amazing dishes that the people of Adams had to offer.

We had a salad of edible fern tops locally known as pako. My favorite was the dinakdakang langka or young jackfruit cooked with coconut milk. They also served a wild variety of eggplant, known as bisula-- it’s small and rounded but has thorns. They cook it like pinakbet-- it has plenty of garlic, onions and vinegar. The meat dishes were fried eel, ground pork with carrots, and sautéed freshwater shrimp. All these go perfectly with red, mountain rice. The dessert they prepared for us were heavenly! In addition to the chilled ube-buko juice, we also had squash cake topped with ube jam and some very creamy tiesa (egg fruit) cake topped with mixed fruits.

Soon enough, fellow TIPSters manong Joseph and Edwin arrived so we took portraits of the exquisitely-dressed Yapayao and Igorot people, who both posed with their delicious food and also performed a dance ritual.

Just before dark, our host Dr. Bielmaju Waley-Bawingan, the Mayor’s better half, led us to manang Anavic's house which she also offers as homestay to tourists, and where we will be staying overnight. Anavic’s house is just beside the Bolo river so the group decided to have night swimming first before before dinner. The water was iced-cold thus relieving our exhaustion. But then I also felt my cuts from this morning’s hike.

  

Our homestay host Manang Anavic with friends in her living room.

The bolo river is irresistible even to the locals.

A night out in Adams
After a sumptuous dinner which includes deep fried, balled up banana blossom, among others, we headed to Dr. Bawingan’s residence for some bugnay wine and music by the recently reunited string band of Adams. Bugnay wine is made of wild mountain berries also called bugnay. Our finger food to go with the wine was exotic: breaded fried frog! I heard it tastes like chicken (I’m vegetarian). I must say I immensely enjoyed listening to the string band. Their repertoire comprises of beautiful Ilocano songs and they play it masterfully. They are actually seasoned musicians who used to play with famous Ilocano singers.

 
Manang Anavic and some breaded fried frog during the food festival at the Ilocos Norte Capitol last December 2009.

Day 2 in Adams
A great way to start the day in Adams is to watch the sun rise in Lover’s Peak. It’s only about 5-minutes drive from the town. The view from above is breathtaking, made more dramatic by mist, verdant forest surrounding the mountainsides, and an astonishing view of the townsfolk’s’ rice fields. With the extra time I had at Lover’s peak, I followed a path further up and I chanced upon the same species of spider I saw several times during my hike the day before. This one was much bigger though. But, in fairness, the skinnier one shared the same taste in diet: wild honeybees.

Sampling the Tapuey-- rice wine
On the way back to town for breakfast, we stopped by Lola Ingga’s Tapuey winery. She was already expecting us and she had her traditional Yapayao vest on. She was very accommodating. In fact, she offered us a taste of her Tapuey (rice wine) that came straight from the earthen jar it was being fermented in for two months already at the time. I thought it was rude to decline, even if it was just around 8 o’clock in the morning and we hadn’t even had breakfast yet! This probably helped us artistically though as we began to arrange her place for her portrait, which shows her workplace with the earthen wine jar and the baskets, brooms, mats, and other handicraft she and her fellow townsfolk usually make, which is also what Adams is famous for. I felt so art--tipsy at the time that I didn’t even bother to take out my camera to make a portrait of her. I just helped direct the scene and her poses and let the other TIPSters do the shooting. Lola Ingga is a lovely elder and she was jolly the whole time we were there, especially during her portrait session. :-D

Our trip in Adams was also on the same day as Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Joshua Clottey. Adams wasn’t left behind though. The Mayor had dish cable and he welcomed his neighbors to watch the fight live.

Travel tips

The town has at least four different Department of Tourism-accredited homestays. One of the houses we went to had a tilapia fishpond where guests can catch these by themselves, using a rod or a net, and grill it by the pond. In this small town where hotels or lodging houses aren’t anywhere near, homestays are the best option to spend quality time here. Overnight accommodation is P250 per person. Complete meals are available at P150 per person (breakfast costs cheaper). Mountain/ falls tour guides offer their services for P100-P200 only. My advice for those who wish to experience Adams is to arrive there in the afternoon, after your morning beach bumming in Pagudpud. Chill out at the Bolo river and recover your strength by staying overnight there. By crack of dawn, head out to your first falls tour. In the afternoon, go wine tasting or immerse with the indigenous peoples’ culture. On your third day, take another falls tour (you have four tour choices). Afterwards, travel back to Laoag (two-hour drive) and make it in time for the 7pm flight back to Manila.

Day 2 lunch at Aileen's fishpond where visitors can catch tilapia by net or by fishing rod and have it cooked right there and then. Aileen also offers homestay. 

Our final stop for our two-day photo excursion in Adams was at our host Dr. Bielmaju Waley-Bawingan’s winery. Hers is probably the most equipped in all of Adams, which is expected because she really is innovative and enterprising. She is also very generous. Having sponsored the tour, meals, and homestay of the TIPSters, she was also able to spare some parting gifts for the group: brooms, bugnay vinegar and wine!

I definitely want go back to Adams again soon. They have documented at least 14 waterfalls and I’ve only been to two. The community is practically self-reliant, admirably hospitable and peace-loving. It’s hard to get enough of adventure and fun in this quaint mountain town.

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