Top 10 Places to Go in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte (Part 2)

Laoag City Tourist Spots

Laoag City is the capital city of the Province of Ilocos Norte. Some of its popular tourist spots are as follows:

1. Ilocos Norte's Provincial Capitol

2. Aurora Park

3. Museo de Ilocos

4. Laoag City Hall

5. Tobacco Monopoly Monument

6. Sinking Tower of St. William Cathedral

7. Fort Ilocandia

8. Plaza del Norte Convention Center 

9. Malacanang of the North

10. La Paz Sand Dunes

Plaza del Norte

I  give my two thumbs up to Plaza del Norte. We stayed here for 3 days and everything was really comfortable and convenient from its clean, well-treated pools, delicious meals, beautiful scenery, spacious surroundings, to its lovely and relaxing rooms.

Our room :D

Dipping with my friends in the very inviting pool.

Malacanang of the North

      Actually, the Malacanang of the North is already in Paoay but I consider it as part of our Laoag City Tour since it is just a short distance from the Plaza del Norte and one only needs to ride a tricycle to get there.

      This mansion was supposedly a birthday gift from Imelda Marcos to her late husband, President Ferdinand Marcos for his 60th birthday. Technically, the money used for the lavish "gift" was from public funds and thus, was subsequently sequestered by the government after the end of the Marcos dictatorship. Lesson learned is, of course, it's okay to give gifts, just make sure you buy it from your own pocket.

Shown below are some of the rooms in the first floor.

Decades after the sequestration, the property was opened up to the public as a museum. The mansion is said to be a mix of Spanish and Ilocano architecture.

    While in power, the Marcos administration was accused of large scale authoritarian corruption, political repression, nepotism, and human rights violations, and after the assassination of a primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr., in 1983, public outrage led to the famous People Power Revolution in February 1986. Marcos was forced from power and he fled, seeking exile in Hawaii. - Philippine Trails

View of the grounds below, and overlooking the Paoay Lake.

     Above are some pictures of Imelda Marcos, who is world famous for her numerous shoe collection, said to have reached more than 3,000 and during the People Power Revolution, they found 1,200 pairs in Imelda's closet alone. One can just imagine how many were kept in her many residences all over the Philippines and abroad. A word was even coined after her, that is "Imeldific" which means ostentatious and extravagant.

     Draining most of the funds from the Philippine government, Imelda Marcos purchased extravagantly. Imelda traveled to New York and other destinations to buy fashions, high-end jewelry and other luxury items. She visited all of the major palaces and cities of mankind and purchased items left and right. Imelda bought the world's biggest diamond in 1983. She bought a Michelangelo piece for three and a half million dollars. In addition, she bought a 26 story skyscraper in Manhattan. - http://imeldamarcos.weebly.com/her-closet.html

 La Paz Sand Dunes

      The La Paz Sand Dunes is an approx 85 to 88 square kilometer protected sandy coastal desert and beach located in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, in the Philippines. One can choose various activities here such as 4x4 rides, and sand boarding. In our case, we didn't push thru in coming here as we already went to the Paoay Sand Dunes which is just at the other side and which also offers the same set of activities and view.

For more of Laoag City, just click here Top 10 Places to Go in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte  (Part 1)

Also check out other popular destinations to go in Ilocos Norte:
Top 4 Places to Visit in Paoay, Ilocos Norte
Top 11 Tourist Spots to Visit in the Northern Part of Ilocos Norte