Ilocos Norte is the most northern province in the Philippines, the virtual end of the road in this expansive country. From Manila it's only a 1 hour flight, but the 12 hours it takes to arrive here by bus are a much more wonderful way to see the places in between, the locales no one ever visits and no one ever talks about. You can watch the entire life of the typical Filipino pass by the bus window on such a long journey: Houses that always seem to be only half completed. The group of guys untangling a giant fishing net together with practiced coordinated motions. Brilliant shimmering green rice fields as far as the eye can see. Water buffalo being used as manual labor as farmers ready fields for planting, a scene that probably has remain unchanged for generations. The students of a girls' elementary school as they shuffle about cleaning and sweeping the school grounds with the start of a new day. The makeshift road signs selling piglets, chickens, and goats. Eating pork adobo at roadside truck stops. The traffic clogs caused by a funeral procession in a small town as everyone walks behind the hearse slowly taking the deceased on one final ride. Another jam farther up the road when a cow decides that now, for some reason, would be the best time to saunter across the road. All these experiences and more can be had for anyone willing to venture beyond the familiar confines of the big cities.

South of Laoag lies Batac, the home of the Philippines' most infamous dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Hosting the Marcos Museum, Marcos Mausoleum, and numerous Marcos monuments, the city openly boasts of the connection to its favorite son.

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Statues of both Marcos and Jesus compete for public adoration in this part of the country.

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Originally built by the Marcos family for their daughter's wedding reception, today Fort Ilocandia is a gigantic resort and casino compound.

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The Marcos palace in Ilocos Norte, Malacanang of the North.

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Highlight of Ilocos Norte and the most famous church in northern Luzon, the spectacular ruins of Paoay Church draw people from all over the country. Begun in 1704 and finished 90 years later, the church has been left to the environment since then, creating a breathtaking natural laboratory of what happens when a manmade edifice is left to be slowly reclaimed by the elements.