Bantay Church, Bell Tower and its Hidden Chapel by the Ruins

Ilocos is the place up North I have visited thrice already. The most recent happened  last October was a free trip. I also brought my mom with me to tour her for 3 days and 2 nights. 

I have majestic photos of Ilocos captured when I went there last year, if you want to check it out, you may click here. 

Having said this I decided to share  to my readers the places of Ilocos that I keep on coming back and also inviting them to see these places themselves too. 

This is the first out of Ten Reasons to Visit Ilocos post I will share today. 

The Bantay Church also known as the St. Augustine Parish Church and its Bell Tower is the very first place we visited after taking a van ride from Manila to Ilocos for 10 hours a night ago. Seeing this historic baroque style church at 8am is such a bliss because I and my mom was able to watch a lot of maya birds singing nonstop up above the main facade of its roof. We are about to get inside but we noticed no one from our group has gone to the Bell Tower yet so we decided to go there as fast as we can.

Bantay Church

The Bell Tower is just a few meters away from the Bantay Church. It will take approximately 5 minutes to reach there and a dozen of steps because it is elevated. Its usage is to watch any incoming enemies from the tower. 

Bell Tower up close

Bell Tower from a distance

We climbed the wooden stairs in a spiral direction going up.  The stairs has a lot of rubble so I am a bit scared to climb all the way up. We walked very, very slow and we make sure that what we are stepping is   hard enough for us not to fall down. When we reached the top, our prize is the stunning view of the mountains of nearby province of Abra! We stopped for a few moments and let the breeze of the air sway our hair. A moment like this is priceless! When we saw a flock of tourists also climbing up, we decided to give way so we went down.

Bantay Church's Hidden Chapel by the Ruins

It only took us a few minutes to go back to Bantay Church. Yes we got tired and decided to sit in this beautiful wooden beach that reminds me of the scene from Jose Rizal's El Fili or Noli. Need I say more? While I am checking text from my clients asking about Ilocos tour, my mom snapped a photo of me. I was able to answer back a few inquiries telling them that I am actually in Ilocos that is why I have been a bit of late replying to them! 

Bantay Church's Hidden Chapel by the Ruins inside

We wanted to stay a little more because this is exactly what we are longing for a place that is a mixture of peace and full of nature's charm! But we have to go for the next place. Keep checking for the second one :)