AAP Caravan drives to Ilocos Nov. 25-27

For the first time in its 80-year history, the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) is taking its members and friends on a three-day, two-night tour of the Solid North. This will be AAP’s third Drive Tour Caravan, spearheaded by AAP Director and Tourism Committee chairperson Mina Gabor.

Given the experience and numerous contacts Gabor gained in the travel industry when she was the country’s tourism secretary, the previous two AAP caravans (the first to Subic and Clark, the second to Cavite and Batangas) were successful and served as a get-to-know-your-own-country and family-bonding weekend activity for a hundred or so AAP members and friends.

As in the past AAP Drive Tour Caravans, the regional Department of Tourism directors and local government officials are involved with the AAP Ilocos Norte Drive Tour Caravan.

The AAP caravaners will stay at the Plaza del Norte Hotel in Laoag from where they will drive to the Provincial Capitol for the Decade of Action for Road Safety Pledging ceremony.  In Burgos, the main attraction is the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation while in Bangui they will tour the famous Bamgui windmill farm. At Saud Beach, Pagudpud, lunch will be hosted by Mayor Maja Sales, then on to San Nicolas to visit the historic church of that town.

In the afternoon of Day 2, the caravan will motor to Batac to tour the Marcos Mausoleum, followed by dinner hosted by Governor Imee Marcos at the Malacañang of the North. On Day 3, AAP caravaners proceed to Paoay to either go sand-boarding and off-roading on the sand dunes or bird-watching at Paoay Lake. After hearing Mass at the parish church of St. Augustine in Paoay, the caravaners depart for Currimao and Herencia where they can shop for souvenirs and local products. After lunch, the caravan drives back to Manila.

For more information, call AAP at 655-5889, 0922-8901105 or 0917-8625562 and look for Alrose. Early bird registration, on or before November 14, costs P3,500 while the regular registration fee is P4,500.

The registration fee covers all meals, hotel accommodations, toll fees, handouts and entrance fees to museums and other tourist sites.