It was one of those sparks of the moment when we decided to go to La Union (colloquially known as “Elyu”) without too much planning—no hotels, no itinerary, just go! At the back of my mind, it was a recipe for a disaster, so I can’t say things didn’t go as planned.
We didn’t really go without a plan as we really tried to put a decent itinerary, but it’s quite a challenge when you know nothing about the place you’re visiting, and most of the hotels that you see in booking apps have bad reviews, or prohibitively expensive. So, we just decided to go and test our luck in finding a room—or go home at the end of the day! It was already the peak season.
I didn’t realize that La Union, San Juan in particular is further north than Baguio so the trip was quite long. It was around 3PM when we arrived and we were famished! I was glad that there were so many food choices where we alighted so eating was our first agenda. Even that late, the food places were packed so our decision was solely based on where we can have a table. Nothing worth mentioning about our meal but it was quite affordable considering the location.
Afterwards, we crossed the road towards what appeared to be a road leading to the beach. There were numerous hotels along this path so we decided to take it. It led to an outpost where you’re asked to pay environmental fees, etc. to pass through. After paying the “toll,” we started asking for vacancies in just about every hotel we passed by—no luck. Finally, we considered going back by the road to check the hotels there. We were prepared to go back to Manila in case we didn’t find anywhere to stay, and buses going back to Cubao (even those bound for Baguio) pass along the highway so it was quite easy to commute back. But it seemed that we were destined to stay much longer as we luckily found a simple room just along the highway pretty much across where we alighted. The property was still not completed at the time and it was on the third floor of an inconspicuous building that’s probably why it escaped the sight of other tourists. The room we got was just a room with a restroom, aircon, and a mattress—and that’s all we needed. The price was quite reasonable too and has a view of the beach so we took it.
After securing our place for the night, we started exploring the beachfront. As expected, there were so many people at the beach. There were also a lot of booths offering surf lessons, and there were quite a lot of people availing them. I finally understood why San Juan is a good surfing spot for beginners—the beach remained shallow even if you’re some distance from the shore, and there are waves of varying height.
It was quite a long beach so we just find a spot where we could enjoy the sunset. Some parts were quite rocky, and there are spots where the nice is nice and there weren’t as many people around.
We were off to explore again after sunset, this time to find dinner. One of the most pleasant surprises of San Juan for me, as we discovered, were the numerous food places you can visit. Aside from being a surfing paradise, I can safely say San Juan is also a foodie heaven! You have a variety of food to choose from, from the simple street food, to some fancy Instagram-worthy place. They have the most food parks of any place I’ve ever seen.
I guess sometimes you really have to “try” even if the odds don’t look that favorable. And by “try” I mean “do” even if you don’t have guaranteed success. Had we not found any rooms, we still got to explore “Elyu.” But since luck was on our side, we got to stay longer.
Elyu Chronicles
runningpinoy 