Across Sierra Madre (Palanan - The Hidden Gem of Isabela) Part 1

This morning Facebook reminded me that one year ago, some of my workmates and I flew across the Sierra Madre Mountain range just to visit the well hidden paradise of Palanan. Palanan is among the four remote municipalities in Isabela separated from the rest of the province by Sierra Madre. According to Wikipedia, it would take you a multiple days to trek the mountains and reach Palanan and its neighboring municipalities. Palanan is also known as the town where General Emilio Aguinaldo was captured in 1901.

Our adventure started when a former workmate invited us (or rather we begged her to take us) to her hometown in Palanan. Since I was then based in Cauayan, Isabela at that time, booking our flight via Cyclone Air was easy. The fare was at P3000 round trip for a min of 5 passengers (barkada package). This was in March 2018.

We arrived at Cyclone Air's office at 6:00 in the morning packed with not more than 5 kilos of luggage per person. The person in charge of checking in passengers would weigh you (literally you would step on a huge weighing scale along with your bags) so that the plane would not be overloaded. The aircraft was small, good for 5 passengers and 1 for the pilot. I was dead nervous, I never rode a plane that small before. But my companions were all too excited.

(Our ride to Palanan)

The plane ride was short, about 20 to 25 minutes only. The pilot was an Indian national who was probably a graduate of Cyclone Air's own pilot school. I can hardly hear my own voice when the propeller started to roll and within minutes we were flying. I could not stop looking out the window. The view was just majestic, I have no words to describe what I felt at that time. 

Then it was time to land in Palanan. I can already see the rice fields from above. And the river, you can tell how clean it was even if we were still aboard the airplane. 

After landing, we waited for our bags and walked around the small town center. 

We also dropped by the house where Emilio Aguinaldo lived when he made Palanan his hideout during the war. 

In honor of  Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo

As we walked around town, it was noticeable that only motorcycles and tricycles were present. According to my office mate, it was hard to bring any 4 wheeled vehicle because the journey would be long and expensive (boat via Aurora Province). There were also a few general merchandise stores, groceries and local food shops in the town center. 

 Parish Church in Palanan

After a few blocks, we arrived in the next leg of our trip: en route to the sea side of Palanan. To get to my office mate's house we need to ride a motorized banca for about 2 hours and a half. It would cross the Palanan river then venture out into the open sea! (Please take note that there are no hotels in Palanan yet).

All aboard! (with Mike, Cathy and Marvie- our gracious host)

Motorized bancas are ready to take you to the other side of Palanan

We went there during Holy Week and spent a total of five days (should be four but we got bumped off our original flight schedule). My office mate's  house was situated in the border of Isabela and Aurora. The boat ride was fun (when we were cruising Palanan River) but got a bit scary when we were out in the open water. I was not able to take any pictures during the ride because we stuffed all our phones inside our bags and the bags were wrapped in huge plastic covers to avoid getting wet. After almost 2 hours, we finally arrived in barangay Dicotcotan. 

We made it!

Next week, will blog about the things we did in Palanan. 

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