Cagayan, Palaui Island and Isabela 4 Day Trip – Itinerary, Travel Guide and Expenses

I have always wanted to go to Palaui. I have been invited to or initiated three different trips every year since 2011, with one group, we even bought our plane tickets already, but decided to cancel since there was a typhoon in Cagayan exactly on the dates of our trip. Finally, last 2014 (yes, this is a super late post!), we made this happen!A friend and I were talking a couple of months ago on how it would be nice if we went to Palaui, and some time in November, my friend called me again,  “Oi, tuloy na natin Palaui natin, holiday next week oh” and the rest is history.

Beautiful Churches That You Must See in Isabela Province

After we accomplished our main goal of visiting Palaui Island, my companions left for Manila, and because I still had one day vacation leave left, I took this as an opportunity to see Cagayan’s neighboring province, Isabela. It’s probably one of the provinces in Luzon least visited by bloggers and travelers that’s why there’s only scarce information available even on the World Wide Web. If you have been following my posts recently, you would know that I have developed a fascination with old colonial churches, and because I have limited time and money left :( I though this activity would exactly fit the bill.

Bawal ang Sawi sa Palaui! (Island Homestay and Views at Cape Engaño)

Everybody has been raving about Batanes, and I have no doubt that the place is majestic. But with only one airline carrier dominating the sales for this route, it’s a no-brainer that the price of tickets are skyrocket high. In recent years, a certain island became talk of the town for having similar heavenly views, and even though it is also located way up North, the province is reachable by bus or plane. After convincing some friends to finally put this plan into motion, we were off to an 11-hour bus ride to Cagayan to finally see what everybody has been talking about.

Tayo na’t magpagulong gulong sa Palaui Island!

Old Beautiful Churches of Cagayan

I wasn’t a big fan of visiting churches whenever I go on trips around the country, I ONLY thought of churches as a sacred house and things such as taking pictures and talking non-religious stuff would be an act of disrespect, but this changed when I visited Cagayan. We were a bit constricted when looking for things to do in the province since most involved extreme activities like cave spelunking (we were able to go to Callao Cave though, because it was endorsed to be safe for beginners, and indeed it was) and we were with my friends’ parents so we wanted to keep the whole trip light yet still enjoyable as possible, thus we decided to visit several churches located around the different parts of the province. I am glad we did this because I finally found appreciation for the magnificent artistry and history that these churches possess.

More Superb Sights in Cagayan: Anguib Beach and Crocodile Island

We went to Cagayan during the rainy season, but it did not stop us from going to Palaui Island. However, before even reaching our main destination, we decided to take a layover to some of the province’s notable beaches. There are actually quite a few, but some require longer travel time and extended time with our boatman such as Mapurao and Nangaramoan will add up on our transportation costs, both we cannot afford at that time. So we decided with two places that fit our budget and schedule.

Inside Cagayan’s Callao Cave

The weather was threatening us not to push through with our trip to Cagayan. A few days before our trip, I have watched out for forecasts but it will tell me of a predicted typhoon. I kept on checking with my travel buddies whether we should still push through, since our top priority was to see Palaui Island, and yet everyone was optimistic which helped me keep my hopes up. It was an 11-hour drizzly bus ride with Florida Bus, we still chose this bus provider despite having been suspended and started operation a couple of days before. I was just glad that I was traveling with a big group, and a cool one at that.

the famous "postcard view" of Callao Cave