Museo Iloco, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

WHERE: Museo Iloco, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
DATE OF TRAVEL: September 21-23, 2007
WHY YOU SHOULD GO:
1) The museum provides a window into the culture of the people in the Ilocos region.
2) It showcases an ancestral house that you can enter inside the museum.
3) The museum has a section to house featured exhibits. For the latest featured exhibit, visit http://www.museoilocosnorte.com.

DESCRIPTION:
The Museo Iloco structure used to be a Tabacalera tobacco building built in 1878. The structure was converted into a museum in 1999 with the aim to become a repository of GAMENG (meaning treasure), the vast cultural heritage of the people of Ilocos Norte. It is to provide a sense of pride and awareness to the people of Ilocos Norte by showcasing their legacy and ancestry.

The Museum houses various exhibits on the Ilocos region including a life size furnished ancestral home that visitors can enter and roam around in. Other exhibits showcase the Abel Iloco (Ilocos Textile and Weaving), Baskets, Farms, Markets and Commerce, Musical Instruments, Theater and more.

All in all, I think this is a good museum to visit. You will definitely learn a lot about the people (Ilocanos, Yapayaos, Isnegs and Igorots) in Ilocos Norte and have some fun at the same time.

HOW TO GET THERE:
You can fly from Manila-Laoag via Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific fly to Laoag daily.

You can also take a bus to Laoag (Ilocos Norte). Fariñas Transit, Partas, RCJ, Philippine Rabbit, Maria de Leon and Florida ply Manila-Ilocos Norte and vice versa regularly. There are airconditioned buses that leave from Manila to Laoag. For a list of buses, click this.

If you're coming from Manila by private vehicle, head to NLEX and SCTEX, exit at Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac and follow the National Highway all the way to Ilocos. Once in Laoag, ask around where Museo Iloco is.

CONTACTS:
Museo Iloco
Gen. Luna corner Llanes Streets, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines 2900
(+63-77) 770-4587
(+63-77) 770-3836