The Watchtower of La Union

Locals in La Union living in the coastline are usually fishermen. Early in the morning you can see them already selling their catch at the beach. It's very amusing to watch the everyday lives of the locals. You get to learn their culture and somehow understand their life.

Since La Union is a province in the sea, the place has some encountered with pirates in the past. Our ancestors built a watchtower in the town of Luna to which is used as a vantage point to look-out for pirates.

From San Fernando, the capital city of La Union, it will take an hour ride to get to Luna. The drop-off point to Luna by jeeps and buses are at the Church. From the church, you may ride a tricycle to bring you to the watchtower. You may ask the tricycle driver to wait for you because tricycle seldom goes to the place.

The watchtower is also known as the Baluarte however the sad thing is the locals are not familiar about the watchtower. We have asked some locals on how we can get to the place and they all said that they don't know about the watchtower. It's only when you get to the town of Luna where locals can give you directions to reach the watchtower.

The watchtower is situated just near the beach. There are also some houses built near the watchtower. It is very evident that the watchtower is a very old structure. Since the watchtower is on a public place, it has been neglected. There are a lot of trashes inside and outside the structure of the watchtower. 

Aside from the watchtower, the beach has beautiful colored pebbles. Locals sell the pebbles in a transparent bottle that cost for P30-50.00. Below are other pictures of the watchtower or Baluarte.

The Temple in La Union

The trip to La Union was a bit unexpected. It was supposed to be a trip to Singapore but flights got cancelled so me and my friend just decided to go to Thunderbird Poro Point. A few weeks before the trip we thought to visit other places in La Union since we are already there.

There are only few place to visit in La Union. The province is popular as a place for surfing. Most of the resorts offer surfing lesson. Aside from surfing, one of the places people visit in La Union is the Macho Temple.

The temple was built in 1975 and can be found in San Fernando, La Union. The temple is towering high in the highway that it can be easily seen however its gate is just small that you might not notice its entrance. The place has also a magnificent view of the sea.

The temple is decorated with ancient Chinese arts. The whole place is brightly colored by red and green. The place is visited not only by worshipers but also people of other religion like Catholics and Christians. Visitors can also offer incense and say their worship.

Outside the temple are deities carved in stones. When you go up, there you can see the sculpture of Kuan Yi Ma, the God of Mercy.

Below are other pictures of the Macho Temple.