(This is part of my Ilocos Sur townhopping last June 15-16, 2013)
I first had an encounter with Santa during our school's Ilocos tour in 2009 (I wasn't a blogger, much more a backpacker, then). What made me like Santa then was the view it offers to the passersby from the bus' window : tall hills on one side of the road and the seacoast on the other side. Another thing which made me awed with Santa was a bridge spanning a river separating two mountains, where the river opens up to the South China Sea in the west. It was really a fantastic view! Later, I learned that this bridge is called Banaoang Bridge (also known as Quirino Bridge) and serves as the boundary between the towns of Santa and Bantay.
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| Banaoang Bridge (Quirino Bridge) |
A newer bridge was already built to replace Banaoang Bridge when it was partially destroyed by a storm in 2001. Though the old Banaoang Bridge was reconstructed, it is now seldom used and serves more of a tourist attraction. The bridge is best viewed from a viewing deck in Barrio Banaoang, Santa.
