Team Out of Town Blog Hub (Outoftownblog.com) – With alert levels down in most parts and people going on road trips, AAP Travel will once more roll on a caravan to rediscover the historical, cultural, culinary, and countryside spots of Bulacan.
Set on March 27, the curated day tour is the second during the pandemic area to help tourism and local enterprises restart.
AAP Travel is the drive tourism arm of the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP), the country’s national auto club. Over the past 10 years, it has held a series of caravans and fly-drive caravans across the archipelago.
The tour’s first destination is The Garden City in Guiguinto town, dubbed as the country’s garden capital with the bounty of fruit-bearing and ornamental plants which will surely tickle the fancy of every “plantito” and “plantita”.
The next pit stop is Barasoain Church which hosted the 1898 Malolos Congress which gave birth to the First Philippine Republic and the Constitution.
Also within Malolos is “Kamestizuhan” or Calle Pariancillo, a heritage district within the town proper known for the colonial-era ancestral houses, many of which became offices of the cabinet of the newly-established Republic.
The caravan then swings to Baliwag for demonstrations of buntal hat weaving, traditional straw hat from fiber extracts from petioles of buri palm leaves, and the making of imbute or carabao bone inlay embedded in wooden furniture.
Itinerary also includes a running tour of the town’s heritage area whose centerpieces are the Mariano Ponce Museum and the Spanish-era baroque St Augustine Church.
Also to be visited is Bustos town’s Bahay at Yaman ni San Martin de Porres orphanage where participants will be serenaded by orphan children. The Instagrammable Ivatan-style houses and the stone church will transport guests to the idyllic island province of Batanes.
The tour’s last stop is the Bustos Dam and Eco-Park where native snacks will be served and a pop-up souvenir store will be set up. Built in 1926, the 79-meter rubber dam is the longest in Asia and the second largest in the world, it is a favorite stopover among road trippers, motorcycles, bicycle riders, and picnickers.
“AAP caravans are safe to join because the itinerary program is designed and coordinated with local government authorities and complies with prescribed health and safety protocols,” says AAP Travel president Mina Gabor.
The former tourism secretary added that participants drive their own vehicles. The tour’s destinations and elements are endorsed and pre-arranged with the Department of Tourism and local tourism offices.
She also revealed that more destinations are lined up this year to rediscover nearby provinces.
The caravan is supported by the Department of Tourism, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the local governments of Bulacan Province, Malolos City, and Municipality of Bustos, Mapfre Insurance, and Petron as official fuel partner.
For more information, log on to www.aaplakbay.wixsite.com/travel/bulacancaravan, aaplakbay.caravan@gmail.com or follow their Facebook page AAP Lakbay.
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