LUNA, LA UNION

The Baluarte, Pebble Beach and the Apo Baket Namacpacan church. These are the points of interest in Luna, La Union, Philippines.

BALUARTE
Historically, these ruined watch towers are found all over the Philippines by the beach usually. Intended to guard a particular area from attacks of the enemy during Spanish colonialism. And these towers in Luna are no different.

We found this ruin of an old Spanish watch tower in Brgy Victoria. The tower's foundation has been damaged from the receding coastline. Breaking the tower in half which gives an interesting appearance.

PEBBLE BEACH
As the name implies, this beach literally is covered with pebbles.

It was a surprise for me. Actually, if you look closer to the peebles, they have the colors of the rainbow.

Unfortunately, as beautiful as it maybe, folks of Luna made it as their source of income. Collecting them to sell. And it's done over the years up to the present. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, they are depleting their beach on its protection. I strongly believe that any extraction of natural resources in a place like this will have bad impacts on the environment. If they instead turn this into eco-tourism, it's far more beneficial for everyone in Luna for sure. The pebbles are beautiful.

Where is this Baluarte and the Pebble Beach?
From Luna town proper, go to Valdez Street near St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish. It's just a few meters away. Ask the locals if you get lost.

LUNA CHURCH
This is a pilgrimage town. The Apo Baket Namacpacan, a miraculous wooden Marian image is enshrined in the town's church.

LUNA CEMETERY
Because this cemetery was overrunned by Cadena de Amor vines, the landscape look so beautiful in pictures.

LUNA
This is "The Pebble Capital of the Philippines". About 7 hours by car from Manila.

I have not heard or have read anything of this town Luna prior to this visit. It was just a chance that we discovered this really interesting town. We were at San Juan attending the Surf Break Festival when we decided to drive to its neighboring towns to see some churches. We then found out from a Luna police of whom we asked, that there's a ruined watch tower by the beach. And that beach happened to be another interesting place to see.

Police Escort
This local police who have mentioned about the ruined tower, instead of just giving as the directions to the tower, he offered to escort us to the tower himself. Such a nice guy!

Our good police escort, PO2 Obillo, 2014

He also mentioned about a falls, which we never found due to time constraints. We tried to find it and drove for about an hour but then turned back as it gotten late in the afternoon.

💛Thank You💛

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