Monday, March 30, 2015

Visiting a Grape Farm in La Union

I had this memory back when I was a child. I was travelling to La Union to spend the summer vacation, and when the bus passed by a certain town in La Union, bus passengers went crazy, trying to grab grapes from the road (those were the days when ordinary non-airconditioned buses were abundant). I always knew this province used to grow grapes, but for certain reasons, planting grapes mellowed down (though there are still a few farms planting grapes) and farmers focused more on different crops - tobacco, rice, and corn.

About a few years ago, I heard that the town of Bauang started growing grapes, but even if I planned to check out the farm and see other fruit plantations (the town is also known for growing guapple - guava the size of apples - and dragonfruit), but I just didn't know how. Thankfully, when my mom and I traveled to La Union early March in time for dad's death anniversary, my sister sent me a text message, with someone's mobile number - someone who is working at a grape farm.

Her name is Liezl, and she responded to my message right away. After visiting daddy's grave, we went for a quick lunch and took a bus going to Bauang.



Liezl wasn't available the time we reached the farm, but her husband showed us the way to the farm. It wasn't a very big farm, but enough to make one go "wow!" {more after the jump}