The church at Paoay looks like it is built to withstand a siege, and in a way it is. San Agustin stands on a flat stretch of Ilocos Norte, in the northwest corner of Luzon, and its sides are propped by enormous stepped buttresses, as massive as bastions, that march along the flanks like the legs of a great animal. The Augustinian friars who built it between about 1694 and 1710 were working in earthquake country, and the buttresses were their answer. The walls are coral stone and brick, laid in thick layers and held with a mortar that, according to local lore, included sugar cane juice and egg white. The result is a heavy, dark, strangely beautiful church that belongs to the family of Baroque Churches of the Philippines, listed by UNESCO in 1993.
The bell tower stands apart, a few metres from the church, and its separation was also a safety measure, so that a falling tower would not crush the nave. It rises in tiers of coral stone, and during the Philippine Revolution and later the Second World War it served as a lookout. The facade is more earthbound than elegant, with a mixture of Baroque, Gothic and Asian motifs, and the odd carved flourish near the base.
The road here is a quiet coastal plain, and a good riding area. Highways in Ilocos are straight and flat, running between rice fields, tobacco plots, salt pans and sandy stretches, with the Cordillera on one side and the South China Sea on the other. Near Paoay, a small lake spreads behind the town, and beyond it, to the west, are the sand dunes of La Paz, where the film industry sometimes shoots desert scenes. Hot, dry winds blow most of the year, and from July to October typhoons can arrive.
The nearby city of Batac is the home of Ilocano empanada, a crisp orange pastry filled with grated papaya, egg and sausage, fried on the spot. Eat one as soon as it comes out. Laoag, the provincial capital, is about twenty kilometres north and has all the fuel and supplies a rider needs, and Paoay itself has a few stations. The best months are November to February, when the air is cooler and drier. Mass is held on weekends, and visitors should dress modestly.