BOLINAO at the tip of the Pangasinan peninsula on Lingayen Gulf is sufficiently far from the madding crowd for one to get lost in the beauty and solitude of nature. Yet it is near enough (some 280 kilometers and four-and-a-half hours by car) to reach in a weekend trip on good roads from Manila.

Which is exactly what we did to welcome the New Year, far from the suffocating fumes of firecrackers and fireworks, as has been our habit for the past decade.

One can take an air-conditioned bus for a six-hour trip (Victory Liner, P340; Five Star, P297; Dagupan Bus, P247) to Bolinao, but the ideal way is, of course, by private vehicle so one has the leeway to stop along the way at points of interest.

The shortest route bypassing Dagupan is this: Take the North Expressway to Dau, go on to the MacArthur Highway passing Tarlac City, and stop for breakfast at the ultra-modern Luisita Mall, which has all the known outlets from Jollibee to Pancake House to choose from.

From Tarlac City, take the route that goes to Camiling, Tarlac, which leads to the Pangasinan rice flatlands of Mangatarem, Aguilar, Bugallon, Samat, Lingayen, Labrador, Sual, Alaminos, Pogo, and Bani, with its dozens of unpainted Spanish-vintage homes.

And then the terrain turns hilly, and one finally reaches Bolinao.

Along the highway on Sual stands the Countryside Diner (075-5482005). It is ideal for a lunch stop because it serves good, clean and inexpensive meals.

One can take one’s pick from chopsuey with ampalaya, young corn, snow peas and broccoli for P60; beef with mushroom and young corn, P70; sweet-sour pork, P70; steamed lapu lapu, P60 per 100 grams; lechon kawali, P65; bistek tagalog, P65; daing na bangus, P85; beef tenderloin with mushroom and onions cooked in red wine, P120; and minute steak, P130.

It has clean bathrooms, running water, soft toilet paper, and toilets that flush.

The trip from Sual to Bolinao takes around 20 minutes, and the town’s most prominent landmark is an old church dating back to 1609, which doubled up as a fortress in the Spanish era.

One only has to ask for directions to get to Patar White Beach, and will easily reach a coastal road of more than 10 kilometers of white beach.

For accommodations, one can choose from a handful of beachfront resorts the oldest and most comfortable of which is the Dutch Beach Resort operated by Dutch expatriate F.C. Westbrock.

The resort offers air-conditioned rooms that can each accommodate six, with a private bath and refrigerator, for P1,600 a night. It also has a restaurant and spacious verandas. Reservations may be made in Bolinao (0063-075-5543392) or in the Netherlands (0031-0-36-5373652 or 5378080).

Apparently, the 15-room resort has become a favorite of movie production outfits shooting bold films that require a beautiful beach without too many onlookers.

We settled for the more rustic, less expensive Coco Beach (cell phone 0918-3808953, open 2-7 p.m. daily), which offers native huts along the beach, each good for four persons. The rate in the off-season is P600 a night, and in the summer, P1,000.

There are common shower and toilet facilities, and the operators, Sidney Tombaga and family, go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. There is no restaurant, but they can cook for you or allow you to cook using their facilities.

The best thing about going off-season is that one has the beach and the resort practically to oneself. The white sand is actually a coarse light yellow, the waters are clear. And the waves are wild, brought about at this time of year by the habagat or west monsoon.

One can actually walk on the beach to the tip of the island, where the Patar White Beach is the most popular (it gets filled up with guests during Holy Week). Here, the surf is wilder as it hits the boulders along the shore. The landmark is the old lighthouse that stands on a hill.

Time flies as one sits on the beach or in one of the many open huts to watch the waves roll in and the coconut trees swaying in the breeze. At night, snuggled in bed under the clear sky, one is lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves and the strong wind blowing vigorously on the sides of the hut.