Pagudpud - Ilocos Norte

 

Ingredients: 

your own car, or plane ride, or bus ride
tricycle

Cooking Time: 

• Going to Pagudpud by Plane via Laoag or Vigan - then from either of the 2 cities, take a bus to Pagudpud (from Laoag roughly 2 hr-bus ride; from Vigan roughly 3-4 hr-bus ride)

• When we visited Pagudpud, our route was from Tuguegarao (following our Callao Cave trip). If you are coming from Tuguegarao, take a bus going to Laoag or Vigan, it passes through Pagudpud just let the driver know to drop you off at Baduang market - roughly 4-6 hr.-ride.

• People from Manila normally go for a road trip going to Ilocos Norte - fastest travel time by car to Pagudpud (and by fastest we mean, no stop overs) is 10 hours. Roughly 12-15 hours with stop overs (still dependent on how long your stop overs are.) 

Nutritional Facts:
If you plan to visit Pagudpud,you might want to add in your itinerary Laoag and Vigan, since the geographical location of these 3 cities in Ilocos are pretty much right after the other - so it's not difficult to connect the 3 since it would only take a few hour-bus ride to get from 1 city to another - the more if you plan to bring your car in this trip.

The gigantic windmills that power the entire Ilocos.  I know, photos of Bangui windmills are all over the place now - - perhaps the entire "traveling to Ilocos" idea is.  Like, you see photos of people next to the Bangui windmills here and there.  But you can't really blame them.  I mean, once you're there you can't help but capture the moment - which then becomes one of 'em overhyped windmill photos on Facebook.. hehe. 

The windmills are facing the South China Sea where the strong winds are coming from.  So, you can imagine the enormous force of nature that one must endure just to get one solid shot of these gigantic Ilocos windmills! 

White Rock Formation - Kapurpurawan Rock formation: from the main entrance, you would have to hike for about 20 mins. to get to the shore line and be right next to this wonderful rock formation. Mind you, the hiking experience is you walking with no trees or whatsoever to cover you from the burning heat of the sun. Our bad, we checked this place out at high noon - drop by the place perhaps anytime in the morning, Up close, it is a dazzling bright white rock that sparkles in the sun, creating its magnificent, crystal white color.

Oh yes... our favorite, Lobsters! And yes, lobsters are expensive but not in Pagudpud. We enjoyed a kilo of lobsters for just 200 Philippine pesos. .. burp!

There are several places to see in Pagudpud and locals are making it a point to maintain the cleanliness of the place that's why some tourist attractions require an entrance fee.

Visiting Pagudpud and its must see spots is easy with the help of its local traysi drivers.  The moment they spot tourists, they will offer "traysi driver tour guide" with 2 tour packages - North and South of Pagudpud.  Having both tours would cost Php1,200 but since we were lucky and had the nicest traysi tour guide - Kuya Nelson - we were able to get both tours (with a bit of haggling of course) just for Php 800.

I know!  Just don't mind the jump shot.. haha!  This is the oh so famous Patapat viaduct.

 

Cafe Bojeador Lighthouse - the lighthouse was closed when we got there.  So we decided to take a few photos outside the lighthouse and had a hard time taking photos for we lost 1 of our tripod's locks.

Aside from the must see spots, Pagudpud is well-known for its beach.  The most popular and recommended beach in Pagudpud is Saud.  You may choose from several resorts along Saud beach.  We stayed at Polaris beach resort.  There are far better resorts in Saud but staying in Polaris is recommended for those who are on a tight budget since their accommodation is less expensive compared to others.  Their service is not bad at all.  The entire staff was accomodating during our entire stay in Polaris.  

By the way, if you love to swipe, sorry but they do not accept credit card payments.  Always stock up on cash as Pagudpud is still considered as a rural area. 

Ilocos' cornick

While enjoying the night with a few booze, we spotted a talangka! The talangka deserves some photo op and this one was kind enough to allow us to take some pictures.  Smile!

On our last day in Pagudpud when we decided to take a swim before leaving, it suddenly rained.  Apparently, there was a typhoon but we were so itching to take a dip before checking out.  So we once again fought with the force of nature and still went for a swim - the waves were strong and 3-feet high.  The water rushed away from the shore, then comes back to higher levels.  We were afraid of course, that's why we were just swimming along the shoreline. After Pagudpud, we headed off to Laoag City.