On our 1st anniversary as a couple, we celebrated in Ilocos. That was the 7th of January. Its a year-long wait but we’ve just planned our itinerary weeks prior to our trip. There’re a lot of packages offered online. But we felt it’s better if we do DIY because just looking at their itin, it’s exhausting plus we want privacy.
It’s my second time there and Chi’s first. But it’s him who planned and created our itin.
We left Cubao January 7 at exactly 10pm on a deluxe bus bound to Laoag. We arrived there at 8:30am the next day, made a quick stop at fastfood chain to fuel ourselves up and at 9am rode another bus bound to Pagudpud.
P A G U D P U D
Soon as we hopped off the bus, we rode a tricycle going to our hotel. We stayed at Palm Grove Saud Holiday Complex Hotel. Thumbs up for this hotel, its clean, it has everything you wanted.👍 And it’s quite near the beach. Two thumbs up because they serve I think, the most delicious ilocano longganisa. 👍👍
Manong Romy our trike driver offered us a packaged “tourcycle” for both north and south Pagudpud. Chi, doesn’t have any contact with any tour guides there and Manong gave us a discount so we gladly agreed.
Kabigan Falls
At 1:30pm, we started our Pagudpud North Trip. 1st stop, Kabigan Falls. Just 1.8 kilometers from the national hi-way, it takes 30 minutes from jump-off. Easy, right? There is a 60php/person entrance fee and you will be assigned a guide going to the falls. To be honest, you actually don’t need a guide because the trail is easy to follow. But it’s a source of income for some of the locals and it’s nice to have someone who knows about the place + a photographer especially if you’re just a couple like us. The trek is super easy plus you will never get bored of the scenery, the fields the river and the trees, we look at in awe. Finally, we reached the falls. We took pictures and off we go.
💡 Tip: Bring another set of clothes + swimwear incase you want to take a dip. And sandals, I personally suggest the all terrain sandals because of some rough rocky and slippery terrain.
Patapat Viaduct
Next on the list is: Patapat Viaduct. Is a bridge that connects Cagayan and Ilocos. Very scenic, has mountain on one side and sea on the other. Perfect for photo ops. We’re lucky that there’re few tourists and are already leaving when we arrived so we have the whole bridge to ourselves. We took time taking pictures. Manong Romy was very happy to be our photographer and even directed us what pose and where to. Thing is, you have to be quick to run, you don’t wanna get hit by a running vehicle. There’s also a man-made falls, but its dried at that time.
Agua Grande
Next: Agua Grande. Nothing spectacular about this place. Just flowing water on big rocks is all. We took pictures and left. I think we only stayed there for good five minutes.
Timmangtang Rock Formation
Next stop: Timmangtang Rock Formation + Bantay Abot Cave. According to Manong Romy, Timmangtang and Bantay-Abot Cave are lovers and that Timmangtang is a male rock, and Bantay-Abot is a female rock. Timmangtang Rock, a bell-shaped rock formation. Manong Romy said we could climb it, but we decided against it, because there’s nothing much to see. We decided to go to Bantay-Abot Cave. We went down a concrete staircase into the beach and finally reaching the cave.
We went to Blue Lagoon but didn’t stay there for long because there’re a lot of people swimming and we were worried we wouldn’t be able to catch sunset in Saud. So we left, and it’s sad that we don’t even have any pictures.
Saud Beach
Last but not the least: Saud Beach. We asked Manong Romy to just take us back to the hotel since it’s just a few meters away from where we are staying. We quickly changed our clothes and head to Saud beach. It’s beautiful. The beach has a long stretch of fine sand, lined with coconut trees. The good thing about this beach is it is virgin. No entrance fees, no resorts. And it’s clean! Not a single trash. And I’m hoping it’ll stay that way. And so we went to a more private part of the beach and took pictures. I’m so glad we didn’t stay that long in Blue Lagoon, because we were able to witness sunset in Saud. It was breathtaking.. This will definitely not the last time we’ll be seeing it.
The next day, we got up at 6am. We started our South Pagudpud Trip at 8am. This time, we brought our bags with us because we’ll be heading to Laoag after.
Bangui Windmills
Bangui Windmills. Huge wind turbines towering the shore of Bangui. Did you know that these windmills generate 40% of electricity for the entire Ilocos? And according to Manong Romy, it caters the nearby provinces like Cagayan too. Amazing! Though it’s my second time here, I still look up to these gigantic turbines in awe. I still wonder what it feels like going up at the top.
Cape Bojeador Lighthouse
Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. A.K.A Burgos Lighthouse has been built, according to my research, for more than 100 years, and up to this day still fuctional, illuminating the South China sea and guiding ships that go to and from the Philippines. There’re a lot of people when we got there so taking pictures without a photobomber is a challege. There’s a mini museum showing the history of the lighthouse. I must say, we’re quite disappointed because the lantern room is restricted. I would’ve love to have pictures up there.
Kapurpurawan Rock Formation
Kapurpurawan Rock Formation. Derived from the ilocano root-word “puraw” meaning “white”, this creamy-colored limestone is definitely a sight to see. It’s been prohibited to go to near it so you have to just admire it from afar. There’s a long green rope with a sign “Bawal Pumasok” (Do not enter) setting as a boundary. We were able to go behind the big wall of rock though and there’s no sign that it’s prohibited. We took pictures and stopped only because the sun is scorching our skin already. Bad idea not to bring an umbrella. 😑
💡Tip: Bring sunblock, cause you will be exposed to sun 99% of the entire trip. A fan and umbrella.
And that ends our Pagudpud Tour. But I would be posting more of our Ilocos tour soon!
💲EXPENSES:
( 2 pax )
📍Bus fare to Laoag- 1960php
📌Trike to the market- 40.00
📍Trike to bus station- 25.00
📌Bus(non-ac) to Pagudpud- 80.00
📍Trike to hotel- 50.00 php
📌Tourcycle (North Pagudpud)- 600.00
📍Kabigan Falls entrance fee- 120.00
📌Agua Grande entrance fee- 40.00
📍Blue Lagoon entrance fee- 50.00
📌Tourcycle (Bangui Windmills)- 500.00
📍Tourcycle (Cape Bojeador+Kapurpurawan)- 300.00
📌Bangui Windmills entrance fee- free!
📍Burgos Lighthouse entrance fee- 20.00
📌Kapurpurawan entrance fee- 30.00
Hotel Accomodation:
🏨Palm Grove Saud Holiday Complex Hotel
1,529php for 2d/1n with free breakfast, availed at Agoda.com
P.S.
I didn’t include the food expense, because we mostly ate longganisa. 😝
Our Adventure Book 