Pagudpud

Second Leg - The Northern Region Exciting Activities

Sunday October 28, 2007. Everybody woke up early. This was the second leg of our eight days "Northern Region Exciting Activities" tour. We left at 7:30 AM from our Apartelle in Baguio heading up to the northern tip of the Philippines. Pagudpud was our final stop for today. From Baguio it took an hour and a half drive, passing the zigzag of Naguillan Road, to San Fernando La Union. At San Fernando we had a quick stop for fuel. Since we are using Petron product, hubby have to look for Petron Gas Station. It’s funny that there was this two Petron Gas Stations literally facing each other on opposite side of the road. Gas attendant told me that the one at their front was actually their competitor. I gave them my SM plus card for our diesoline but my hubby told me that its not accepted and told me that they don’t even have SM here at La Union. First welcome marker I saw from San Fernando, La Union was the town of Balaoan a typical quiet town along the national road. There were few people out in the street not only because it was early but it was also Sunday. Next was the town of Bangar. Without that welcome arch, I can hardly distinguish this with the earlier town. We entered Sudipen, I think was the last town of La Union before Ilocos Sur.

Kids were quiet. My hubby, who never runs out of funny story to tell during the entire travel, was our driver since day one. I like it when my husband talks to us while he drives because it means we were running an average of 80 to 90 Kph. But when he keeps quiet and concentrate on his driving, I better buckle up, I’m sure we would be cruising on 120 Kph and above. Though I am much confident with his driving skills.

Our eldest son, seated in front, was busy sending SMS messages to his college classmates. My second daughter who was seated beside me on the middle seat row of the van was preoccupied with her Ipod video. My youngest daughter was half asleep at the back seat row with her Lola. Too tired maybe of last night biking at Burnham Park.

I could have missed naming some of the towns of La Union province since I was too busy taking pictures with my Sony Cybershot. Before we left Baguio for Pagudpud, we agreed that we will not stop for any “photo ops” along the way. If pictures have to be taken it has to be done inside the van or on our way back from Pagudpud to Vigan which was the third leg of our trip. My Mom can’t help it; she really asked my hubby to stop driving so we can all get out of the van and have our pictures taken at the Ilocos Sur Welcome Arch. First town I saw of Ilocos Sur was Tagudin, next was Santa Lucia, Candon Town is much progressive compare to the earlier two. From time to time we can see from our left side long lines of beaches and I would busy myself taking pictures on most everything including weird looking tricycle. On most sides of the road, Yellow belle’s plants were lined up. Next town was Narvacan and was followed by the town of Santa,

There was this nice old long steel bridge, crossing a wide water outlet near the sea. The steel bridge was like 400 meters in length with 4 spans, supported with 3 or 4 big pillars. Blue colored water below was placid. I tell you, you wouldn’t think that you are in Philippines, it was so nice! Small zigzag road approaching the bridge was lined up with lamp post. On our left we can see the oceans waves kissing the beaches from a far. Equally beautiful was on our right, were this wide body of water outlet with green covered mountains as its backdrop. In front of us was a long narrow steel bridge. If I remember it right, this was in the towns of Santa before reaching the city of Vigan.

Few kilometers from the city of Vigan, we can see billboards of Max, Jolibee and Mc Donald littered on both side of the road. After three and a half hours (3½) drive from Baguio, we reached the City of Vigan at 11:00 AM. Since we were just passing thru Vigan and we will cover this City on the third leg of our northern region tour, the kids asked their Dad how many hours more to Laoag City and hubby told them that it would be for another two hours, my two grade school daughters were all excited to dip in the beach of Pagudpud we decided to take our lunch at Laoag City and not to waste time going inside Vigan City proper.

Vigan to Laoag was another 80 kilometers point to point distance as indicated by our Garmin GPS installed in front of the van. This GPS was so helpful, it tells us the direction, the remaining distance and the approximate travel time from one town to another base on our current cruising speed. Using Google Earth updated version, hubby was able to get the UTM coordinates of all major town and city along our route and entered it as a way point in our GPS.

Next town of Ilocos Sur from Vigan was Magsingal, then San Juan town, followed by the town of Cabugao. In Cabugao we had stopped at an old big church for another “Photo Ops”. Next town along the national road if I remember it right and also was the last town of Ilocos Sur was Sinait. This is where our small garlic came from, which common in local market. It says on their welcome arch as the garlic capital of the Philippines.

Our third stop for “photo ops” was at the welcome arch at the High way boundary of Ilocos Norte, the Marcos Country. Since it was our entire first trip here in this region, and my Mom being a certified Imelda fan (She was a barrio mate of Imelda from Leyte) and have high esteemed for the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, she was very excited. You would not believe it but she took a quick change of her t-shirt and changes it to her blouse at the back of the van. She told us she want to look good on her picture at Apo Lakay’s (Marcos) place

Now we were a foot step away from Ilocos Norte. One thing I noticed was the location of a permanent police check point at the welcome arch of Ilocos Norte. Though we have passed many check point from La Union to this far, I found it not a welcoming site and leaving an impression that something not ordinary was going on. But then it was just an impression since all the way to Laoag city we enjoyed our drive. Except for few portions whose one lane is under repair, roads were all well paved. I found the province very clean. The kids were not bored during the entire trip especially my youngest daughter who never runs out of “What is this?” and “What is that?”

First town of Ilocos Norte was Badoc, home town of Juan Luna. A direction pointing to the shrine of Juan Luna was insight, but we have skipped it since we will spend time here in Badoc on our way back as part of the third leg of our northern region travel. Next was the quiet town of Pinili, then the late Ferdinand Marcos’ town of Batac. In Batac I saw a sign board pointing to Paoay and the famous La Paz sand dunes, where the late FPJ did some of his movies. The old house of the Marcos’s was on sight but we opted to skip it. Will cover this on our way back. The idea was to be in Pagudpud as early as possible so kids can enjoy the beaches at Saud. My hubby was told by one of his officemate that we should not travel late going to Pagudpud since most roads after Bacarra (Next town to Laoag) were deserted. San Nicolas was the next town to Batac, it’s like an extension of Batac you can hardly tell their boundaries. Laoag City and San Nicolas was bounded only by a river

Two hours after we left Vigan; we saw Laoag City’s welcome sign at the foot of a modern bridge. Just after the bridge on your left you will see a big plaza fronting the Ilocos Norte Capitol Building. On our right was the Laoag Sinking Bell Tower. At 1:00 in the afternoon, we were at Laoag City looking for place to eat. After a quick meal at Mc Donald’s we were on our way to Pagudpud. Powered by “red bull” energy drink, my hubby has no problem with the long drive. Beside, it was a leisure drive; you won’t get bored looking at the scenery along the way. You’ll see old houses, rice paddies, old bridges, roads lined up with yellow bells plant.

Bacarra was the last big town going to Pagudpud. Next to it was the costal town of Pasuquin, famous for its iodized salt. For sale Iodized salt in big plastic bags lined up the highway. If one has the luxury of time, they can even stop by and see how iodized salt is processed. The roads were lined up with coconut trees. On our left was the scenic view of South China Sea and on our right were Cagayan Valley and Cordillera mountain range. After Pasuquin was the town of Burgos, famous for its 18th century light house. This light house still operational, had stood the test of time and have serve hundreds of sea travelers. You will find it on right side of the road and is beaming on the vast South China Sea. Next we reached the welcome marker of another costal town of Bangui. This costal town is the only one in South East Asia with Windmills as their source of local electric power.

One worry we had was our fuel. We did not filled up diesoline at Loag thinking that Petron gas station is lined up along the way. It turns out that the only petrol stations from Pasuquin to Burgos Town were Flying-V and they were selling Bio-diesel only. Though my hubby was confident that our fuel is enough to bring us back from Pagudpud to Laoag on our way back. Before entering Town of Bangui, we saw markers of Petron Gas Station; it was a sign of relief. At the town proper was small Petron Gas Station where we filled up our van. From Bangui, heading our way to Pagudpud the windmills can be seen on the left side of the road, there were 10 windmills as my youngest daughter have counted. Few more minutes and we saw the welcome arch of Pagudpud Town; kids were all awake and busy looking for sign of Apo Idon Beach Hotel. You won’t be lost at Pagudpud, though the town proper was not along the national highway, you will never miss the marker with the big shell. We turn left and after few hundred of meters we were at the town proper. We just asked for direction to those ever helpful tricycle driver. Saud beach were lined up with many resort there was no trouble in finding Apo Idon.

After more than 7 hours of leisure ride from our Apartelle at Baguio City we finally reached Pagudpud. At 3:00 PM We were at the reception counter of Apo Idon Beach Hotel. The place was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Romero, a young couple who was very friendly and made sure our stay is comfortable. Their staffs were all very friendly and are always ready to help us. October was a lean season, but not like what I have though, there were more guest at Apo Idon than I have expected. Next to me at the reception, was a group of Elders, “Balikbayans” I thought, asking also for their reserved room. Seated near the hammock, fronting the beach was a foreigner looking couple enjoying the site and sound of the sea. On our way to our room, we passed by the swimming pool were a young family with their 3 kids dipping on the pool. Their eldest probably at the same age with my youngest grade 1 daughter. Who would have missed Koreans? Of course, a group of Koreans were at the restaurant enjoying a lazy afternoon.

Apo Idon is in between Terra Rika and Villamar Resort, parking was a challenge at the resort.

Just right after placing our bags, the kids had change into their swimsuits and was ready for a quick swim at the beach. As a good safety measure, hubby and I were always with the kids while swimming at the beach. Seven hours of travel were all worth it. Crystal blue water, golden white sand, quiet, secluded and romantic place, what else can you ask for, it was a perfect family quality time. An hour past and I have to asked the kids to grab their things and get back to the hotel. We were at Apo Idon's pool when night started to set in.

At 7:30 evening, the dinner I had requested earlier was ready at the hotel’s restaurant. Food was good enough but with very few selections. The beach was a stone throw away from the hotel’s restaurant. You can hear the splashing of waves while savoring the taste of “Bagnet” (local delicacy) being melted in your mouth. Bottled water is much expensive than a litter of diesel, good thing we have bought bottled water at Laoag and they let us bring it in our table with no extra charge. My hubby told me that was the reason he was drinking beer instead of water, but I thought otherwise. It was a quiet night; air was not humid so we enjoyed staying in front of the beach just outside the restaurant, with my two daughters alternating on the hammock with their kuya giving them the push. "Lonely Planet" has a very good reason in choosing Apo Idon. Pipe in music was playing a light jazz at the restaurant, it was almost 10:00 in the evening when we went up to our rooms and call it a day. End of day three, to be continue.........