Summer Break Flashback Part 2: The Road to Pagudpud

Well as you could imagine during a 14 hour road trip to Pagudpud there are probably going to be a lot of things to see... most of which is traffic. However, once you get further up north and more along the coast just around the corner the view gets a whole lot better.



Some shorelines along the way looked better than the ones I’ve had to pay for in Batangas.





Like this stretch of beach some places had little tide pools where if you had a net you could stock up your salt water aquarium.



This is the mouth of Abra river, one of the three rivers that surrounds Vigan. Unfortunately like many of the other rivers in this country it has been heavily polluted due to urbanization. There is now a movement going on to try and preserve this river which once used to support the populations along its banks.



In the northern half of Ilocos Sur lies the city of Vigan. In 1572 Captain Jaun de Salcedo sailed to the island and took the already established town by force. Then two years later in 1574 Salcedo brought with him Augustian Missionaries to evangelize the native people and establish the Spanish colony. Today many of the historical buildings still stand erect and give you an idea of how the city looked back during its Spanish roots for which it is famous for. The city of Vigan is listed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List for being the best preserved Spanish colonial city in all of Asia.

I actually missed Vigan on the way to Pagudpud and had to stop by it on the way back.



Before the automobile there was the calesa.



All along the streets are little stores for you to buy your souvenirs...



...Such as this cool hat which I should have bought made from a huge gourd. By the way I think I’ve seen this same person in Pagudpud. She may have been stalking me. Hmm...

I would have liked to spend more time in this city to take more pictures. The city streets with their cobblestones and rustic appearance are very picturesque.





A little tidbit of history trivia, before the time of the Spanish Vigan used to be a trading port for sailing merchants from all around Asian, especially China. Many Chinese sailors integrated with the native people and decided to settle down in the area which earned the town the name of Kasanglayan (where the Chinese live).



A little farther up north is another historical landmark the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. The lighthouse was established 1892 when the country was still under Spanish rule and it still runs today, which surprises me because it doesn’t look very well maintained. When I got there, there was only one very old caretaker running the whole show.





I bet this placed would look creepy at night.



A view from the highest elevated lighthouse in the Philippines. I stuck my camera thru a broken window to get this shot. Of course the window was already broken when I got there.



That’s the biggest light bulb I have ever seen in my life. I wonder if I could get one for my room.

Well, as you finally make it closer to Pagudpud you’ll come across an interesting sign that I presume marks another popular tourist attraction.



Hmm, "a lot of people have died here". I wonder why that would be when you have a buss trying to overtake a semi-truck around a blind corner.

Just a little farther down the road there is a little rest stop with a nice view over looking the town of Pagudpud.



I guess incase you get into some horrible automobile accident out there this will give your family something to sooth them as they morn over your loss.

As you get down to flat land surrounding the town Pagudpud you'll see many fields of rice. I would guess that farming is actually the real main source of income in this town.



Also along the way to Pagudpud you'll get to see many of these guys tied up along long the side of the road. A national symbol of the Philippines, the carabao.



This guy was tied to the tree buy his nose. That’s got to hurt.

Well I’m sure there are also a lot of other things to check out along the way to Pagudpud but that’s about all the time I had for this time around. Until next time...

Summer Break Flashback Part 1: Pagudpud

Well it seems the semester break has come and gone, and I have to say these past two weeks have been quiet adven… Actually it has been pretty much mundane so how about I this post into a flash back about last summer vacation.

During the first week of last summer vacation I took a trip to the white beaches of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. From Binan that's about a 590 kilometer drive to one of the most Northern points of Luzon. For you Californians that would be about the same distance as driving from Vallejo to LA, a trip that would take the average driver about 6 hours. However, since the physics of time and space follow different rules here in the Philippines this trip is about a 14 hour ride. Anyway, after everything I have heard about the place and then finally getting to see it first hand ... I have to say, OK ...

The beach shore was nice and definitely cleaner than most other places you will find in Luzon. I didn't see one piece of trash floating in the water either and the water so clear that you could see… all the seaweed. The seaweed was just about everywhere. When you are looking thru all those internet sites of Pagudpud and the pictures of the beach you don't really see the seaweed but believe me it's there. The people there were saying it's pretty much like that all year round. I guess you probably could still swim thru it but I didn't really want to try.


White sand? Looks like ordinary beach sand to me.


There weren't very many people there.

I staid the night at the Apo Idon Beach Hotel, which has some really good rates. (Maybe the low prices also had to do with the fact that no one else was there. I guess my summer break didn't coincide with that of the majority of other college students here in the Philippines.) Anyway, the rooms were still considerably nice and large for a beach resort for the price. A piece of advice however, if you see a conc shell in your room don't put it to your face. Whatever originally inhabited the shell must have been left in to rot and die. That shell smelled so bad.




Did I mention you get a free meal with your stay?
Mmm, lechon. I can feel my heart stopping now.

I guess the place was nice but I don't think it exactly lived up to all the hype but then again they did have a monkey chained to a tree.


Poor monkey, they are all gonna laugh at you.