Ilocos Tour : Bangui / Burgos, Ilocos Norte (Bangui Windmills, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation and Cape Bojeador)

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Postcards came to life. ♥

I'm inlove with Bangui's largest fan blades. With Kapurpurawan's rock formation. With the scenery up in Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. Blissful, breath-taking, mind-blowing experience. :)

We left Apo Idon few minutes after 12 and ate our lunch out. Kuya Arden (our tricycle service) has always been pleasant and kind, he waited for us to finish our lunch before going on with our trip.

Tricycle rental is 600 to visit the following places:

Bangui Windmills

 

 

Hot noon sun didn't stop me from posing :P ♥

I've always wanted to see these windmills. I'm a fan. :) finally my long wait was over. Busog na busog lang ako sa tanawin. :)

Kapurpurawan Rock Formations

Etey's favorite. I honestly didn't paid much attention to this not until I saw these massive rock formations with my bare eyes. They are truly wonderfully made by God. Perfect. :) I'm just saddened upon seeing the debris left by Enteng Kabisote prod team. They left their artificially made castles and other stuff behind the formations and I don't think they still have plans of cleaning those up. :(

 

 

 

 

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

View from the lighthouse's deck is very relaxing :) Too bad they no longer allow tourists to climb up the lighthouse itself so we only had the chance to take photos below the tower.

After visiting Cape Bojeador, Kuya Arden took us by the main road and we waited for a bus bound to Laoag. :) Til next time, Ilocos :)

Ilocos Tour : Pagudpud (Apo Idon Beach Hotel)

Bus to Pagudpud from Laoag costs P60 (ordinary fare, speedy rural buses) and as you go deep into the place, you'll notice that the road seems to be more and more under developed. Bus will drop you off the town proper, again, tricycles are all lined up and we rode straight to our reserved accommodation, Apo Idon.

 

 

Customer services and facilities are the reasons why I strongly recommend the place. The ambiance is so relaxing, the facilities are all good, the rooms are spacious, the FOOD is so yummy. One quick tip though, maybe due to the limited number of their staff, food services are so slow here. You may order your food an hour prior to your hunger call for you not to starve to death in no time.

Cocido

Asian Chicken Curry

Beef Tapa

Native Longganisa

We had Cocido Iloco (has beef chunks, pork and Ilocos Longganisa, stewed in Saba with semi-sweet sauce *i hope my description justify how Cocido was cooked :P* ) and Asian Chicken Curry for dinner and they were heavenly. The food are all good, tasty, exceptional.

For breakfast, their beef tapa is so good, I must say that theirs is my favorite now. :)
The viewing deck of the hotel offers a fine view of the sea, with beautiful wave-formed rocks below. The only problem is that the hotel is still 5-10 minutes walk from seaside/swimming place. You need to pass several resorts to land to a good place to swim.

Kopi Kopi :)

 

Shores :)

We were'nt able to catch the sunset because it rained again. We stayed in Apo Idon Sunday afternoon til Monday lunch.

Kuya Arden fetched us 12noon to start our tour. Photos of Bangui Windmills, Cape Bojeador Lighthouse and Kapurpurawan Rock Formation here. :)

Ilocos Tour : Batac and Laoag

Bus ride from Batac to Laoag costs roughly P50 pesos if I am not mistaken. From the drop off area we had no choice but to jump out of the bus despite the heavy rains. We rode a tricycle going to Tiffany Hotel to spend the night and freshen up for tomorrow's loaded day.

Tiffany Hotel rate - P1200 / 2 single beds.


Dinner at Jollibee, midnight snack at Empanadahan (Alicia's). Their empanadas are way way better than those of Vigan's. :)

We agreed to be up by 5AM but these 2 got up, 7AM!

Kuya Rommel Felipe of LEAD Movement (09106885733) picked us up from hotel 8AM and took us to La Paz Sand Dunes. Off the dust we go!

me with LEAD movement's sand board :)

Etey's board

Iyel's board

Sandboarding sitting position :P

Nakaupo na ko, tumayo pa ulit sa takot. wahahah!!

STUNTS FOR THE WIN. hahahah!

HAHAHAHA!!

board in front! HAHAHA!

Semplang na hawak pa din ung board :D

Kapit sa buhangin! HAHA

Sexbomb style, SPLIT! HAHAHA

Sandboarded like a PRO. :)

 Sandboarding is one of my most memorable experience here in Laoag. Thrilling ride, adrenaline-pumping activity that will leave you dead tired but fulfilled. :P I volunteered to go first on the seating-style sandboarding but when I give the handles a grip and looked down at the slope I am diving to, I regretted my word and immediately stood. The view made me so scared and nervous that I totally refused to give it a try. After series of trials, Iyel was the only who made a PERFECT land. :) I got my shirt full of dirt but KEBER, this was one of the best things I tried ever. NO REGRETS, NO REGRETS! :)

Sinking Bell Tower in Laoag

St. William's Cathedral

Late breakfast at Jollibee, went to Laoag Floral Garden to visit Iyel's Lolo and Lola then head back to hotel to bathe and prepare for check out. We planned to attend the mass but when we checked St. William's, there's no afternoon mass. We passed by sinking bell tower, another landmark I am very much excited to see :) We had lunch at McDo and rode tricycle to bus station bound for Pagudpud. :)

See our Pagudpud Adventure here. :)

Ilocos Tour : VIGAN

The planned long weekend getaway finally came! :)

From Manila, we took a GV Florida bus going to Laoag and got off at Bantay, Ilocos Sur (P540). We were dropped off along the road and took a tricycle going to Cafe Uno (P30).

Time for a feast! :)

Bagnet / Bulalo / Garlic Rice

After our brunch, we started our walk to Calle Crisologo to see the ever famous street with it's cobblestone road preserved. I've always wanted to roam around Ilocos and this is one of the places I'm looking forward to. Upon reaching the street, we were in awe to see that the scene we often see in pictures are finally right in front of us. We immediately took photos of the place. :)

Me :)

Iyel

Etey

We decided to rent a calesa to tour around vigan. Rate is P150 per hour and we were able to visit the following attractions:

Old Bell Tower

Pagburnayan Pottery

Emapanada from Hidden Garden

Baluarte

We passed to a whole lot more destinations but we decided not to get off our calesa nor take photos because the day was scorching hot. Our last stop was at Baluarte ni Chavit and we saw one usang gala! :)

White Deer came from nowhere! :)

A little over 2pm and we're off to Batac and Paoay to see more of Ilocos! We rode a tricycle from Baluarte to bus station bound for Laoag (P98). Sad thing was, rain fell just in time we reached Batac, we rode a tricycle from there and asked to take us to Marcos Museum and Maoseleum. We were the last group allowed to visit Ferdinand Marcos' waxed body before the caretaker called it a day. We were'nt able to catch the museum too. :( Rain continued to rush, this time heavier so we asked the driver to take us to bus station going to Laoag instead of pushing for Malacanang of the North and Paoay Church.

 Read our Laoag adventure here. :)