the great ilocos get-away (last part): PAGUDPOD

continuation...

blue lagoon

its where some of the well-known resorts in pagudpod are located. this picture is taken from the road going to the said place.

some of the cottages at the shore

fine sand pero masungit ang panahon, hindi namamansin :D

kapuluan vista

one of the well-known in pagudpod is kapuluan vista. it is rumored to be owned by jericho rosales ayon kay kuya arnel, chismis!

i think it became famous because of the two mountains :D

kabigan falls

a must see spot when you visit pagudpod. you might want to do stretching before you take on the 1.5 km hike to the breath-taking falls. i'm not sure of the exact distance, basta lagpas 3km ang balikan kaya make sure to wear a trekking shoes or sandals or any kind na pwedeng ipanglusong sa rumaragasang ilog. nakasurvive naman un tsinelas na gamit ko, sobrang iningatan ko lang dahil baka mapigtas, hindi naman kasi sinabi sa'kin na may trekking na magaganap.

ang daan sa patungo sa tuwid na landas, landas sa kabigan falls. i really enjoyed the view while we hike (kaya nga im always a few step behind them), nakakawala kasi ng pagod, samahan mo pa ng sariwang hangin, nice :)

sa hinabahaba man ng prusisyon, sa falls din kami napadpad (gulo ko!). anyways, kahit medyo nakakapagod ang akyat, baba, tawid sa kung saan-saan, mabasa ng ilog, maulanan, maputikan, etc, ay sulit na sulit naman pagnakita mo ang falls na ito. very refreshing ang scene dito, i do not know why but i do feel relax and calm when i'm on a scenic view like this. its great to know that still, the best things in life are free.

what nature has to offer

pagudpod arc

nothing to discuss, hehehe.. every town/province has its own arc and this is what pagudpod has :)

 

bangui windmills

the famous bangui windmills. sobrang gigantic pala pag nasa paanan ka nito at sobrang lakas ng hangin, mula sa dagat ng south china sea o dahil naka-number 3 ang mga fans, hehehe.. sa sobrang tuwa ko dito, bumili ako ng souvenir, a mini windmill na umiikot ang elisi :D

view deck

another way of seeing the windmills is thru the view deck. its just like a mini-resto na may souvenir shop which gives a great view of the windmills from afar.

 

cape bojeador lighthouse

standing 160 meters above see level, cape bojeador lighthouse is the highest elevated lighthouse in the philippines (taken from a karatula just outside the lighthouse, see picture below, piniktyuran ko na lang kasi mahirap kabisaduhin at tamad akong masulat nun).

nasa manila na ako ng malamang kong haunted pala itong lighthouse na ito at na-feature na daw sa 'misteryo', isang kababalaghan show sa 7. madalas daw magparamdam ang mumu sa tanghali at hapon, saktong 3 or 4pm yata kami nandun kasi minadali namin ang ibang tour dahil until 4:30pm lang daw open itong lighthouse. kaya medyo scary at eerie ang dating doon lalo na un isang maliit na room na ginawa nilang museum o imbakan ng kung ano-ano, hehehe..by the way, this lighthouse is still functioning pa din daw.

a view from the top... tandaan: humawak ng mahigpit pagnasa itaas na ng lighthouse dahil sobrang lakas ng hangin at tiyak na magigimbal ang nakastrong-hold wax na buhok mo.

kapurpurawan rock formation

last stop: kapurpurawan rock formation. isa din kilalang tourist spot ng ilocos. no words can describe this kaya let the pictures speak for themselves (tama ba? themselves? diba pang-tao lang un, so dapat itself? calling grammar teacher, hehehe..)

yan ang 'sobrang' rough road na ginawang ATV ang tricycle ni kuya arnel, may mas malala pa diyan at hindi ko lang napicktyuran. 

after a 15-20 minute ride on the 'ATV trike', another 10 minutes of walking to get dun sa mismong spot kung nasaan ang white rock (see the picture below, un maliit na rectangular-like stone sa bandang left side na parang pinatong lang kung saan).

locate the target :)

...and finally!

just in time for sunset.

the end of a long journey

it was past 5pm when we head back and kuya arnel just drop us at the kapurpurawan entrance which is just along the highway. good thing that we did not wait long for a bus to laoag because our flight back to manila is at 9:30 pm. we arrived at laoag and there's still time for diner (chowking na lang afford ng budget namin) and to buy pasalubong (empanada, chichacorn at pastillas) which i bought from the market na halos lahat ay sirado na, tipong madaling araw na sa manila which is really just 7 or 8pm only. we arrived on time on the airport, 45 minutes earlier pa nga yata at sa konting paghihintay lang, boarding gates were opened, 10 minutes earlier! one hell of a three-day adventure. till next trip guys!

mapanuri, ako, babaeng lakwatsera and tekamots (the only pic i had na kumpleto kami at nasa airport pa)

the great ilocos get-away (last part): PAGUDPOD

the last and final stop of our ilocos adventure, pagudpod..

day 2: january 16, 2011 / sunday 

it was past lunchtime when we leave vigan to go back to laoag and then transfer to another bus going to pagudpod. it was almost a 2-hour bus ride on an ordinary bus na sobrang high-tech ng bintana at muntik pang makaipit ng manang ale si mapanuri. kahit ngarag sa bus ride, sobrang natuwa ako ng nakita ko ang beach! ang babaw diba? kasi naman walang beach sa manila, hehehe, saka i find it relaxing just being on a beach with the sound of the waves on the shore, emo mode!

 

we're supposed to meet our tour guide/driver, kuya arnel, at 2pm to start the southbound tour pero dahil late kami at maulan pa daw sa pupuntahan namin, he  decided to postpone the tour and start it the next day. dahil 40 minutes pa ang byahe papunta sa hotel kung saan kami nakareserve, kuya arnel suggested that we stay somewhere na malapit lang sa town proper para we can early start the tour the following day. he offered cathy's home-stay.

cathy's home-stay

cathy's home-stay is only a 10-minute drive from the town where we choose to stay kasi affordable nga naman compared to other at sobrang bait pa ni ate cathy. it only costs us 1K for the aircon room with 3 beds and a common CR, sulit na sulit. ate cathy did even cook us our diner which is noodles lang naman, hehehe. sobrang lamig kasi dun at diet kami. very accommodating si ate cathy at kakwentuhan pa namin. it is also a few steps away from the beach at sobrang ganda ng view dito, just look at the pictures to see for yourself. enjoy the sunset :)

so lovin this :)

day 3: january 17, 2011 /monday 

was supposed to view the sunrise pero maulap at nagtago ang haring araw

7am call time and our tour starts. since apat lang kami, 2 tricycles ang gamit namin. kung maramihan kayo, kuya arnel has his van na pedeng gamitin. and the cost of this tour, 500php per head (600 nga daw ang talagang bayad pero since hindi naman peak season un, natawaran namin c kuya arnel, bait diba).

patapat viaduct

 first stop of the northbound tour, the patapat viaduct. sabi ni kuya arnel (yes, may trivia from our tour guide), noong dati na wala pa ang viaduct, sa taas ng bundok ang daanan. mas convenient na ang travel thru this viaduct, galing!

 

agua grande

isang resort ang agua grande and it uses the water from the falls that go straight directly into the sea.

kalbario-patapat natural park

i don't why its called a natural park pero parang hindi naman kasi park ito considering its space, isang waterfalls na may mini-groto sa tabi. diba pagpark, malaki dapat ang lugar kung saan pwedeng magbike paikot, hehehe. anyways, they said na miraculous ang tubig dito kasi may mga taong kumukuha ng tubig dito para ipainom sa may sakit. i did taste the water and wala namang akong sakit so bale wala din :)

side trip: ang barkong ng cause ng oil spill last year daw at nasa shoreline na lang

timmangtang rock

funny how is sounds but this timmangtang rock is one rock that you won't get to see everyday, o kung malikot ang pag-iisip mo ay makikita mo din ito kahit saan, hehehe..

bantay abot cave

bantay abot cave - naubusan na ako ng description :D

to be continued on the next post..

the great ilocos get-away (part 2): VIGAN

day 1: january 15, 2011 / saturday

at around 5:30pm, after visiting a few of laoag tourist spot, we headed to vigan where we will stay for the night. a bus ride from laoag to vigan cost 121php and it was a two hour ride yata, hindi ko namalayan kung ilang oras tumagal ang biyahe namin dahil tulog ako nito at paggising ko, gabi na at nasa vigan na ako :D

bumaba kami sa capitol/town proper ng vigan and we then went to the hotel to leave our things so that we can explore vigan by night without any hassles of bags and bags and bags na bitbit-bitbit kung saan.

casa teofila lodge

a tricycle ride from the city to casa teofila cost ___ (nakalimutan ko na, edit ko na lang pagnaconfirm ko na). the place is somewhat a motel-type inn kaya siguro naging mura ang accommodation dito. an aircon room with two queen size beds and a common cr only cost us 1000php + lang yata (again, ieedit ko na lang pagnaconfirm ko ulet un price) for our overnight stay which is really last for a 24-hour stay. one thing that i liked about this is the free wifi, yehey!

the only picture i have, forgot to took photos of this place kaya umaga ko na napicturan

calle crisologo 

first stop was the calle crisologo. sa tv ko lang 'to nakikita dati, old houses lined-up in a street na mala-spanish era pa ang dating. iba pala ang ambiance dito pag-gabi na, gloomy and eerie. ewan ko ba kung dahil lamang sa kulay ng street lamps o dahil sa maagang nagsasara ang mga tindahan dito dahil nga probinsya o dahil may nakatingin at nakasilip sa bintana ng bahay sa ikalawang palapag, hehehe..

vigan by night

one of the many souvenir shops in calle crisologo

town plaza

 a few steps away from the calle crisologo is the town/city (hindi ko alam kung anong tawag dun) which is the main commercial/business district ng vigan at dito matatagpuan ang kanilang city hall/capitol, plaza, simbahan (na hindi ko din alam ang pangalan), food establishments, etc.

 

a nice warm light that sets the night mode in the plaza

diner time na at tipid mode muna kami kaya naghanap ng murang makakainan. kahit san nga naman sa pinas, always present ang mga karinderia at ang jabee at mcdo.

'heritage city of vigan' - those are miniature replicas of the world's famous landmarks

at around 11pm, we head back to casa teofila to sleep and rest because we'll explore the rest of the vigan on the next day...

day 2: january 16, 2011 / sunday

dahil mas mahal magpalipat-lipat sa pagco-commute at walang kahit isang jeepney sa vigan dahil nire-regulate daw ang traffic dito, we did hire a tricycle kasama na yun driver syempre which we bargained at 80php per hour. our call time was 7am but we woke up late and had breakfast while our tour guide/driver waits, ang aga nila pumunta. casa teofila also serve food and breakfast. we had tapsilog (tapang ilokano-sinangag-itlog) and i love the tapang ilokano tapos isasawsaw sa suka, yumyum, ibang-iba sa tapsilog ng manila. then off we go to baluarte.

baluarte

our first stop, baluarte. owned by chavit singson, baluarte is a famous destination spot in ilocos which is actually a  zoo. it housed a variety of animals namely deers, horses, birds, peacocks, ostrich, camel, tigers, monkeys, etc. free ang entrance dito at malulula ka sa lawak ng lupain ni chavit, nice!

ala field trip sa zoo ang nangyari :)

see how vast this place is

hidden garden

the last stop is the hidden garden because we get to travel back to laoag then to pagudpod where our call time for the tour is 2pm. its almost 11pm when we arrived at hidden garden and the staff are very welcoming, astig!

everywhere you go, there's always a personnel/tour guide that gives you information on what, how and when, trivia time. i loved their hospitality, greeting you with welcome then goodbye when you get passed.

hidden garden mostly housed bonzai. as what the staff say, it belongs to a pinoy ilokano na mahilig sa bonzai at hobby ang magbonzai. kahit anong daw halaman ay pedeng ibonzai, meron pa nga akong nakitang sampaloc plant na nakabonzai, galing..

they also have this cafe where they served the famous empanada ng ilocos. may kalakihan ang serving ng isang empanada dito unlike the usual bite-sized empanada. isang pirasong empanada lang, solb na ang lunch mo dahil siguro sa isang whole egg plus monggo and gulay ang laman nito kaya ang bigat sa tiyan.

sulit sa sarap!

we went back to casa teofila to pack all our thing and then head back to the bus terminal para abutan ng 11am bus ride to laoag. sadly, we missed it kaya nag-abang na lang bus sa highway and luckily may dumaan na bus, ordinary nga lang kaya naman no choice na. arrived at laoag then transferred to another bus for the pagudpod travel and yet another ordinary bus. it was lunch time but we had no time to eat dahil sa paghahabol sa oras, buti na lang at busog kaming lahat sa empanada. 2 hours ang bus ride from laoag to pagudpod so sa next post na ulet..