Showing posts with label Ilocos Sur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ilocos Sur. Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2011

Bye Vigan, Hello Pagudpud!

Our 2 hour Kalesa Tour ended in Plaza Salcedo right in front of St. Paul Cathedral. We paid Php300 and had a quick dinner at McDonalds, just beside the cathedral. There are also a number of good local restaurants you can choose from in Vigan such as Cafe Leona, Epectos Bar and Grill, Cindy's, Hambre, Tessie's, Uno Grille and Los Majitos. And yes aside from McDonalds, there's also Jollibee and Greenwich.  

Dadapilan, Center for Ilokano Studies
After lunch, we went back to our lodge, the Dadapilan and bid farewell to Ate Malot for the warm welcome and hearty breakfast meal. Our accommodation fee is an affordable Php 300 including breakfast. Their area is just a few blocks away from Heritage Village and a stone throws away from Simbaan a Bassit and an internet shop :)

We left off and made our way to Partas Terminal heading to Laoag. It was an hour and a half trip and paid Php121 for the bus ticket (air conditioned). From Partas Terminal in Laoag, we quickly rode a tricycle to take us to the terminal bus going to Pagudpud. The ticket cost a cheaper Php60 but unlike Partas, the bus we rode was just ordinary and crampy. But heck, we enjoyed the 2 hour trip anyway with gorgeous views to feast on!

On the Road to Pagudpud

Our trip going from a historical tour in Vigan was such an "amazing race" experience. We moved swiftly and wasted no time dashing up and down the buses and tricycles of Vigan and Laoag, all while carrying huge backpacks full of bottles of strawberry jams we bought from Baguio! Yup, I know stressful! The whole amazing race drama made us want to get a day of full body massage.

Just after an hour on the road, I started seeing beautiful stretches of powdery sand, sparkling blue waters, and vibrant orange boats. I immediately transfered to a window seat to capture those gorgeous views. And then minutes after, we saw a line of towering Bangui windmills. The last drop off point was at a building after the municipal hall. From there we rode 2 tricycles at Php40 each (tricycles here like those in Laoag are pretty small!) and stopped by at Rlyns Homestay. Since we'll be leaving early the next day, we opted to just stay at a homestay/transcient house located right in front of Saud Public Beach. When all things are set, I immediately went straight to beach to capture the glorious sunset in Pagudpod beach. Since the beach in front of our lodging is not owned by any private resort, the entrance fee is a cheap Php10.

  view more photos at The Walking Tripod.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Kalesa Tour: Bantay Bell Tower and St. Augustine Parish Church

From the pottery shop of Mr. Fidel Go, our Kalesa Tour brought us to two of Vigan's best known and picturesque sight - the Bell tower and St. Paul Cathedral. Before we could all get off the kalesa, we saw lovely Chinese couple who were probably in their 70s about to leave the place with their hired kalesa as well. They smiled as they bid bye bye to us. They seem to be enjoying their romantic kalesa tour like us. We also also said hi and smiled back at them as we get down and started walking our way up.
Bantay Bell Tower and St. Augustine Parish Church
It was already noon at that time and we could really feel the burns on our skin so we just contented ourselves with merely taking photographs and a quick tour as we marvel at the two remarkable landmarks.  We really don't have the luxury of time to climb the bell tower as we needed to be in Pagudpod hopefully before sunset. So off to tour last historical site for the day, the St. Paul Cathedral.