Pagudpud Vacation

Pa, good food! Raayyyt.

Last October 26-30, Roselle and I went to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte for a well-deserved vacation. It was a most relaxing and enjoyable experiences.

The good:

• Absolutely no pressure to wake up early.
• Our tour guide, Kuya Marlou, was very kind to us. He knew how to use a camera too.
• Only one stop-over. Our stop-over in Vigan sold a very yummy kind of bibingka. Too bad shelf life was only 3 days. We would have wanted to take some home for ourselves.
• Bangui Windmills - Absolutely awesome!!! These 20 massive windmills are truly a sight to see from Saud White Beach, but up close, they're even more breath-taking.
• Cape Borjeador Lighthouse - Nice place. Over a hundred years old and a bit run-down, the lighthouse is nonetheless beautiful. From the tower, we had a breath-taking view of all of Burgos and Bangui and the wind from up there was really strong. What a rush!
• Kaibigan Falls - despite trekking a total of 3 kms round-trip, the falls were worth the trek. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place. The water was extremely cold, just right for two weary travelers.
• Blue Lagoon - This is probably the reason why Pagudpud is known as the Boracay of the North. While the sand was not powder why, it's texture is almost similar to that of Boracay. The water was also very shallow even if you are already far from the beach. Too bad we were not able to enjoy it fully because the waves were strong when we visited, but we had fun anyway.
• Ilocos longganisa. Garlicky yummy!
• Ilocos empanada. Looks like tukneneng. Filled with longganisa and egg. The only empanada that has vinegar and catsup for condiments. Weird, yet immensely satisfying.

The not-so-good

• No credit card facility. We paid cash for everything! Ouch.
• The food was ridiculously expensive. P500 for sinigang na hipon??! Are you out of your mind? P300++ for all the other seafood viands. Ironic, since it was so near the water.
• 11-hour bus trip. My butts were in agony from La Union onwards.

At the end of it all, it was a very good experience, but probably not one that I would like to do again.

I also created my very first home movie using the pictures taken from the trip and crude yet effective Windows Movie Maker. Despite the limitations of the software, it was an enjoyable movie that had my wife and my family ooohing and aaaahing and laughing.