Two days after arriving from Davao, I packed for a road trip to the North. I’ve been saying that there are two places that I want to visit again, Camsur and Ilocos Norte, particularly Vigan and Blue Lagoon. Since my sister and her husband, an avid photographer, have not been to Pagudpud, we started driving North at midnight of April 01, Holy Thursday, even if we’re not able to book a room in Pagudpud.
Of course, it’s a long drive there so we had to stop for rest rooms and food. We had breakfast at Tropical Hut Total, in Apalit Pampanga. Caught the sunrise somewhere in Tarlac, ate merienda at McDonald’s San Fernando La Union, and reached Vigan just in time for lunch. We took a couple of shots of the Plaza and the Cathedral, ate Vigan Empanada then headed back to our journey. I was asleep most of the time, maybe because I was catching up on sleep since Davao. We got to Bangui Windmills a little before sunset. The Bangui Windmills were awesome!!!
After taking hundreds of shots of the windmills, we continued our long journey to Pagudpud. We went straight to Blue Lagoon with the help of “Susan”, our Satellite Navigation System. It was a long and super dark drive to Blue Lagoon. It’s the side of a mountain and most of the route had no lamp posts. But of course, at the end of the tunnel, there’s light. Party lights, actually. We could see the resorts in Blue Lagoon from afar.

Fish eye shot by Amrei Dizon
www.amreidizon.com
I was a little disappointed to see how much the place has changed, there’s too many people, traffic was heavy, too many resorts and huts and cottages and activities by the shore. And this was around 7 PM, maybe I would appreciate the place better when the sun rises the next day.
Since all resorts were fully booked, we went ahead and booked a room at a ‘home stay’ place at Wally’s World. It’s the last home in the area, right before Kapuluan Beach Resort. Since we just arrived and Wally’s World did not prepare food for walk ins, we ate at Kapuluan Beach Resort, where I saw Bebe Gandanghari and Earl Ignacio. I had my picture taken with Bebe.
We stayed a whole day and two nights at Wally’s World before we started driving again. On the way back to Vigan, we took photos of the roads, the mountains and the seas. We went to Cape Bojeador to see it beautiful Spanish structure. We stoped at Shorestop Inn and Restaurant in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, for Merienda then straight to the Marcos Musueum in Batac. We also passed by Sta. Monica Church in Sarrat, and of course, tried out Batac Empanada in Riverside Empanadaan. Since it’s already getting late, we called a resort on our way so we can rest for the night. We saw a resort’s ad in a gas station and it looked really pretty. Lucky for us, it still has a room available for us. The resort is Playa Tropical, a pretty Bali-inspired resort hidden in Currimao.
We had breakfast at Playa Tropical then headed back to Vigan to eat empanada, buy souvenirs and pasalubong and take some last photos. We were to get dinner at Isdaan in Tarlac but since it’s Sunday of the long weekend-holiday, the place was jam-packed. The orders were on hold! It’s ok, we’ll try it next time.
Though we’re not able to get to the other destinations that I’ve been to the first time I visited Pagudpud, like the Patapat Bridge and the Aqueduct, I still enjoyed everything about Ilocos Norte! I think I still want to go back again, maybe on a peak season, for a change.
Related Posts:
Kapuluan Vista Resort, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Vigan Heritage Village, Ilocos Sur
Bangui Windmills
What is the Best Empanada in Ilocos?
Wally’s World Homestay, Pagudpud Ilocos Norte