A Dash of Ash: Pagudpud/Vigan Tour (Part2)

*Sorry for this super late post about our trip last April. Hahaha :) This has been sitting on my drafts for quite some time now (obviously!) and I have just decided to publish it. So let me show you the 2nd part of our Ilocos Tour! Lesgowwww :)

We woke up as early as 2am on Monday.. We decided to go back to the beach...Lloyd tried to go outside to check but it was super dark so we waited for another couple of hours before going to the beach. It was so beautiful! We're the only folks at the beach - it was really early for other peeps to take a plunge.

One last Shot in Saud before going to our next Tour

We had a yummy breakfast - tuyo with sukang Iloco which I enjoyed the most ,fried rice, coffee, tocino and scrambled eggThat was a very satisfying meal. Full breakfast is necessary especially when you'll be travelling all day. We bought some pasalubong and souvenirs as we wait for our tour guide- Manong Gilbert. We left Saud around 9am.

Our first destination?

On our way to Bangui

Bangui Windmill - Bangui Wind Farm is a wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The wind farm uses 20 units of 70-metre (230 ft) high Vestas V82 1.65 MW wind turbines, arranged on a single row stretching along a nine-kilometer shoreline off Bangui Bay, facing the South China Sea. The Northwind Bangui Bay Project is located at the municipality of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Located at the north-west tip of Luzon island.

Phase I of the NorthWind power project in Bangui Bay consists of 15 wind turbines, each capable of producing electricity up to a maximum capacity of 1.65MW, for a total of 24.75MW.

Phase II, was completed on August 2008, and added 5 more wind turbines with the same capacity, and brought the total capacity to 33MW. All 20 turbines describes a graceful arc reflecting the shoreline of Bangui Bay. --- thanks Wikipedia.

Bangui Windmill

Bangui View Deck - This is a deck place on the mountain. The best place to experience and witness the panoramic view of farms,mountains,Bangui community, South China Sea and nearby coastal towns.

View Deck

Next : Kapurpurawan Rock Formation : Aside from the Bangui Windmill, Kapurpurawan Rock formation caught our attention and according to our tour guide this is one of the famous attractions in Burgos,Ilocos Norte. After we parked our vehicle, we hiked down the cliff just to see this beautiful formation of rocks,hills,pool of sea water etc. And we saw this reminder. as per RA7161 Taking of mangroves and other form of vegetation from the area is prohibited under the Philippine law.

There are patches of bonsai mangroves on the area that adds a little color on the place. Kapurpurawan in Ilocano means WHITE. And this was caused by sand blasting, sedimentation and weathering. The action of the natural sandblast carves distinctive features such as pits, grooves, and facets upon various rock surfaces.

Bonsai Mangroves on top of the rugged coast

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse - also known as Burgos Lighthouse, is a cultural heritage structure in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, that was established during the Spanish Colonial period in the Philippines. It was first lit on March 30, 1892 and is set high on Vigia de Nagparitan Hill overlooking the scenic Cape Bojeador where early galleons used to sail by.The Cape Bojeador lighthouse was part of the Spanish government's master plan of illuminating the Philippine archipelago. The project commenced with the execution of the lighthouses in the northern and western part of the Philippines and those around Iloilo and Cebu. The Burgos lighthouse was first lit on March 30, 1892. The lighthouse was first designed by Magin Pers and Pers in 1887 and was finished by the Lighthouse Service under Guillermo Brockman. Again thanks to Wikipedia for this post a lot easier.

We took a bus en route to Laoag. We were standing from Burgos to Laoag City, but I enjoyed it, believe me :). It was already lunch time when we reached Laoag. So we're thinking where to eat- and there we saw Macy's. I never expected that there could be this "american diner" in the area. There's Elvis, the Beatles and neon lights all around. Cool. I was actually waiting and expecting that our food will be served by ladies on roller skates. LOL!

Next stop VIGAN : The only surviving colonial town in the entire Philippines, Vigan is being developed as a primary tourist destination in Region I. We took a calesa ride (1st time!!) to explore the city of Vigan and paid a hundred fifty pesos (150Php) for an hour ride/tour.

We went to Shrine of our Lady of Charity Saint Augustine Parish Church which is one of the oldest churches of Ilocos Sur which was built in 1950 and the famous Bell Tower. It was said to be the people's watch tower in the French colonial period- part of the city’s defense that helps in alerting it against possible enemies. Unfortunately, we're unable to check what's inside the tower -- oh rain! what a timing 'eh?? Tsk.

The Bell Tower

Calle Crisologo- This is the major attraction of Vigan. We enjoyed the walk through the blocks of cobblestone streets lined with heritage houses. Twas filled with Spanish-style houses (which reminds me of our ancestral house..sigh). I was so in-love with the place since we once live on a house such as this. Anyway, along the street,you can find several stores of souvenirs and pasalubong. Most of the old houses were turned into museum,souvenir shops and Inn. and A must-try would be the famous Vigan Longganisa. I bought 4 packs of it and half a dozen of chichacorn. We also bought bagnet and few souvenirs. As much as we want to explore the area we cant because of the heavy rain. Oh goodness! Still, we had FUN--Bigtime!!!