Althea's Adventures

March is the start of summer, and for us, summer means vacation time for the kids. At that time, I only have one day leave and thought of going to North with my son. I still have a morning schedule so after work, we did a road trip to Pagudpud. We left the office at 11:00 AM. It was a tiring 12 hour drive.

We arrived at Kapuluan Vista Resort almost 12:00 AM already. It was so cold. Good thing, the guard was still awake and let us in. Since it was late and we’re tired, we went straight to bed.

On our second day, we woke up early morning and had our breakfast. The resort has a cozy vibe and the staff were very friendly. They even have a cute dog that walks around and you can play with. 🙂

Across the resort was the beach. Although you can’t really swim in it because it’s rocky, you can chill and just feel the view. Yes, we enjoyed the view. 🙂

  

My son played in the sand while I enjoyed the hammock. 🙂

Pagudpud is also known for surfing and Kapuluan Vista Resort also offers surfing lessons and surfboard rental. We didn’t try to surf though.

So after chilling, we decided to go for a swim. They have a nice swimming pool, so cozy with palm trees around it. If you want to rest, just sit in the bean bags. 🙂

After lunch, we went to Bangui Wind mills! It’s about 30 minutes from our resort. My son, Kyle, was amazed and scared at the same time. He’s only 5 years old and thought that the wind mill is a huge electric fan that can blow us away. I explained that it’s used for electricity. 🙂 

And then we went to Kapurpurawan Rock Formation of Burgos. Kapurpurawan in Ilocano means “white”. It was so hot and we have to walk for about 20 minutes going there from the parking. But you if you want, you ride a horse and pay 300 pesos.

On our 3rd day, we woke up early morning to have breakfast and swim in the beach. Our resort is 5 minutes away from the Blue Lagoon beach. There is a popular resort just in front of the beach, it’s called Hannah’s Beach Resort. It has a lot of amenities like zip line, ATV, jet ski and kayak. We didn’t stay there for the reason that we wanted a more secluded area, far from the huge crowd.

You don’t have to pay for anything if you want to swim at Blue Lagoon beach. If you want to rent a beach front cottage, it’s available at Hannah’s Beach Resort. There are also stores and barbecue stalls in the area.

The water was really blue and super nice. I can stay there and just look at the scenery. My son, being a water baby, loved the beach. 🙂

After enjoying the Blue Lagoon beach, we prepared and left for Vigan. Pagudpud to Vigan is about 3.5 hours drive.

We arrived there almost lunch time, so I Googled the best restaurant there is and found Cafe Uno. We ordered Vigan’s specialties which are Bagnet, Longganisa and Pakbet. Oh my, it was so good! 🙂 (We were so hungry and ate everything before I realized I didn’t take pictures LOL.)

We checked in at Henady Inn and took a nap since we got a bit tired with traveling from Pagudpud to Vigan. I chose that inn since it’s cheap and it’s just 4 minutes away from Calle Crisologo.

We had our dinner at Calle Crisologo since that’s our next destination.

Here’s Calle Crisologo at night.

After strolling at Calle Crisologo, we went to Plaza Salcedo to watch the Dancing Fountain. It is only available during weekends at 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM, and it runs for 30 minutes. Kyle enjoyed it a lot and he was dancing with the music. 🙂

On our 4th day, we went back to Manila. Vigan to Manila is approximately 7 hours drive.

That sums up our quick trip to North. This was last March 26-29, 2015. We didn’t go to Laoag because we didn’t have much time but we’d love to go back to experience the Sand Dunes adventure. 🙂

We didn’t spend a lot except for the accommodation, food and transportation. All the tourist attractions were free. 🙂