Roadtrip to Pagudpud

Because summer’s done and we’ve been indoors, I’ll continue to write about throwback travels to beaches. This time I’ll take you back to 2016 when my sister and brother-in-law visited from Australia. We decided it was time for the long overdue Luzon roadtrip to our mother’s hometown – Ilocos Norte.

So on Friday night, we left our city in Metro Manila for what was planned to be give or take 10 hours’ drive to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, which was 591kms away. We ended up driving 15 hours because 1) C5 traffic greeted us at the onset which took about two hours for us to navigate through; and 2) there was a truck accident somewhere up north of Luzon so the road was blocked.

Bad traffic didn’t stop us from stopping by some of the touristy spots that Ilocos provice offers: a breakfast at a Spanish colonial house in Vigan (which will come in another blog soon), a drive through the majestic windmills of Bangui, and a stop to see the view from the Cape Bojeado Lighthouse, which was built in 1892.

Finally, we arrived at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. It’s so far from Metro Manila but the long drive was worth it. Villa Ana, which we rented, was a lovely place with many rooms and a pool. The space was big enough to accommodate 12 of us, and we had a relaxing time lazying around the pool with beer and snacks.

A few meters away from Villa Ana is the Saud Beach – very picturesque with its white sand, torquoise water and the distant views of the windmils. We took our swimming from the pool to the sea, and took turns on the stand up paddle board. Later that evening, our Villa hosts prepared a beachside dinner feast for us which was awesome!

I’m glad it takes effort to get to this paradise, and I hope that it’s beauty will be preserved for ages.