That Amazing Ilocos Trip

 

Just came from our 4-day Ilocos Region adventure with the fam and I am so stoked to write about it!

My husband and I contemplated on taking the trip about a month ago when he mentioned that he wanted to see Vigan. I've been there a couple of times for work but have always wanted to visit with him and the kids so I relented despite my apprehensions because of the long travel ahead. I started creating our IT which was difficult to finalize since it meant that I had to see if we can afford the hefty sums for accommodations during peak seasons. So the first thing I did was to look for hotels within or near Vigan. Praise God I was able to find a hotel offering a family room for less than P5k! I immediately booked with a free cancelation option in case plans go hayward.

So the rest of the planning began. I booked a halfway airbnb since I know that it was a loooong drive to Vigan. Then I looked for acomm in Pagudpod in case hubby wanted to go too. Alas! 2 weeks before the trip, my husband said he indeed wanted to go to Pagudpod but when I checked the good and fairly proced ones are already gone. I then booked a hotel in Laoag instead which turned out to be a good decision since we had to go straight home on the 9th.

With our very detailed checklist of things that we needed to bring and activities we needed to do we set out for our 4-day adventure:

Day 1: NLEX horror traffic + Caba beach

We woke up at 5am and had a quick bite while hubby cooked rice and spam which we planned as our lunch just in case we encounter traffic along the way. We left the house at 6am but had to go to our condo in Pasig to get our airbed (to avoid extra bed charge). We left Pasig at around 7am and head out to NLEX. At 8am we already reached QC only to face the most horrific traffic I've ever experienced. Traffic was so bad we reached the first NLEX shell at 12nn! We decided to stop over for a bathroom break (which we had to queue for) and ate in the car since all the restos were full to the brim. Praise God we had food with us (with indivudual packs) and each one of us had a water bottle. By 1pm we were on the road and in the middle of traffic again. From that NLEX stop to SCTEX was another 3 hours, by the time we got to TPLEX is was already 4pm. Tarlac to Caba only took an hour so we arrived at our airbnb by 5pm. 

Our Airbnb was a quaint place tucked in the fields of Caba which was also very near the beach area. Our lovely host Ms Jane rented out a 2-BR with own CR and kitchen at a place called J. Novotny Transient Home. Her mom managed the place and guided us on our way. On the way there were captivated by the views offered by San Carlos Caba beach. We wanted to stop right then and jump into the sea after a horrid 10-hr ride!

But we had to checkin and put down our things first. It was comforting that J. Novotny was just a few minutes away from beachfront. We immediately went back on our swimsuits to dive in the waters. We had a lot of fun chasing the waves. The shore was rocky so we had to wear our crocs while in the water. It was getting dark after a while so we experienced big waves which made it fun all the more. We went to the car on our wet swimsuits and took turns to shower off. 

It was a good thing that we bought dinner at Jollibee Agoo before we headed to Caba since there were no place near to dine in. Totally exhausted, we wound down the day watching a bit of TV while my husband and I share some wine. 

Day 2: Grape picking at Caba + Vigan + Slide swimming

We were all excited to start the day and left J. Novotny before 7am. Our plan was to checkout the sandy beaches of Bauang. But to our dismay, we were taken aback by the huge number of people already swimming in the beach. We also saw a lot of trash on the shortline. The water looked murky and the beach itself was not as sandy as we expected. 

Turned off by the sight, we decided to try grape picking instead. We went to a vineyard called Liezel Gapuz Grape picking place. As we entered, we were given baskets and scissors which we can use to harvest all the grapes we wanted to buy. Price was P350 per kilo and we ended up harvesting 1.8 kgs or P570 worth of grapes.  It was a sweet deal considering the tons of instagrammable pics that we took and the grapes tasted awesome! We all enjoyed the activity so much we promised the kids we'd do it again soon! 

On the way to Vigan, we stopped by Candon City to eat lunch at a famous resto which was sadly closed for Good Friday. We settled for a family meal at Chowking. After lunch, we headed toward Vigan but had a pitstop at a breakwater view we saw along the way. The breathtaking ocean view of the Rocky Shores of San Esteban urged us to go down for a bit to take photos. Shortly after that we noticed that its shoreline had sandy beach were people already flocked to swim. We decided to put it down as our last IT before we head back to Manila on our last day. 

We arrived at Metro Vigan Fiesta Garden Hotel minutes after 3pm so we expected a breezy checkin. To our disappointment, the front desk took a looong time to find my confirmed booking at Agoda. There was actually a man who was there before us and was already waiting for an hour to checkin. They said that they were having problems with Agoda and it was taking time to get confirmed from their end. Alas after an hour, they told me that they found my booking but we still needed to wait to have our room ready. We decided to proceed to Vigan City and just come back to collect the key later.

I had never seen Vigan this busy and this crowded! The infamous Calle Crisologo turned into a heap of selfie-crazed people walking through the street while avoiding the occassional threading of vintage horse carriages. Despite that, Vigan's charm did not fail to enthrall my husband and my kids. It is as close as you can get to time travelling. With the vintage houses, the olden day streetlamps and cobble stoned streets, one can't help but be amazed on how well Ilocanos were able to preserve this marvelous place. It was great to find that magic of Calle Crisologo now extended to the other streets and that the whole city now have been transformed to similarly designed vintage theme of the 1900s. We swore to come back dressed in white and our formals for a dainty photo shoot less the crowd of course!

After our dinner we head back to the hotel for a very late checkin as we were still made to wait before we finally got our keys. The kids were excited to take a swim at the hotel's large pool which features an adult and a kiddie slide. The kids especially my son enjoyed the slide so much that I had to promise to to come back to the place again another day. We also snacked on the delicious bagnet we bought from thr city. It was literally to DIE for! hehe. 

Day 3: Pagudpod + La Preciosa Carrot Cake

This day was the penultimate point of our trip! To visit the Boracay of the North was a dreamy idea to anyone! After a sumptous buffet breakfast at Metro Vigan Fiesta Hotel, we drove to Ilocos Norte for Pagudpod!

We first had to stop by Palacio de Laoag in Laoag City to make sure our booking was confirmed. On the way to Pagudpod, we made a quick photo opp at the Bangui Windmill Viewdeck. We lost our way finding Pagudpod Saud beach as the google map was pinned at the wrong site. We had to ask people for directions which finally lead us to Saud beach. 

Since I have been to the place twice in past, the picture of Pagudpod in my mind were all about pristine sandy white beaches and a mile long shoreline which was comparable to the sands of Boracay. Its cystal clear waters turned into somewhat murky green with lots and lots od seaweed at the bottom. The shore did not even had space for sand caatle making. I almost wept when I saw how poluted the place had become because of the hundreds or even thousands of people swimming and pitching their space in the shore, eating, drinking and polluting the area and the water. It was a sad site to see for one who saw how it was once an untainted virgin place that have then yet to be discovered.

I was also surprised to experience large waves in Saud beach. What I remembered from long ago was a calm sea that had little to no waves at all. Maybe it was the time of the day sinc we arrived in the area at around 2pm already. By the time we arrived all parking slots were occupied and we had no choice than to park our car on the bridge! Good thing the friendly locals allowed us to do so. 

We had a quick lunch before swimming but we did not take too long to swim since there were also rocky parts on the bed of the shores. We also noticed that the sky was turning grey and by the time we were showering, it was already beginning to drizzle. We ran to the car and drove back to Laoag still a bit sandy all over since there was no real place to shower in. We had to settle for open showers and pitched larged tents as changing areas provided by the local municipal council free for tourists to use. We had to pay P10-P20 per head to enter the public beach. 

In Laoag, we decided to drop by a popular resto I once dined in which was famous for its best in town carrot cake. After a moderately priced dinner, we helped ourselves to a medium sized whole carrot cake. It was a great appeasement to a very disappointing day! The cake seemed to lighten up everyone's mood as we decided to really push through with our San Esteban stop over before we head back home.

After a very exhausting day, we slept soundly in the 3-bucker bedroom provided to us by the hotel. We actually expected to just get a room with 2 twin-sized bed but we were sort of upgraded. The room however was very old and had a moldy smell around it. It was passable but I it could have been abated by simple linen spray. Overall, the stay was acceptable enough because of the simple 3-item buffet it offered for breakfast. It was a value for money deal for only less than P3k  for the 5 of us including the compli breakfast.

Day 4: Paoay Church + San Esteban beach

We took off from Laoag at 7am as we wanted to drop by Paoay Church for a photo opp. The kids were amazed by the church's architecture and landscaping and enjoyed every minute of the stop. By 10am we were on the road again heading towards San Esteban.

We reached San Esteban shortly after 12nn and had lunch in one of only 2 diners/restobars there. We ordered chicken inasal with unli rice for only P139 each! 

After putting on much needed sunscreen, we dived right into the wavy beach. The sand was not so white but fine and the shore did not have rocks. It still had some seaweeds but way less than what we saw in Pagudpod. The crowd was also much thinner and the shoreline was also wider probably because it was not as commercialized. 

Overall, the stop to San Estaban beach was well worth it! The day could have been perfect if not for the horrendous traffic we had to face going home. We left Ilocos Sur at 3pm and expecting at least 7 hours travel time, we would have been home by 10-11pm. Boy we were dead wrong!  By 9pm, we were only starting to exit TPLEX as we had to endure the La Union jam where we saw hundreds of tourists still ramping around town. SCTEX was another 2 hours. Traffic was so bad, we saw a lot of vehicles on the side streets with their hoods up and with people sitting it outside their vehicle. 

By 11pm, we decided to make a pitstop at the first Shell station in NLEX we could find. Alas! A sea of vehicles flooded the area. Hundreds of desperate hungry tourists lined up at counters of restaurants that were still open. By that time, Chowking and Burger King was already closed. Jollibee had its last call when we checked. So the only options left were Wendy and Krispy Kreme, both had a mile long queue. We decided to take our chances with Wendy's. 

By 1am, we faced NLEX carmagedon! We endured the most gruelling 3 hrs which should have been less than an hour in a normal day. As we exited NLEX, we saw the density of cars in the streets decreasing until waze confirmed that we would be reaching our house by 5am! When we alighted out car, we already saw the light of day. We quickly changed our clothes and retited on our beds. My husband, however, who drove almost 24 hrs straight was too exhausted to sleep! He drank Cobra after our late dinner so his mind would still be wide awake up to 12 hours. By morning he ran some errands and even worked a bit on the van. At last he was able to sleep by 4pm. 

I Praise God for my husband and his willingness to go thru the entire ordeal without complaining. He was juat so happy that we had this wonderful family adventure. Praise God for this trip!

For those curious about how much we spent here's the breakdown for you:

Grocery before Trip: P2k

Gas: P7,000 (Antipolo to Pasig to La Union to Vigan to Laoag to Pagudpod to San Esteban to Mexico Pampanga to Antipolo) - We gassed up P3,500 twice)

Airbnb J.Novotny: P2,200

Metro Vigan Fiesta Garden: With breakfast for 5: P5,650 (promo rate in agoda, early booking)

Palacio de Laoag with breakfast for 5: P2,400 (promo rate in agoda, early booking)

Food:

Day 1: Breakfast- at home (baon bread and peanut and cheesewiz)

Lunch- Baon Spam and rice

Dinner: Jollibee-P800

Day 2: 

Breakfast- cooked cornedbeef and sausages

Lunch:-Chowking P800

Dinner: Calle Crisologo Resto- P1k

Bagnet- P250 :)

Day 3: Breakfast Buffet C/o hotel

Lunch: Picnic lunch on shore: P500

Dinner: La Preciousa including whole cake: P1,500

Day 4:

Breakfast: c/o hotel

Lunch: San Esteban: P800

Dinner: wendy's: P1k

Toll fees: P1k

Total: P25,900