It's More Fun in the Philippines: Laoag - Vigan Road Trip

This Article on Vigan and Laoag City has been long over due since me and my best friend Jade paid a visit to this place last year with her fellow EastWest bankers. In this article, I'll show you the places that we visited as part of our Itinerary and what we thought about the place. Simply let your fingers do the walking.

(Me and Jade Playing Around before our Early Morning Van Road Trip to Laoag)

You can also book trips via Cebu Pacific, but since we were a huge group and the time for us to book a flight was short we found it more cost effective to go with the van - but our butts really paid the price by the time we got there XD

(not the best picture but was using an iPhone 3G back then for this shot - but at least I got to picture the City Name :) Makati City doesnt have a Hollywood style name plate like Laoag)

To start things off, here was our itinerary. Though I wouldn't recommend cramming it all into three days and two nights like what we did. We felt like we were in an amazing race episode because of that. What I would recommend though is to take the ones you think would be fun for you and your group and go for those:

-We got our itinerary from another blogsite: www.adventurousfeet.com and simply patterned it to that of our own when it was our turn to take on this wickedly fun road trip adventure. I strongly recommend to check her site out for the pricing details of the trip - we roughly spent 5k each but that included food, travel, and misc expenses - misc meaning shopping ;) -

Day 0	Friday
10PM	ETD Van leaves Makati Ayala Ave to Vigan (non-stop ac van, though we did stop for pee breaks)
Day 1	Saturday
4AM	Drop off and arrival in Bantay, Ilocos Sur. Take a tricycle to casa Teofila Lodge.
7AM	Proceed to Cafe Uno for Breakfast
9AM	Start of DIY Tour: Calle Crisologo (walking distance from Cafe Uno)
10:15AM	Crisologo Museum (walked from Calle Crisologo)
10:40	Proceed to Syquia Mansion
11:30AM	Plaza Salcedo, Vigan Cathedral, Plaza Burgos
12PM	Lunch at Plaza Maestro
1:30PM	Burgos Museum (walked from Plaza Maestro)
2:10PM	Took a tricycle to Pagburnayan Jar Making
3:30PM	Another tricycle to Hidden Garden
4:30PM	Another tricycle to Baluarte ni Chavit
5:30PM	Bantay Church and BellTower
6:30PM	Back to Casa Teofila Lodge
7:30PM	Proceed to Calle Crisologo again to see this during the night and to buy souvenirs
8:30PM	Dinner at Cafe Leona
Day 2	Sunday
6AM	Wake up. Prepare for check out in Casa Teofila
8AM	Van arrival for pick up
8:30AM	Proceed to Marsha's Delicacies for cassava and bibingka cake
10AM	Arrival in Marcos Museum and Mausoleum
11AM	Paoay Church (can have lunch at Cafe Herencia)
1PM	Paoay Lake
1:30PM	Malacañang of the North
2:30PM	Fort Ilocandia Resort
3:15PM	La Paz Sand Dunes
3:45PM	St. William's Church And Laoag Sinking Bell Tower
4:40PM	Burgos Lighthouse
5:30PM	Kapurpurawan Rock Formation (this was our very wet adventure)
7:45PM	Arrival in Pagudpud Proper to buy barbeque and some dinner
8:15PM	Arrival in Saud beach -- Cathy's Homestay
Day 3	Monday
6AM	Wake up. Check out the beach
7:30AM	Breakfast at Cathy's Homestay
8:00AM	Van arrival for pick up and start of Pagudpud North Tour
9AM	Kabigan Falls
11AM	Patapat Viaduct
11:30AM	Agua Grande Park
11:50AM	Paraiso ni Anton
12:45PM	Timmangtang Rock
1PM	Bantay Abot Cave
2PM	Blue Lagoon Beach (we didn't get a chance to swim here though but it looked enticing anyways)
3PM	Back to Cathy's Homestay - Saud Beach
4:30PM	Checkout at Cathy's Homestay
5:30PM	Arrival in Bangui Windmills
6:30PM	Van Ride Back to Manila (We were all knocked out by this time.. c,") )

Took These shots using my iPhone 3G at that time... Not the best but I still love the shots and of course the memories it brings everytime I look back at them.



Overall, irregardless of the time constraint I have to say it was an amazing experience for all of us.

My Personal Favorite Spots though were the following:

• Kapurpurawan Rock Formation (The white rock formation we all ran too cause of the risk of a hight tide since it was raining like crazy back then but the risk was all so worth it. But dont ask me to say the name again cause I wouldn't know how to pronounce it let alone remember it.) 
• The Buluarte of Chavit Singson (You got to hand it to him, he really knows how to make an impression on people. The Tigers in his park sure felt that same way - Plus we loved the dinosaurs too)
• The Hike to Kabigan Falls (Tiring but the photo ops from start to the end of the trip were endless-plus we found nature to be breath-taking. Dont ask the tour guide though how much longer to the falls, they all say its just near... and we all know that ain't true :) 
• What we added in addition this itinerary as was recommended by my friend Alex C. was Grappa's Inn located in Vigan's Calle Crisologo - The slide show had some pics of the place but tripadvisor's other users have given their comments and just like me, we all loved the the place. Grappa's Inn - TripAdvisor