Pagudpud: Saud Beach

Blue Lagoon just wasn't what we expected. The beach itself was beautiful and the ocean was a stunning deep blue, but Hanna's Resort made it feel like a theme park. They had SpongeBob SquarePants statues and a miniature Statue of Liberty on the hill. Their food was overpriced and subpar, yet the only real place to eat. We expected Pagudpud to feel a little more like a deserted island with delicious food and drinks everywhere.

I had written down Saud beach in my journal as the "Best beach in Luzon" so after one night at Blue Lagoon, we took our bags and rode a tricycle 45 minutes back in the direction we had came. There were tons of smaller resorts to choose from that just felt like hostels and nice hotels. At least here we had some options of better places to stay and choices of food. We wanted a place on the beach, so we walked through the buildings and VOILÁ!

fishermen

 double rainbow

totally worth the $17 each per night

still

treasure

not a single soul as far as the eye can see

We took a boat out across the bay to see the giant windmills up close. The water was crazy choppy on the way back and we got soaked! 

cheese-ball smiles run in the family

 wind power

I don't think Filipinos drink much. I most stuck to beer (San Miguel is made in Manila and pretty good) because any time we ordered a mixed drink it was terrible. My favorite was our rum and lemon frozen margarita... Luckily the liquor is extremely cheap and so we just made our own drinks on the beach.

$3 bottle of rum and $1 can of juice

Definitely the most amazing beach I've ever seen and thanks to Evangeline Resort we had delicious food to go with it. (We ate there for almost every meal-so good and so cheap!)

two stuffed squid for about $7

Filipino-American mango for breakfast

Saud beach was perfection. Empty beaches, clear warm water with sandy bottoms, delicious food, and epic sunsets. If you ever find yourself on Luzon, I promise it's worth the trip north.

I'm gonna miss this place

Pagudpud: Blue Lagoon

I had heard the best beaches of Luzon were in Pagudpud. We had debated traveling farther north after all the long bus and van rides through the mountains, but we were so close now that we just couldn't turn back. Laoag is on the way and has an airport so we could fly back to Manila from there once we had left the beach.

On the way to the bus station we ran into the Vigan Longganisa parade, luckily there was a bus to Laoag waiting so we were able to just get on right there in the street. We waited for an hour and then as the traffic cleared, we followed the parade down the road. This was a moment of absolute ridiculousness. I had thought this entire time that I was being stared at by Filipinos because I was tall, white, and tattooed, but I realized on the bus that the tall and tattooed had nothing to do with it. The sidewalks were still littered with parade spectators and as our bus slowly drove by I noticed them staring at me, cranking their necks back, notifying their friends. I decided that I must be the highlight of the parade so I started waving and smiling like a good Disney princess would do.

In Laoag, we took a tricycle to another bus and hurried aboard. A young girl stepped on and stood in the isle. She opened her bible and started preaching in Tagalog (thankfully). I figured she would get off when the bus left, but she just kept standing there, preaching for over twenty minutes.

Pagudpud signs kept popping up along the road. We didn't have a place to stay yet and had no idea where to get off. Another foreigner was on the bus and started asking if there was a terminal. (Everyone always has a different answer in the Philippines.) He stood at the front looking as confused as us. The bus made one of it's many stops and everyone turned to look at us. "Hanna's!" We said we weren't staying at Hanna's, we don't have a place yet. "Hanna's!" Everyone was so sure this was our stop that all three of us got off and the bus drove away. A tricycle driver took us down the hill to the beach-Blue Lagoon. There was a big resort (Hanna's) and some homestays. We chose a homestay and then went to explore. It was very windy and chilly and there was hardly anywhere to eat (except Hanna's). This was not what we were expecting. The water was beautiful though.

view from our homestay

Hanna's zip-line

Dos Hermanos

...and FINALLY some beach and sun for my banana

Bantay Bell Tower

In the nearby town of Bantay sits the historic St. Augustine Church and bell tower. The church was built in 1590, but suffered damages during WWII and had to be reconstructed in 1950. The belfry (built in 1591) survived any major damage and is still standing today. It was used as a watch tower to alert against possible invasions.

earthquake baroque

graffiti on a bell over 400 years old...

view of Vigan

Bantay cemetery and Cordillera mountain range

Handmade in Vigan

Many traditions in the Philippines are dying as an increasing number of young people are leaving for the city in seek of work in offices and factories. Almost 30% of the Ifuago rice terraces are now abandon and deteriorating. In Ilocos Sur, the elders worry that handweavers may also be a vanishing breed. Passing down these skills to the next generation is crucial for the survival of these arts.

In Vigan, my mom and I had a chance to see a few weavers in action at Rowilda's Loomweaving. It was beautiful! I brought home a pink, orange, and red piece like one I watched being made.

We also explored Ruby Jar Factory. Watch the video at the end to see one of the potters spin jar after jar on his completely manual wheel. He told us he makes 300 jars a day "8 to 5."

the giant in-ground oven

Over the Mountains and Through the Palm Trees

Out of the mountains and down to the warm and lovely city of Vigan. Traveling around the island of Luzon is interesting to say the least. Everyone seems to have a different answer of how to get somewhere. We were starting to worry there may not be a way out of Bontoc. We could go to Banaue and back or to Sagada and back, but how do we get out of these mountains without taking the six hour bus ride on the windy, cliff-side highway back to Baguio and THEN over to the coast? Well, here's how:

We spent about three hours in Cervantes waiting for enough people to cram in a van before we could leave. Being a foreigner has been a very strange part of being in the Philippines. In some cities I felt like a princess. Police wanted photos with us, security guards went out of their way to serve us our fast food and get us the perfect table, the locals were extremely kind and helpful. In other cities, we felt very unwanted. Waiters wouldn't acknowledge us in restaurants, venders mocked us when we were too choosey about not wanting rotten or green fruit. No matter where we were though, people stared. This isn't just looking at you because you're different, it's staring until they run into a wall, it's pointing, it's peeking around corners to watch us walk by. Sometimes it's incredibly annoying, but most of the time it's just hilarious and the best is when it's little kids. There was a school near our van in Cervantes and the children could not get enough of  us.

We finally made it to Vigan after dark and found a cheap place to stay. In the morning, we found a much nicer place right on the lovely cobblestone Calle Crisologo.

just outside our hotel

 good morning!

Every January for the past decade, Vigan has held a festival for their longganisa sausages and we just happened to be there during the celebration. There were different events happening each night (we missed the Search for Miss Gay unfortunately) and the week ended with a big parade.

sausage fest

a traditional longganisa breakfast

greasy longganisa emanada-nothing like the delicious empanadas in South America

Sagada

Sagada was a breath of fresh air after Bontoc (literally). We stayed in a cute little inn on the hill and I took a much needed hot shower. In the morning, we walked down to a church, through a cemetery, down a hill of limestone and mud steps and directly under some wooden coffins hanging on the side of a cliff.

clean and cozy

our balcony

down the hill

 the church

steps to the cemetery

the trail

 Look!

 falling chairs

 Sagada from above

this place feels like home

...but with more bananas