They say that life is a book and those who don’t travel read
only one page. I guess when me and my boyfriend went on our little summer escapade
around the Ilocos region— Laoag, Vigan, and Pagudpud, we were able to flip a
couple of pages in our lives’ books.
When the both of us were preparing for this trip, I admit
that I got the most help from my online research. I read blogs, online reviews,
travel websites, forum threads, name it, I’ve probably dipped my finger in it
during this time. It was fascinating to read through what other bloggers have
experienced, the places they went to, and the food they ate. Definitely hyped
me up more for our upcoming trip! So here in my first post, I will not only be
sharing our experiences but I’ll squeeze in a few info which I think might help
those who plan to go on their own Pagudpud trips in the future.
Since this is both our first time to travel to Pagudpud on a
bus, my boyfriend asked around from his colleagues how we should go about with
this. All of them directed us to Partas Liner. Partas Liner is a pretty old bus
company which offers daily trips to Baguio and other provinces in the north. They have terminals at Cubao and Pasay but we
opted to ride from the Sampaloc terminal since it was the nearest from where we were staying. A one-way
ticket to Laoag, as per April 2014 rates, costs Php 665.00. We were advised that from
there, we just had to take a van going to Pagudpud.
After about 30 minutes, we were asked to board the bus and
we finally hit the roads at around 10 pm. All in all, I think it took about 12-13
hours before we reached Laoag. When we reached Laoag about lunch time of the following day, we
took a tricycle from the Partas Liner terminal to the place where we can take
vans to Pagudpud. Taking the tricycle shouldn’t be a worry since there is
already a long line of tricycles waiting inside the bus terminal.
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| Still giddy after over ten hours of land travel! |
The tricycle brought
us to the van terminal where we can take our ride to Pagudpud. I guess it’s
best to manage your expectations because the vans here definitely won’t have
air conditioning, what they do have is air “continuous”— continuous air from
outside the van. J Best
to get a seat on the window side because it can get pretty hot in the van with
several people really tightly-packed inside. And of course, you wouldn’t want
to miss the nice view, too. Our almost two-hour trip to Pagudpud set us back by
Php 100.00 each.
With instructions from the staff of the resort we were about
to stay at, we got off the van at the Blue Lagoon Cove. Just tell the van driver to drop you off there. You'll see it easily because there is a huge signage and a waiting shed at the drop-off point. Since the resort was on the farthest
point of the beach strip, we had to take another tricycle to take us there. We
were charged Php 70.00 for this trip. Exhausted and lacking energy because of
our overnight travel, we finally reached our chosen resort in Pagudpud: Casa
Consuelo Island Reef Resort at the Blue Lagoon.
According to what I’ve read, there are two shores you may opt to visit when you come to Pagudpud: the Blue Lagoon and the Saud beach. The Saud beach is lined with a lot of hotel resorts too but they are a little bit pricier than the ones in the Blue Lagoon. But don’t get me wrong, the Blue Lagoon offers an equally exhilarating view of the beach. From our resort, aside from the beach, you also get a bonus view of two small mountains which the locals there call “Dos Hermanos”.
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| Imagine waking up to this |
The room that we got is a pretty and breezy garden casa. It
had a queen-sized bed, fancy lighting, a fan, and a comfy duyan in front of our
room. It truly felt like a home away from home. All these plus the services of
very kind and attentive staff for only Php 2,000 per night. And this comes in
with free breakfast too! Talk about bang for your buck. They also have
air-conditioned rooms and family-sized rooms, in case you prefer those. You can
view all their rooms
here. Here is the facade of the garden cabana we stayed in:
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| Pretty, isn't it? |
If you want to take a dip, you have to walk for a bit because the Casa Consuelo shore is rocky so you really can’t swim
there. But with a mere 5-7 minute walk to the neighbouring beach, you can
already enjoy the sun, sand, and the sea at Hannah’s Beach Resort for free. Aside
from swimming, there are several other amenities that you could avail of at
Hannah’s. They have banana boats and zip lines. Actually, they’re saying that
this is the longest zipline in the world which runs above water— and it
honestly looks like so! Remember our tricycle ride earlier? That’s from the top
of a mountain going down to the Blue Lagoon. Now, imagine getting hung up from
that place and zipping your way down in a speed that only God-knows-how-fast.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to try this because....well, yeah, I chickened
out. Haha!
One interesting thing I noticed is how a lot of food and
souvenir stalls are situated at the roadside near the beach. This gives you
easy access to food and drinks in case you get hungry from all the swimming.
And they have quite an extensive variation too— from ihaw-ihaw, to burgers, to
shawarma, chips, ice cream, juices, ice scramble, and a whole lot more. Your
taste buds (and your tummy!!) won’t be disappointed.
Our first day in Pagudpud was about eating, swimming, and
more eating. Haha! We ended our day with
a sumptuous feast of Ilocos bagnet, Kare-kare, and Pinakbet at Casa Consuelo’s
dining area. The food’s really yummy and they are quite affordable too, just
around Php 100.00 to Php 220.00 for a hefty serving of your chosen viand. We
dozed off to sleep with happy hearts and happy tummies, knowing that there’s so
much more ahead of us in the coming days.
(Part 2 of our Pagudpud Escapade to be posted soon. J)
# # #
Partas Liner, Inc.
Contact number: +632 7433242 (Sampaloc Terminal)
Casa Consuelo Island Reef
FB Page: www.facebook.com/CasaConsuelo
Contact number: 09189905385 (Ms. Armi)
