ilocos 2013: day three

The next day, 7 January 2013, we went to Pagudpud. The plan was to stay the night so that the Australian Holleros could enjoy the beach.

(In 2009, I chose to stay longer in Vigan instead of Pagudpud because I felt that there was more stuff to see, do and eat in Vigan. But that's just me.)

After breakfast at Palacio de Laoag Hotel, we packed all our stuff up and drove north. Actually, if I had a Tupperware container handy, I would have brought along the imbaliktad to knosh on.

Imbaliktad literally means "just turned over".  Often described as half-cooked beef, goat or carabao meat.

Our first stop was the salt-maker in the small town of Pasuquin. I always thought that salt was made by drying brine in the sun, but here it's boiled down using rice husks for fuel.

A round-the-clock steam bath for the workers.

Next, we went to Burgos municipality where the famous lighthouse of Cape Bojeador is located. I missed it the last time I was here.

Officially declared as a National Historical Landmark and a National Cultural Treasure.

Uses solar energy now.

There's a museum on-site, but it was closed when we were there.

Cape Bojeador, the northwestern-most point of Luzon.

Afterwards, we cruised along the Patapat Viaduct, saw a shipwreck being chopped up for scrap, and stopped briefly at Agua Grande.

Patapat Viaduct, the fourth longest bridge in the country, connects Ilocos Norte and the Cagayan Valley.

Give it a couple more weeks and there won't be anything left.

The rocky coastline of Agua Grande.

And then it was time for lunch. Our gracious hosts, the owners of Palacio de Laoag, prepared some amazing local dishes for us. I'm drooling like Pavlov's dog just thinking about them now.

Bagis, crispy pork intestines. The best version of chicharon I've had in a long time.

Insarabasab. Grilled pork, chopped then mixed with shallot, ginger and chili. Would have been perfect with cold beer.

Before we knew it, it was already mid-afternoon. We checked in at Saud Beach Resort, a not inexpensive place with more bad reviews than good on tripadvisor. But they do have a long stretch of clean sand and an impressive view of Bangui's windmills.

A nice beach for taking long walks, but not for swimming. Rip currents every few meters.

We were supposed to continue our tour of Pagudpud, but nobody wanted to budge. So we just chilled as the sun went down.

The trick to appreciating Saud Beach Resort is to stay outdoors as much as possible.

Related posts: Pagudpud 2009 here.