Pagudpud Tour

September 18, 2013

The Kapurpurawan White Rock Formation

Day 2 of our Ilocos Tour. You may view the 1st day of our Ilocos Tour in this post:

Day 1 Vigan Tour






Here's my journal for our Pagudpud Tour:

• 05:00 Again the early bird waits for the others and the last to take a bath. Last night, I asked the reception about the secret twisting motion to enable the hot water in the shower. 
• 07:00 Early breakfast at the nearby Jollibee. I really like Jollibee's Beef Tapa with Peach Mango Pie.
• 08:00 Sidetrip to a Salt Cooking Hut. I was surprised to know that we import this concentrated rock salts from Australia to be cooked and the end product is the rock salt being sold in our local markets. I once thought we make this salts by drying seawater.

 Sacks of rock

 Boiling area of the hut

Finished product, fine rock salt

• 08:30 Dragon Fruit Farm. I was very curious about this dragon fruit way back when I saw it at Cagayan de Oro during one of my travels, its proper name is pitaya or pitahaya. The fruit looks like a large rambutan (another exotic fruit) but the evolved form. The flower of the dragon fruit only blooms a few hours a day, we were lucky at the time of our visit the flower at the entrance has spread out its petals. The pitaya is like a cactus vine and bears its fruits at the end of the vines. The plantation looked like cactus groves when we climbed the viewing deck. After exploring the farm we ate dragon fruit ice cream at their cafe and Ate Cha bought some seedlings to cultivate at her own backyard.

The dragon fruit flower sculpture

The Haciendera

The Dragon Fruit

My parents at the Café

The dragon fruit flower

The welcome sign of Refmad Farms

The vast dragon fruit plantation as seen from the viewing deck

The dragon fruit fountain

The peaceful swinging chairs at the Café

• 09:00 After the refreshing ice cream we went to Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, it was a circling road going up to the lighthouse and there were a few vendors just below the tourist attraction. A few more steps going up and we had a good panoramic view of the coastline. Unfortunately the lighthouse was off limits at the time of our visit so we were only able to go up to the balcony.

At the parking area

Some historical info about the lighthouse

The view of the coastline from the lighthouse

Parola ng Cape Bojeador

The mountains on the other side of the lighthouse 

• 10:00 The next destination was perhaps my most favorite part of the tour for Day 2, The Kapurpurawan Rock Formation. Kapurpurawan is an Ilocano term that means "Kaputi-putian" in Filipino and roughly translates to "Whitest" in English. There was short walk down to get to the stables, here we hired 2 horses for my mother and father ( 100.00 php per horse). If you are not a senior citizen or disabled, I suggest you walk the length of the trip to the white rocks as the view along the way is more stunning in a slower pace. The white rocks along the coastline was the ultimate photo ops area of Kapurpurawan, we spent around an hour in the area taking various poses. There was also this rock formation formed like a wishing well and a huge white wall near it, I think this part of the area was used in some soap operas (the mermaid themed ones). Unfortunately, the signature rock formation (The one shaped like the head of a space ship) of Kapurpurawan was off limits to tourists because of the slippery rocks but there was this viewing deck were we took some shots of the scenery. After the exhausting tour at Kapurpurawan we treated ourselves with Buko Juice ( 25.00 php each).

At the start of the trail going to Kapurpurawan White Rocks

The white rock at the back drop is our destination

The green pathway to the stables

Panorama shot of the tourist attraction

We saw strong waves smashing the coastline as we passed by

A hundred meter away from the white rock

Lam-ang, the epic hero of the Ilocanos

A cool erosion

ROAR!!!

Lost in paradise

A lone white boulder near the coast

The wishing well

This area was used by a mermaid themed soap opera

At the cliff facing the sea

The rocky coastline

The convenient horse ride for senior citizens

• 11:30 Another landmark of Ilocos Norte is the Bangui Windmills, a project of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a.k.a. Bongbong Marcos. There are 20 windmills at the wind farm with a height of 230 ft. Our group performed the mandatory staring at the distance pose with the windmills as background. We also took other creative shots before packing up as it was now time for our lunch.

A sea creature that drifted near Bangui Bay

The Bangui Windmills

• 12:15 We had some side trip at the Pagudpud Welcome Arch before going to the famous white beaches.

Pagudpud Welcome Arch

• 12:45 At the Pagudpud White Beaches there were many "Palutuans", restaurants were you choose the seafoods to be cooked and they'll cook it for you. While waiting for our late lunch I strolled the area near Hannah's Resort, there were lots of statues where you can take your pictures and they have this longest zip line over a body of water (1.15 km) but it cost 700.00 php a ride. I really like the Ilocano foods we have eaten so far, they are delicious and healthy. My parents didn't have a hard time eating the food except for the squid which gives a fight before it lets you eat it.

A tranquil place at the white beaches of Pagudpud

The longest zipline over a body of water

An acre of coastline

Orc statues at Hannah's Resort

Pirates of the Carribean

Octopus in oyster sauce and lobster in butter

This lobster was the best dish of that lunch

• 14: 50 After the sumptuous meal we went to The Bantay Abot Cave is a natural rock formation with a hole in the center. The area was good for picture taking especially the hollow part of the rock where there were many bird nests on top. The area going to the rock is slippery so be careful.

The shoal near the cave

The natural hole of the rock formation

The hole viewed from the other side

The slippery way going to Bantay Abot Cave

• 15:10 Then we went to Patapat Viaduct, this concrete bridge was a project of President Marcos and connects Laoag, Ilocos Norte to the Cagayan Valley Region.

The Patapat Viaduct

 I just have to post this shot of my parents

The Patapat Viaduct from the Cagayan Valley Side

• 15:15 Then a short drive further was Paraiso ni Anton, nothing is special about this place. There's a small waterfalls where the water is potable and a mini grotto on top. We spent only a few minutes in here then we proceeded to our last destination.

 The Grotto at Paraiso ni Anton

 The Mini Falls

The lush forest beside Paraiso ni Anton

• 19:15 On our way home we took some photos of Java Hotel before going back to our hotel.

Java Hotel

 The wonderful hut style architecture of Java Hotel

Ate Cha posing for the eagle sculpture at the entrance

• 20:00 Again our night will not be complete unless we did this night biking around Laoag City.
• 22:00 Lights out...

Thanks for reading!!! Feel free to leave some comments.