Road trip to the North

It was the Independence Day weekend when we decided to head up north and plan the road trip with my two friends. The target was to drive by midnight and have stop overs along the way if required. But the final destination would be Pagudpud since both of my friends haven't been there.

This is not the first time I'm travelling to the North. Given that, I know how long the drive would be!

Paoay Church

Anyway, we went ahead and all excited to get on to the road for this perfect weekend road trip.

We went on a quick stop in San Simon to have dinner at my friend's place and then on went for the long drive.

Driving at night could be a bit boring though as there's nothing to see but the pitch black surroundings. We sufficed ourselves with listening to music and chatting about whatever comes to mind.

Welcome to Ilocos Sur

In the morning, we reached La Union and feeling a bit hungry we decided to make a stop over in one of the resorts and grabbed our own packed food - hotdog, ham and white bread! We were tempted to book in the resort unfortunately they were all fully booked as it was a long weekend...fine.

We continued to Ilocos Sur and passed by the welcome arc. We were feeling tired and sleepy having been awake for more than 10 hours on the road. We tried to find a place to make a quick stop and spend a few hours to sleep. We found one at along the road and spent 3 hours to rest.

After recharging we are back again on the road and excited for our next stop. We should be in Ilocos Norte in less than 3 hours.

Our first destination in the North is the Kapurpurawan Rock formation. Going there we had a glimpse of the windmills which got us more excited.

So white! Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

There were a lot of travelers during that day. We had to walk a few minutes going to the rock formation. And after a few photo ops, went to our next destination which is the Bangui Windmills.

Bangui Widnmills

The windmills are sooo big! We didn't imagine they were that humongous...haha. We settled near one windmill with it's shade and had our picnic blanket to sit on and have our very late lunch. It was a good lunch as we were tired and hungry at the same time. The sea breeze was very nice and added enjoyment while we were eating.

We were tired then so we decided to head to Pagudpud to finally check it and rest. We didn't do much that night and we just went to sleep so we will be ready for the next day's trip.

We woke up feeling refreshed and hungry. We had our breakfast at Saud Beach Resort. The beach looks inviting but we didn't have enough time and it was too hot still.

Saud Beach

After breakfast and have freshened up, we went back on the road to stop by Paoay Church.

The church is very beautiful. My second time there actually.

After that, we went back on the road to Vigan. A quick stop at Calle Crisologo for photo op, buying souvenirs and of course, Vigan longganisa. I have to admit the Vigan longganisa wasn't the one we were used to as it was frozen. We usually have our Vigan longganisa freshly made every time my relatives bring them home!

Calle Crisologo in Vigan

Morning dip at the Pool!

After Vigan, we then had a quick stop over at Chowking in Candon before heading to La Union, where we spent the night.

The next morning we had a quick dip after breakfast in the pool. Fit to end our road trip.

By lunch time, we went on the road again to travel back to Manila and hopefully avoid the heavy traffic.

It was a fun and tiring weekend. But mostly an enjoyable experience to have with my two friends. We learned that next time we'll have the road trip down south and should only be less than 4 hours drive! Haha

Can't wait for our next road trip!