After spending the night in Vigan, we made stops at Paoay, Fort Ilocandia, and Burgos on the way to the final destination of the trip, Pagudpud.
From Vigan, Paoay is less than an hour away. It was noon when we reached Paoay so we first went to Cafe Herencia for lunch.
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| Interesting Table Stand |
Cafe Herencia is famous for its pizzas and it thankfully lived up to hype. Our dinuguan and longganisa combination pizza had fresh ingredients and the crust had a nice bite to it.
Stick to the pizzas though as other dishes were bad.
So bad that we actually had this chicken dish sent back to the kitchen.
Across Cafe Herencia is the UNESCO Heritage Site, Paoay Church. Paoay Church is said to be one of the best examples of baroque churches in the Philippines.
Paoay Church was built using baked bricks, coral rocks, tree sac, and lumber. The high ceiling and long aisle also make Paoay Church a popular venue for weddings.
Still in Paoay, we also went to Malacañang of the North. It's a 5-hectare property that was the residence of President Ferdinand Marcos and his family when they were in Ilocos during his term.
Malacañang of the North gives us a peek on how well the Marcoses lived during their heyday.
The satellite office was fit for a king...
and what I especially appreciated about this mansion was how spacious and grand it was. The Marcoses surely knew how to live the good life.
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| View from the Residence is Paoay Lake |
Leaving Paoay behind, we had to return to Laoag to reach Pagudpud. We visited Fort Ilocandia Resort which was in Laoag since we were already in the area.
Fort Ilocandia is supposedly the only 5 star resort hotel in Ilocos but it smelled old and it's far from city center. Tourists, I learned, go here to play in the casino.
In Burgos, which is about 30 minutes from Pagudpud, we dropped by Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. It is more popularly known as Burgos Lighthouse and was established during the Spanish times to guide ships that enter the Philippines from the north.
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| View from the Top |
Our final stop before reaching Pagudpud was Kapurpurawan Rock Formation which was also in Burgos. To reach the rock formations, a 10 minute walk is in order. There are also horses that can be rented for those who don't want to walk.
The formation which was created by forces of the ocean on the rocky coast was aptly named because kapurpurawan, in the local dialect, means white. My pictures don't do this wonder justice as it is breathtaking in real life.
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