ILOCOS BACKPACKING TRIP: OUR DIY TRAVEL SUMMARY

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MISSED:
too many still :-)  I hope to be back here and go straight to Cagayan..

Ilocos Norte and Sur all in 4 days and 3 nights ... Thank God for the chances to experience these places :)

So how did we do it?  Here's the itinerary and expenses:

Ticket - Bought from Piso Fare Promo of Cebu Pacific Php 2,500
          - Flight 5J-404 Mla (7:05 PM) - Laoag International Airport (8:30 PM)

DAY 1:
1:20 PM - Alabang to Magallanes , bus, Php 50
                 Magallanes - Taft Avenue, MRT, Php 20
                 Taft Avenue - NAIA T3 via Nichols, Jeep, Php 16
2:30 PM - Arrived NAIA T3


Terminal Fee - Php 400.00

6:35 PM - Boarding Time
7:30 PM - Departure

9:00 PM - Arrived Laoag International Airport


Tricycle special trip to Tiffany Hotel - Php 100

9:30 PM - Arrived Tiffany Hotel



Tiffany Hotel - Twin bed accomodation for an overnight stay Php 1,170.00
(We decided to go outside and headed to Jollibee, just a walking distance from Tiffany Hotel and bought some water in a convenience store.)


Dinner at Jollibee - Php 190

Water - Php 34

Tricycle to Town Plaza - P20
(After dinner we decided to go to the town plaza that we passed by going to Tiffany Hotel because it seemed so near and it was.  The driver left us a big grin when he dropped us off because its just a walking distance from Jolibee... oh well.. ganun talaga minsan pumapalpak :))


I wasnt feeling so well during the trip, I had a runny nose and almost getting a flu... but it didn't stop us... I had to buy another roll of  tissue...

DAY 2
6:00 AM - woke up

6:45 AM - left Tiffany and went to Town Plaza to get some shots of the Laoag City Hall and nearby spots


Tricycle going to Bus Terminal - 2nd palpak Php 20
Tricycle going to Van Terminal - 3rd palpak Php 20

As expected we again wasted a few tricycle fares going to Bus Terminal that will bring us to Pagudpud.  From town plaza we decided to walk going to Bus Terminal because the GPS said it was just near. And we walked and walked until we gave in... hehehe.. When we are about to drop, the people said the bus left earlier so they advised us to go to Van terminal instead.. which is just a walking distance from Tiffany Hotel, just a few blocks from Jollibee..

8:00 AM - Left Laoag via Van Laoag-Cagayan, for Pagudpud drop off, Php 140


(The Van wasn't airconditioned so it wasn't a convenient ride at the start of the trip, but as we got nearer to Pagudpud we then started to appreciate the open window, we get to take shots and had an oven breezy air.


Passing by different town we started seeing spots that were on our list.


9:20 AM - arrived Bangui


In a tricycle terminal along the road, we asked some drivers if they do tricycle tour and if we can get both the North and South Tour in a day.  And so we met Kuya Larry. We agreed at Php 1,200 for both North and South Tour, which from blogs I red is the standard rate, Php 600 for North and Php 600 for South.

Kuya Larry was very kind and shy, during lunch he even insisted he will pay for his own lunch, which we of course didnt allow.  In some part of the tour, he even  left his tricycle and went to check us if we were okay because I guess we were taking a lot of time than expected.  And during end of the trip, he even wanted to return the Php200, he said Php 1,000 is enough because we didn't go anyway to other places in the North.  But since we are happy by the way he treated us, we gave him back the extra Php 200. I asked for his number so I can share to people, unfortunately, I lost Kuya Larry's mobile.

This is Kuya Larry... You can just look for him in the Tricycle terminal along the road in Bangui, with his tricycle number 168.

Pagudpud North and South Tour Tricycle Fare - Php 1,200

Details of this Tour:

SOUTH TOUR
10:00 AM - Bangui Windmill


10:20 AM - Bangui Viewdeck



10:30 AM - Kapurpurawan Rock Formation (My fave spot for this trip.)





We met Kuya Dado along the way, he was following us during the trek and volunteered to take some shots for us. Since he saw us having lots of solo shots, I guess.  It is not necessary to get a guide in this area, but it was nice that we met Kuya Dado because he know the perfect spots to get good pictures, even suggested a few poses hahaha... So yun nauto na naman kami... we gave Kuya Dado Php100 for a tip, though he didn't ask for it.. but of course its given. Anyway we got a lot of good shots together and we were happy.

11:40 AM - Cafe Bojeador Lighthouse

Be sure to be here before lunch because they closes during lunch time.  The guard was kind enough to let us in and waited for us to finish taking photos. So we gave him Php 50. Again unnecessary but Ive red in blogs they also gave tips to the guard, so what is Php 50 for a smile right? :)




12:00 AM - Lunch near Cafe Bojeador, along the road, facing the shore... , Php 300


NORTH TOUR
(We missed a lot of places and falls in the North Tour, we decided to skip it because most requires some trek.  And since I was not feeling well during the trip and that we were just two, we weren't sure if we were fit to do such activity.  Also, the travel took so long from North to South via a tricycle.  Tricycle tour though fun and the most possible means for backpackers, it wasn't really convenient.  We felt a few cramps on the road and we were feeling the hot temperature of the town.

Also, we decided to skip it because we wanted to stay a night at Vigan.  I've red blogs that suggested to must try the streets at Vigan during night time because of its photoholic lighting. And so we did.

Sorry I missed tracking the exact time during our North Tour.  We went to the ff:

Paraiso ni Anton

 Aqua Grande



Patapat Viaduct



I wasn't able to find ways to get to Vigan from North of Pagudpud but via Laoag still. So from this point, we said goodbye to Kuya Larry when we saw a bus  that will bring us back to Laoag.

We hopped in a Claveria Tour Bus and good thing we arrived just before 5 PM in Partas terminal. The last trip was 5 PM, our bus is bound to Pasay and we dropped off at Vigan.
Patapat Viaduct to Laoag via Claveria Tours - Php 160

While inside this bus, we saw Cafe Bojeador from below... We didnt realise how high we where been until we saw it..
5:00 PM - Arrived Laoag

Laoag to Partas Terminal - Php 25

Laoag to Vigan via Partas Bus bound to Pasay - Php 242

It was a long trip from Laoag to Vigan... We arrived Vigan late at night and walked through Heritage City until we found Grandpas Inn.



Grandpas Inn overnight accomodation - Php 1,550
(I just loved this place.)


















St. Augustine Church





   






Tricycle Fare La Preciosa - UKL - Php 25




All in all... the trip was 4 days and 3 nights...  P11,000 plus total of expenses for the two us, Almost Php 6k each, and the experience... priceless ^___^!