Apart from the Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag, there was little to keep us there in Laoag City. It reminded me too much of Manila, it was noisy, busy and polluted. Fortunately, Laoag was only a launching pad for us to travel even further up north of Laoag city.
We caught a jeepney going up north to our next destination – the seaside town of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. The town of Pagudpud is already at the northern tip of mainland Luzon. This is as far north as I have ever been in the Philippines. We will be staying in the village of Saud in Pagudpud town.
This place was been dubbed the “Boracay of the North”. True enough, there was white sand beach that greeted us there. Although, it was called the “Boracay of the North”, there is one thing conspicuously missing from the picture – the crowds. It seems that even the locals haven’t discovered the beauty of Pagudpud or maybe it is because they see it everyday that they don’t really know how special it really is.
We checked into a resort nearby with a great view of the beach, then we set of exploring the immediate area. It was already sundown and the sun was already casting a nice golden glow on the sand. I haven’t seen this kind of sunset in a long time. People were playing around the area and of course swimming in the beach. It is fairly obvious there there is a distinct lack of mass tourism facilities here in Pagudpud. There aren’t a lot of resorts here and neither are there a lot of restaurants. It appears that after dinner we wouldn’t have much to do here.
We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, with fresh seafood of course! As expected, there also weren’t a lot of people in the restaurant. It really is that sleepy. I am thankful that a place such as Pagudpud still doesn’t have the kind of madness that Boracay has become. So after that nice dinner, we head back to the resort to watch TV.
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