The Über-Famous Destinations in Ilocos Norte

If you have seen advertisements or pictures that were shot in Ilocos Norte, then you would have seen these über-famous destinations.

Coming from the south, I passed by a lot of towns in Ilocos Norte. Then something caught my attention when I was on the road, I saw a gleaming infrastructure standing tall on top of the mountain. The trike turned right and I was heading to Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos. I captured images of the lighthouse and the view on top seeing cliffs and the vast sea. Having seen those, I was pumped up to get to other tourist spots.

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

View on top of where Cape Bojeador Lighthouse is standing

Closer view of the lighthouse

View of Burgos

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Burgos Cliff

I was still in the town of Burgos to see the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation. From the main road going to Kapurpurawan Rock Formation, it took about 15-20 minutes ride. A fee for PhP15 for adult is needed to get inside. When I got there, there were store stalls selling food, souvenirs, hats, umbrellas and even horse ride. I thought that the rock formation was just close by but I was wrong. I still need to walk thru lush green little forest and a dirt pavement that led me to different amazing views such as;

Burgos Windmills

Burgos Windmills and the view

Burgos amazing vista

Burgos Sea View

Burgos Sea View

The Epic of Lam-ang

and finally, there it was, the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation. I would have loved to go near it but man, I’m all wet from sweat. It was very uncomfortable, scorching hot, and no place to find shade. Yet with those discomforts I felt, it was still a mesmerizing scene.

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation from afar

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

 Next stop was in the town of Bangui where the most photographed place in Ilocos Norte can be seen, the Bangui Windmills. The travel time from Burgos to Bangui was about 30-45 minutes. When I got to this famous tourist destination, I was in awe with how ginormous these windmills are. They were close enough and they lined the beach making it more dramatic to look at. Just picture out the light blue sea, the sand, the blue skies mixed with these humungous wind turbines. It made my day. It would be great to visit these windmills early morning or late afternoon to fully enjoy it without getting sunburns.

 After Bangui Windmills, I traveled my way to Pagudpud. It was exhausting traveling that far. I went to Maira-Ira Beach and the famous Blue Lagoon of Pagudpud. The traverse to get to Pagudpud took about 30-45 minutes. But the sight of the beach was a total treatment from the tiring journey. In Maira-Ira Beach or Blue Lagoon, there are a lot of resorts, inns, transient houses and even homestays. The biggest resort and the most famous is Hannah’s Beach Resort. It was wide and spacious and they even have zipline crossing the blue sea from the mountain going to the beach resort. There were a lot of people in Blue Lagoon. Every cottages, resorts and homestays were fully occupied. I was saddened hearing from the resort I planned to stay in that they were also fully booked. I only stayed in Blue Lagoon for an hour, taking pictures and enjoying summer breeze. After that, I went back to Laoag. I didn’t even get the chance to dip in the beach but it was OK. In Hannah’s, I felt like artificial sand or sand powders were placed there coz the surrounding beaches weren’t powdery sand like we used to have in Panglao and Anda, Bohol. But still, I love the view of the rocks, the sea, and the fresh air.

Pagudpud Welcomes You

I could wake up to this scene everyday

Amazing view

Picture perfect

Hannah’s Beach Resort

Blue Lagoon

Traveling back to Laoag was another grueling ride for 4 hours via bus. I just slept with my sweat soaked shirt, my weary feet, and my skin and face full of dust. The lesson I learned was even though I am backpacking, I still need to make reservations for me not to encounter such issues along the way.

Anyway, I did enjoy and it was another tick on my bucket list. I can say that I have visited and conquered Ilocos Norte’s über-famous tourist destinations.

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