New Year 2009 Road Trip - Day 2

At 7:30 in the morning on December 31, Hap and I left San Juan and embarked on a seven-hour drive to Pagudpud. We had lunch in Vigan and sampled Cafe Leona's version of Ilocandia specialties. We also made a brief stop in Burgos to take snapshots of the windmills that the area is known for.

We arrived in Saud Beach in Pagudpud town at around 4:30 in the afternoon. We originally planned to stay in one of the resorts in Saud and just visit Maira-Ira or "Blue Lagoon" the next morning, but when we found out that there were resorts in Maira-Ira (contrary to RJ's advice), we decided to spend New Year's eve there.

The trip to Maira-Ira was not completely uneventful -- apart from totally useless directions from Lonely Planet (WTF does "a few points East" mean???), we only had a rough map from one Saud resort to rely on. Fortunately, a few friendly locals were able to steer us to the right direction. We finally reached the Blue Lagoon beach stretch at 5:00 PM; by then, dark clouds had already started to cover the landscape.

There are two note-worthy resorts in Maira-Ira. The first one we encountered coming from the area’s entry point is Hannah's, an enclosed strip of land right in front of the "swimmer-friendly” portion of the beach. When we asked for a room, an "ate" offered us one for 3,500 pesos, which turns out to be its cheapest. Since this clearly was beyond our budget, we said no-thanks and started to head for Kapuluan Vista Resort, which was around 700 meters to the east of Hannah's. Upon reaching the resort, the first thing I noticed was the stark difference between Kapuluan and Hannah's: whereas the latter exuded a very artificial and suburban feel, Kapuluan's crisp rural architecture and earthy tones blended perfectly with the majestic natural landscape of Maira-Ira. I asked for a room, and all that's available was a two-person dorm-type room which costs 500 pesos per head; the relatively affordable price and the rich ambience the resort offered made checking-in a no-brainer.

By this time a steady downpour of rain had already started to intermingle with the merciless winds that Pagudpud is famous for. This dangerous cocktail made it impossible to spend even a few moments at the beach, or in any open space for that matter; so Hap and I decided to just hang out at the restaurant and try to get a few things done before dinner. After a few rounds of beer, dinner was served.

The restaurant was apparently quite an attraction in the area; a reputation that is, IMHO, very much deserved. The buffet dinner consisted of three kinds of spaghetti dishes and grilled chicken breast. After dinner, Hap and I proceeded to down the Johnny Walker Black Label bottle we brought with us and wait for the clock to strike 12.

In the last few minutes leading to the New Year, we mingled with some of the locals, the owners of Kapuluan Vista, Mike and Alma, and a few other guests. Fireworks were lit, hands were shaken, smiles and greetings were exchanged. Before we knew it, it was 2009 and we were in the northernmost tip of mainland Luzon and some 500-odd kilometers away from home.