Ilocos Norte: City of Laoag

An hour from the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse is the City of Laoag where the St. William’s Cathedral can be found. It was built by the Augustinian Friars way back almost four centennials ago to replace the wooden chapel.

This church was already destroyed by a hurricane around 1640s, earthquake in 1706 and a burnt by fire last 1843 but there were no remarks can be seen anymore since it was already restored and re-created like a new one.

Also, we stopped by the Sinking Bell Tower which is just located few steps from the cathedral. It is called “sinking” since it is literally sinking ¼ inch every year due to earthquakes and soft soil foundation. The main entrance to the tower is noticeably different from the others since one must step down the mini stairs and bow their heads just to get inside the tower.

We also passed by the Museum of Ilocos Norte, Tobacco Monopoly Monument and the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Norte. These three spots can be found around the plaza slash rotunda of Laoag City.

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Tobacco Monopoly Monument is just behind the Museum of Ilocos Norte, the Sinking Bell Tower is near the St. William’s Cathedral which is also located near the plaza. If you’re still having a hard time to look for this spots, just look up and look for the Mcdonalds sign. The Cathedral is just behind it.

City of Laoag is a 1 and ½ hour car ride from either Pagudpud or Vigan and approximately 10 hours from via bus or 1 hour from Manila.

How to get there:

From Manila or Pasay, ride a Partas bus to Laoag. Or just ride a plane via Airphilippines or Cebupacific.

Ilocos Norte: Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Just a few kilometers from the town of Bangui is the humble town of Burgos, which is 35 kilometers from the City of Laoag.

From the main road, Cape Bojeador Lighthouse can easily be seen from the top a hill known as Vigia de Nagparitan. This is said to be the highest lighthouse in the Philippines since it approximately measures 17 meters tall from a 160 meters high hill.

We really thought that we’ll be having a hard time to climb this lighthouse, but we actually found ourselves on the foot of the main tower without a sweat. It is very accessible to all travelers; the only hard part in climbing was its steep stairs.

The South China Sea view from the top was truly breathtaking.

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The place is very old, so be careful with your steps. Also, the wind from the top of the lighthouse is really strong, so I suggest ladies not to wear miniskirts or kinky dresses.

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse is more than 3 hours from Tuguegarao City Cagayan, an hour from Laoag, Ilocos Norte, 2 and half hours from Vigan, Ilocos Sur and is 9-12 hours away from Manila.

How to get there:

From Laoag, follow the northwestern coastal national highway that is commonly used going to Ilocos to Cagayan provinces until you've reached the town of Burgos. There’s a sign at the right side directing the entrance to the lighthouse.

Ilocos Norte: Bangui Windmills

We left Pagudpud early in the morning to continue our Cagayan-Ilocos trip and our first stop for our third day was at the famous Bangui Windmills.
Well, just a day ago we were just looking at it from afar at the Saud Beach and now we have a closer encounter to these 15 turbines of 70 meters high from the ground.

This was a project of the Marcos clan to help reduce the greenhouse effect that cause global warming. These windmills which are found to be the first windfarm here in the Philippines is said to be the biggest in the Southeast Asia that it actually provides 40% of the energy needed in Ilocos Norte.


A trip to Pagudpud will never be at its best without visting and taking lots of photos of these windmills. It was just so wonderful and very pleasing to the eyes that we even jumped for joy when we finally stepped on the Bangui Bay where these turbines are footed. It was one of the spots in Ilocos that we can’t forget. We were so lucky to see the windfarm since not everyone is given a chance to travel and see this kind of creation.


We were truly inloved with these turbines, and so we found ourselves buying wooden miniatures of these jumbo windmills which only cost a hundred and fifty pesos (P150).

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Though these windmills can be seen from afar at the main road to/from Laoag, the main rocky street to the Bangui Bay is just so hard to find, so when planning to go there make sure to ask the locals for the right directions.

Bangui Windmills is more than 3 hours from Tuguegarao City Cagayan, an hour from Laoag, Ilocos Norte, 2 and half hours from Vigan, Ilocos Sur and is 9-12 hours away from Manila.

How to get there:

a. From Tuguegarao, ride a GMW or Florida Liner bus to Laoag, Vigan, or Abra, and drop off at Pagudpud's Baduang Market.

b. From UST Manila, ride a Florida Liner or RCJ bus to Pagudpud or to Cagayan via Pagudpud, and drop off at the Pagudpud's Baduang Market.