28 December 2007, Day 4

Nina, Inaki and Timmy with Bangui Windmill background

Joey and Miren on Bangui Windmill Farm view deck

The first stop was the windmill farm in Bangui about 30 minutes after leaving Pagudpud. You can get a close up view of some of the windmills from the road but the best is from a view deck a bit further down the road. There are 7 or 8 windmills which, together with the countryside scenery, present a good background for photos. The view deck is also a store where souvenirs are also sold.

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse marker.

Not much further down the road there is the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos. Coming from Pagudpud you must keep an eye out for it. The lighthouse is high up the hill to the left of the road and the sign is facing the wrong way. It’s a short drive up the hill and you can park at the base of a stairway leading up the lighthouse complex. After 42 steps you enter the lighthouse property where you are met with what else but more steps. You will come across a small museum upon entering the main building and then there are even more steps up to the base of the tower itself. We had to wait our turn up the tower but we had the good fortune of meeting the amiable lighthouse keeper who regaled us with some stories. When our turn came it was still more steps up the spiral staircase to the top. Considering that this was built during the Spanish era, I have to wonder at the engineering and technology employed. Don’t forget the contribution box on your way out of the tower. All the steps down were equally murderous to a different set of muscles. Including the long walk in San Juan of 2 day ago, the pain would stay with me for a good week.

Steps,

more steps,

and even more steps

to the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse Lantern.

We skipped Laoag and stopped at about noon for lunch in the town of San Nicolas although we would have all loved to visit Fort Ilocandia which is a family favorite. Lunch was Shakey’s Pizza in a very modern mall ala Greenbelt 3. The complimentary newspaper in the restaurant, the first we read in 3days, mentioned something about President Arroyo visiting the town fiesta of Santa probably landing and coming from Laoag. This was evident from all the people waiting in the roadsides heading south. This did not help the drive which was slow and I turned over the wheel to Miren nearing La Union. We passed the San Juan Surf Resort at around 5 PM and the odometer was at 955 kilometers. We used the bypass in San Fernando to avoid the city proper traffic but it still took another hour to get to Bauang from San Juan where we loaded gas before turning left onto Naguilian Road. The drive up to Baguio went relatively well with the exception to a military convoy, most likely related to the Arroyo visit there, that we had to pass. The convoy was led by something that looked like a tank but with large tires. It took another hour to get to Baguio from Bauang and we arrived promptly at 7 PM.

Joey and Miren at doorway to Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Joey and Miren in Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Nina in the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse grounds

Timmy, Joey and Inaki finally make it to the top

We checked in at our usual Price Plaza Hotel along Legarda Road. After a bath and a bit of rest, we had dinner in a Korean restaurant across the hotel. After dinner, I was able to convince everybody to go an a stroll and we walked down to Burnham and halfway up Session to a McDonalds outlet for dessert. I wanted to walk back to the hotel but we made it as far as the bottom of Session and took a taxi the rest of the way back to the hotel. Another night of TV and early sleep but this is one time I was looking forward to it.

Northern view from Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Southern view from Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Total distance traveled so far is 1,019.8 kilometers. Total expense for the day was P6,514.

written by  Joey Carlotta on January 5, 2008 from Baguio, Philippines
from the travel blog: 2007 Carlotta X'Mas Family Road Trip
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