Being that we are backpackers, it always follows that we travel on a budget. Our plane tickets carefully booked, our hostels painfully scrutinized, and our daily allowance tightly budgeted. It is also an art of backpacking to find the most affordable places to eat in. We also consider the cultural requisites like flavor, tradition and the old school way of cooking it.

In most cases, we end up being seen in the streets and hawker stalls getting down and dirty. Hawker stalls can be found all over Asia, and the Philippines got …

First things first, there’s no airport in Vigan. The nearest airport is in Laoag, about 2 hours bus ride away. Cebu Pacific Air flies twice daily (to and from).  Vigan is a very small town, you can actually cover a complete itinerary in one day, so it’s a good idea to also check out other towns like Sta. Maria, Narvacan and probably some nearby beaches in La Union province.

For someone like me and Monette, this town is perfect to unleash the creative animals within us. She can just sit along …

Ilocos Norte is the northernmost province in mainland Luzon. You actually get radio signals from Taiwan, that is if you’re still using a pre-historic walkman with FM band. The province got a long stretch of coastline with the terrain mainly slopes and hills. The northern tip of the province is Pagudpud, a small town covered with a crumpled blanket of hilly jungle. They even tag the Pagudpud beaches as the “Boracay of the North”.
There are buses going to Pagudpud from the city center of Laoag. Travel time is around 2 …