Luzon motor cycle trip

[chris49]

7 hours ago, mogo51 said:

If you want to see Angeles (just for curiosity) the Tiger Hotel is where I have stayed many times, good size rooms, close to main area and restaurants and very reasonable, about 1200 pesos a night standard room.

Vigan is nice but accommodation is expensive and poor standard in the main.  Laoag a nice town, Chris is a big fan.

We are heading to Nth Luzon in 2 weeks, will catch up with Chris in Candon City.  Looking forward to it.

Enjoy your trip.

 

 

Vigan is all boutique style with a big mark up. 3000/night which you could get for 1500 elsewhere. Also it's hard to judge the interior of a place because most of the buildings are very old.

The Vigan Plaza Hotel is at the top end. 4500/night and that's what you deal with in Vigan. It's not a budget centre.

Sure Ron. Looking forward to it. Hold the brandy on this occasion. I have 2 more Aussies up on 7-8-9 then Candon on the 11th.

[HikiSpray]

If you drive past Roxas, Isabela, Cagayan valley there is a small but nice hotel called "The Forrest hotel", when we stayed there we pay 990peso for one night, they have a nice restaurant also. Next to it there is a another hotel, same price but no restaurant, called Japi, they have a gas station at the hotel. At the same town there is also a Dreamwave hotel in the mall. If you have time, i recommend going to anguib beach in sta. Ana, just google it. Can drive to the beach but bring your own food, in santa Ana there are many resorts. Also I heard that Ilocos norte is nice. Sorry if this seems like advertising, mod can delete if post not allowed. I have no financial benefit from this.

[earthdome]

5 hours ago, HikiSpray said:

If you drive past Roxas, Isabela, Cagayan valley there is a small but nice hotel called "The Forrest hotel", when we stayed there we pay 990peso for one night, they have a nice restaurant also. Next to it there is a another hotel, same price but no restaurant, called Japi, they have a gas station at the hotel. At the same town there is also a Dreamwave hotel in the mall. If you have time, i recommend going to anguib beach in sta. Ana, just google it. Can drive to the beach but bring your own food, in santa Ana there are many resorts. Also I heard that Ilocos norte is nice. Sorry if this seems like advertising, mod can delete if post not allowed. I have no financial benefit from this.

We stayed there a few years ago. Small rooms but nice. As I recall they also have a nice coffee shop with good espresso coffee drinks.

[HikiSpray]

8 hours ago, earthdome said:

We stayed there a few years ago. Small rooms but nice. As I recall they also have a nice coffee shop with good espresso coffee drinks.

Not only espresso, but regular coffee without sugar. -

[PaulB]

On 25 September 2016 at 5:42 AM, earthdome said:

I have driven that route. From Baguio through La Trinidad on to Sagada. Then from Sagada through Bontoc to the Banaue Rice Terraces. Then your choice is to either continue east and then around the northern tip of Luzon or back down to Baguio then head west and then north to Vigan. If you already plan on going as far north as Laoag then best to head east from Banaue to the Pan-Asian Highway. Then head north. On the way you pass through Santiago City where member Paul B opened his coffee shop. You can continue on up north through Tugegerao and up around the norther tip of Luzon to Pagudpud where there are some great white sand beaches. Then turn south on the west coast to Laoag and on to Vigan. From there further south to San Juan where there are supposed to be good surf waves. Oh... on the east coast of northern luzon somewhere are the beaches where Apocalypse Now was filmed. I have also driven from Santiago City up north and back down south to Vigan. About a 12-14 hour drive by car with no stops.

 

One note of caution. Be careful on those mountain roads. Rains frequently wash gravel or stones out onto the road.

 

Ohh. Going up to Baguio you can choose either the safe easy route of Marcos Highway or the slightly shorter but more scenic and some think dangerous route of Kennon Rd. Check to make sure Kennon Rd has been reopened. A big chunk got wiped out in a huge landslide last year. I don't know if that has been rebuilt yet.

Let me know when you are passing through and if I am not there my family will make you welcome.

[RBM]

13 hours ago, PaulB said:

Let me know when you are passing through and if I am not there my family will make you welcome.

Appreciated very much and looks like we will be passing through on the way North. Probably stay a night or two there.

As a previous member suggested after the tourist run of Sagada Bontoc Banaue we shall head east and up north. We do prefer the smaller roads not highways so will be looking this direction. problem as always here in unfamiliar territory  is conditions of roads. As most of us know sound local knowledge is rare to obtain.