Part 16 of a series
DAY 3
Beyond the Bangui Windmills Viewpoint in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, the roads were a challenge to be met as they were on the shoulders of the northern end of the Cordillera Central Mountain Range. Just as we exited the viewpoint, we were greeted by a very big sign at the entrance of a zigzag road, “SLOW DOWN! HUNDREDS DIED ON THIS ROAD!”… That was a very strong warning and being the chicken that I am, I just closed my eyes while we were on the zigzag road (often described as a “bitukang manok” or chicken intestine). The road wasn’t actually that scary, drivers would just have to be really slow, patient and careful as that part of the highway was quite steep and had abrupt curves. That’s all.
Anyway, at 10:06am, we crossed the boundary between Bangui and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. The latter is the northernmost town in the island of Luzon.
10:11am. We encountered these vast fields of rice in Pagudpud. Is this what they call “rice crisis”? LOL.
And a few meters away, we found ourselves in the middle of the mountains… Then later on, we found ourselves beside the sea! How weird. How amazing. How amazingly weird! How weirdly amazing!
From the Bangui-Pagudpud boundary, the Patapat Viaduct is still 17 kilometers away, and we were finally on it at 10:30am!
Patapat Viaduct is an elevated concrete highway constructed along winding/rocky headlands near the northernmost roadway section in Ilocos Norte.
Breathtaking!
It could be considered second northernmost roadway section in Luzon.
The mountain meets the sea and the sea meets the sky.
This viaduct was constructed to solve the problem of landslides in the area which have caused so many vehicular accidents in the past.
My brothers, enjoying the scenery!
Footed on the rocky seashore just several meters from the mountain side it gives motorists a spectacular view of Pasaleng Bay.
The mountain side is actually the northern end of the Cordillera Central Mountain Range. It is also called the Patapat Mountains. And the skies there were the bluest I’ve ever seen!
The eastern end of the Patapat Viaduct. Beyond that is the boundary to Cagayan Province.
We did not cross the border to Cagayan as it was not in our itinerary; maybe in the next summers to come. 
So we made a U-Turn and headed back…
(…to be continued)
From doi:
Fun Fact: Sinj, did you know that you are already looking at the South China Sea? hehehe
If you looked further onto the mountain side, you will also see the old/original road which was built in that area. But due to the landslides, the Patapat Viaduct was constructed to fix the problem in that part of the region.
From admin:
Yeah. I’m wondering pud gani if nagmeet naba ang South China Sea and Pacific Ocean up there, LOL. And yes, I saw the original road, grabe ka narrow huh, and one mistake lang, especially at night, mahulog siguro. It was wise of them to build the Patapat Viaduct.
From arjay:
cnu ba ang ang nag project nang patapat brigde na yan si marcos ba o hondi@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@sagot @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@?????????????????????????