Saud Beach at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

After lunch in Polaris Beach House, we went off to Saud Beach and found to our delight that the water and the winds were much calmer there than in Maira-ira Cove. And more importantly, there was an ACTUAL BEACH here where we could lay down and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Compared to Saud, the beachfront of our resort, Kapuluan Vista, was practically non-existent and the beachfront there was really meant for surfers and not beach bodies like us 🙂 Apparently, when the waves are really strong in Maira-ira, the waters in Saud are calm. I attempted to find out from the locals if there’s a time when both Maira-ira and Saud are nice and calm. But I never got any straight answer. 🙁 But my resolution on the whole Maira-ira v. Saud beaches is that I will stay in a resort in Saud Beach, visit Blue Lagoon, and eat in Kapuluan 🙂

A first glimpse of Saud Beach

We walked further on along the coast and happily found that the beach was DESERTED. Literally, it seemed that we were the only ones there! This was on April 1st (a Friday), when summer was just about to begin. I didn’t expect the beach will be crowded but having it all to ourselves was a welcome serendipitous treat 🙂 It’s rare to have this in the Philippines, to be away from the crowds and more so since Pagudpud and Ilocos were popular summer holiday destinations.

Even if the water was calmer here than in Maira-ira/ Blue Lagoon, it’s still not calm enough to swim in (well for our treshold at least). And the sand underneath the water was rocky. You won’t see it in the pictures but the waves were still strong. We tried swimming but the waves were crashing strongly at us and the water was really cold even in the middle of the afternoon.

So we really spent the whole afternoon lying around, enjoying the laziness of the day, with no need to worry about responsibilities at home and at work. And we exclaimed so many times that we didn’t want to go back (to the office, to the city, to the office!).

It did made me realize that the next time I go on holiday, I want to spend more days just lazing around the beach. When we go on vacation, we always have itineraries where we want to pack in as much as we can in order to see all the sights. And that in itself may become a source of stress. I realized that it doesn’t have to be that way. I will make it a point next time to put in an extra day just for pure relaxation, to have enough time to be comfortable with the passage of time instead of stressing WHAT TO DO with “free” time. I guess that’s an effect from living daily life worried about our things to do, that each day has to be productive (yes, productive AND billable). Isn’t that such a f*cked up way to be? But that’s our workaday world!

I need time to just enjoy BEING and BASKING IN TIME…and to NOT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING. To not care about even enjoying myself so much that I’m worried about the fact that soon this will end and that I will need to go back, that I’m worried that I have to make the most of my time while on getaway. And to take out from my system, no matter how little, the incessant need to DO SOMETHING with my time. (My God, have I become THIS stressed? Bad.) And I realize I must do this not just when I’m on holiday but somehow, I must find a way to incorporate this philosophy in my daily life.

Time to be foolish and silly and not care about the world.

I have nothing else to tell you about Saud Beach but just my reflections of how the beach, and the lazy afternoon, and the glorious sunset, and being with my girlfriends, have reminded me about important things—about the right of frame of mind when going on holiday, about the importance of my friendships, my dreams for the future, about how I want to live my life, about how I want to LIVE. I have nothing else to say but just to leave with memories.