ILOCOS GETAWAY - Vigan City (Day 1)

Ever since, I really have this great desire to travel to Ilocos, especially Vigan. And after loads of planning, finally it did happen! Yey!

November 28 - we're officially Ilocos bound!

If going to Ilocos you can either travel by Air (Laoag airport) and also by Land. There are a lot of bus stations offering trips to Ilocos. Just search 'em around Google :)

Well for us, we decided to take a Florida Sleeper Bus bound to Laoag. The rate is 750.00 and departure time is exactly 10:15pm. They highly suggest to reserve seats two (2) days prior your travel date, but I think if you are to travel on holidays and long weekends try booking it earlier because on our case, there are lot of reservations already. So we weren't able to get our preferred seats since we have to choose on what's available. We actually ended up seated quite far from each other (which happens to be just fine coz were asleep most of the time :D )

The Sleeper Bus - Finally we experienced what the fuss is all about! hihi :)

It is a double deck bus with three rows of reclining seats. It has TV and a clean restroom.

I think the seats are comfortable enough that you could have a good sleep on road. But if you're seated on the upper deck, going down might be quite a challenge for some. And if you need to go the restroom you have to walk through the aisle which is kinda narrow, I think. It was really cold inside so you better be on your jackets or maybe bring your own blanket & pillow, just like what I've noticed from the other passengers.

Restroom

Didn't care with the TV much

 I must say the restroom is really clean, though I wasn't able to use it since I'm seated on the upper deck and right in the very front. I don't wanna go down and pass the sleeping passengers. Good thing my body cooperated :)




We arrived at Bantay, Iloco Sur at around 5am. It was still dark when we decided to go to the St.Augustine Church which is just a few walks away from the drop off point of the bus.

We were quite surprised when we found out that there are a lot of people already. Tourists, just like us. According to our itinerary, we should attend a mass first. Good thing there really is a mass going on.

The mass is a great start for our 3 day Ilocos Trip :)

The beauty of the St.Augustine Parish - before and after sunrise

It was really a perfect timing coz right after the mass the sun has risen already. So we went outside to start off our picture takings at the Bantay Bell Tower.

Before entering the tower :D

The view from the tower (front)

View from the tower (side) I don't know why, but I have some sort of Italian feel here, like Verona-ish.. haha! #daydream

Photo with the bell.. There's this Kuya up there
who offered to take a photo of us! He really
had great shots, must be used to it a lot!

The Bantay Bell Tower
With the perfect color of the sky at the background, the tower is amazingly beautiful!

Landscape view (haaaay)

From the Bantay Church we rode a tricycle to the hotel. The hotel were staying is Grandpa's Inn which is just 3 minutes walk from Calle Crisologo. Our check in time should be 2:00pm but good thing they allowed us to check in earlier so we wont have to worry about our things and we can pamper ourselves since we look so haggard from the loooong travel time. I must say the their service is really good, the staffs are so nice and very accommodating (two thumbs up for that!).
Will definitely stay here again on my next visit :) Click here for their room rates.

The only photos I have of the hotel

Our accommodation includes a complimentary breakfast at Kusina Felicitas. We get to choose one breakfast meal with coffee, but since I don't drink coffee, I had their Native Tsokolate (additional 50pesos) Yum!

 Breakfast - Solved! Now we went back to our room to freshen up, took a bath and rest for a while before conquering the Heritage City of Vigan! Aja!

Few hours later, we're all set. We actually don't know where to start our tour, it is a lot easier when we were just planning it, listing down the spots, where to go first, etc.. but when were there already we realized that we really can't do it all by ourselves since were all unfamiliar about the whole place.

After a few walks we spotted the Kuya in their Calesas, they are all offering us a ride and since we really listed it on our tour must do, we all agreed to give it a try.

My first ever Calesa ride =))
A must try! (150.00 per hour)

Our first destination is Burgos Museum. You can view here antiques and memorabilias of Father Burgos.
What I like the most are the dioramas-  really amazing work of art.

Father Jose Burgos
One of the Three Martyr Priests

Our next stop was the Pagburnayan Jar Making. Here we get to witnessed how those clay pots/ jars were made. We even get to try doing it ourselves. It was an awesome experience, really had fun but my finished product.. well, never mind. Haha! Btw, the visit to this place is free, we just gave tip to the Kuya who taught us how to make the jar.

After the Jar Making, we head on to the Hidden Garden. I totally agree that is kinda hidden, because it took us a while to get there. You could see different kinds of plants in here, some of it are actually for sale. There is also a restaurant, and the food looks so delicious but were in a hurry so we crossed out that one.

Shots from the Hidden Garden

Next destination is the famous Baluarte in Vigan. The mini-zoo is owned by Mr. Chavit Singson. Here you can see deers, ostriches, tigers and some reptiles we did not even bother seeing since were all scared, hihi :)

Different shots at Baluarte

Calesita Ride!
(This poor baby horse peed already)

Well Baluarte was our last destination riding the Calesa. We actually wanted to end it earlier because supposedly we should just be trying it for an hour but maybe we got so overwhelmed that we spend more than 4 hours. Wew! If on a tipid mode, don't try what we did! Very unpractical! haha! Anyways, the usual mode of transfer would be tricycle which is a lot cheaper than the calesa ride.

We are so hungry and tired so we went to Cafe Leona to eat our late lunch. Here we ordered the Ilocos' most famous Longganisa and Bagnet. We also tried the Sisig and Mushroom Soup. Everything was soo good, especially for someone who is so hungry!

Cravings satisfied!

After eating we went back to our hotel room for a while then decided to continue our Vigan Tour. We were supposed to go the the Syquia Mansion but it was closed already, so we went next to the Crisologo Museum. You can see here a lot of antiques, memorabilias and other possessions of the Crisologos (one of the most prominent political family in Vigan).

Photos from the Crisologo Museum

Found a copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
This book is totally much older than me!

So amazed by the matching shoes & bags! So fab!

 Done with the museums. Now on to the place that I am most excited about.. Calle Crisologo or Heritage City. This place is truly breath taking. every details in the street feels like you traveled back in time. The preservation is really something we should be proud about, truly world class.

Solo shots at the Calle Crisologo

Pictures just don't do justice as to how beautiful Calle Crisologo really is :)

 We obviously enjoyed our time at the Calle Crisologo that we stayed there til night. We also did our shopping for pasalubongs. We also tried the Vigan Empanda there.

Before ending out first day in Ilocos, we went to the Vigan Cathedral. Walk and then sit for a while at the Plaza Salcedo.

The Vigan Cathedral

at the Plaza Salcedo

 So that's it for our first day at Ilocos. To sum it all up - Amazing!!!



much love,

jess