the great ilocos get-away (part 2): VIGAN

day 1: january 15, 2011 / saturday

at around 5:30pm, after visiting a few of laoag tourist spot, we headed to vigan where we will stay for the night. a bus ride from laoag to vigan cost 121php and it was a two hour ride yata, hindi ko namalayan kung ilang oras tumagal ang biyahe namin dahil tulog ako nito at paggising ko, gabi na at nasa vigan na ako :D

bumaba kami sa capitol/town proper ng vigan and we then went to the hotel to leave our things so that we can explore vigan by night without any hassles of bags and bags and bags na bitbit-bitbit kung saan.

casa teofila lodge

a tricycle ride from the city to casa teofila cost ___ (nakalimutan ko na, edit ko na lang pagnaconfirm ko na). the place is somewhat a motel-type inn kaya siguro naging mura ang accommodation dito. an aircon room with two queen size beds and a common cr only cost us 1000php + lang yata (again, ieedit ko na lang pagnaconfirm ko ulet un price) for our overnight stay which is really last for a 24-hour stay. one thing that i liked about this is the free wifi, yehey!

the only picture i have, forgot to took photos of this place kaya umaga ko na napicturan

calle crisologo 

first stop was the calle crisologo. sa tv ko lang 'to nakikita dati, old houses lined-up in a street na mala-spanish era pa ang dating. iba pala ang ambiance dito pag-gabi na, gloomy and eerie. ewan ko ba kung dahil lamang sa kulay ng street lamps o dahil sa maagang nagsasara ang mga tindahan dito dahil nga probinsya o dahil may nakatingin at nakasilip sa bintana ng bahay sa ikalawang palapag, hehehe..

vigan by night

one of the many souvenir shops in calle crisologo

town plaza

 a few steps away from the calle crisologo is the town/city (hindi ko alam kung anong tawag dun) which is the main commercial/business district ng vigan at dito matatagpuan ang kanilang city hall/capitol, plaza, simbahan (na hindi ko din alam ang pangalan), food establishments, etc.

 

a nice warm light that sets the night mode in the plaza

diner time na at tipid mode muna kami kaya naghanap ng murang makakainan. kahit san nga naman sa pinas, always present ang mga karinderia at ang jabee at mcdo.

'heritage city of vigan' - those are miniature replicas of the world's famous landmarks

at around 11pm, we head back to casa teofila to sleep and rest because we'll explore the rest of the vigan on the next day...

day 2: january 16, 2011 / sunday

dahil mas mahal magpalipat-lipat sa pagco-commute at walang kahit isang jeepney sa vigan dahil nire-regulate daw ang traffic dito, we did hire a tricycle kasama na yun driver syempre which we bargained at 80php per hour. our call time was 7am but we woke up late and had breakfast while our tour guide/driver waits, ang aga nila pumunta. casa teofila also serve food and breakfast. we had tapsilog (tapang ilokano-sinangag-itlog) and i love the tapang ilokano tapos isasawsaw sa suka, yumyum, ibang-iba sa tapsilog ng manila. then off we go to baluarte.

baluarte

our first stop, baluarte. owned by chavit singson, baluarte is a famous destination spot in ilocos which is actually a  zoo. it housed a variety of animals namely deers, horses, birds, peacocks, ostrich, camel, tigers, monkeys, etc. free ang entrance dito at malulula ka sa lawak ng lupain ni chavit, nice!

ala field trip sa zoo ang nangyari :)

see how vast this place is

hidden garden

the last stop is the hidden garden because we get to travel back to laoag then to pagudpod where our call time for the tour is 2pm. its almost 11pm when we arrived at hidden garden and the staff are very welcoming, astig!

everywhere you go, there's always a personnel/tour guide that gives you information on what, how and when, trivia time. i loved their hospitality, greeting you with welcome then goodbye when you get passed.

hidden garden mostly housed bonzai. as what the staff say, it belongs to a pinoy ilokano na mahilig sa bonzai at hobby ang magbonzai. kahit anong daw halaman ay pedeng ibonzai, meron pa nga akong nakitang sampaloc plant na nakabonzai, galing..

they also have this cafe where they served the famous empanada ng ilocos. may kalakihan ang serving ng isang empanada dito unlike the usual bite-sized empanada. isang pirasong empanada lang, solb na ang lunch mo dahil siguro sa isang whole egg plus monggo and gulay ang laman nito kaya ang bigat sa tiyan.

sulit sa sarap!

we went back to casa teofila to pack all our thing and then head back to the bus terminal para abutan ng 11am bus ride to laoag. sadly, we missed it kaya nag-abang na lang bus sa highway and luckily may dumaan na bus, ordinary nga lang kaya naman no choice na. arrived at laoag then transferred to another bus for the pagudpod travel and yet another ordinary bus. it was lunch time but we had no time to eat dahil sa paghahabol sa oras, buti na lang at busog kaming lahat sa empanada. 2 hours ang bus ride from laoag to pagudpod so sa next post na ulet..