I and my friends had
a great time visiting Ilocos Norte last February. It was an unexpected travel
adventure. It was an escapade with no planned itinerary to check but we were
still so blessed because the unplanned adventure did succeeded. To make the
story short it was not your typical travel trip, but spell out the word
happiness? That’s what we truly felt. We really enjoyed the trip and for me
that was one of the best travel experiences I had last month.
We didn’t have enough
sleep because from work we traveled straight to Laoag pero hala sige we were
still up on exploring Ilocos from Norte to Sur. Ilocos Norte is love but Ilocos
Sur is mystic! After exploring the North we took a bus from Laoag to Vigan.
Sleepy heads and hungry tummies challenged us to explore the Southern part of
Ilocos. To account here’s our journey to one of Philippine historical cities
and together let us travel back in time at Vigan…
It was late afternoon
when I and my friends arrived in Vigan, so first thing that we did was to find
a place to leave our bags, wash up and rest in a bit. We took a motorcycle from
the bus stop and the driver took us to some affordable inns in the city. We had
visited three inns but the third one was the only inn that has vacant so we got
it. The name of the accommodation is Casa
Forcellan.
We had our short
break at the accommodation. My friends did their shower directly but me, I took
a short nap because I honestly so drain from a straight travel to Laoag. After
my friends done with their showers, I took mine and we’re all set then. We
headed directly to Vigan’s Plaza to
witness the Dancing Fountain that
would start exactly at 7 pm. There were really many people that time, as in
from kids to grandma and grandpa the plaza was surrounded by people. They were
all happy to witness the Dancing Fountain. I guess most of them were also
visitors like us.
After witnessing the
colorful dancing fountain at the plaza, we searched for a restaurant. We were
all so hungry while at the plaza but we ransomed our hungry tummies for the
event. I forgot the name of the restaurant the motorcycle driver introduced us
but the foods tasted good. It was February then so the decoration of the
restaurant was set for valentine season. One of my friends, Flori said Ïnday hindi tayo bagay dito (sabay tawa)
haha.
Our tummies were
happy after filled it with foods, so next to eating session, we had a quick
visit at Calle Crisologo, the area wherein historical stuff can be found. The
place was one of the reasons why Vigan
City was declared by UNESCO as
one of the New 7 Wonders Cities.
Calle
Crisologo is best viewed during night time or around dawn
time where street lights are on. When we had our night visit at the street,
there was a wedding event held on the street so we haven’t able to go straight
and explore the whole stretch of the street. Since we had a long day and so
tired we decided to go directly to our accommodation and had our rest.
On the next day, we
woke up early to prepare ourselves for our day 2 “gala time” in the city. We
took a motorcycle to find a restaurant but we haven’t found any because it was
at around 6 am in the morning. So what we did? We decided to just walk and find
a good eatery around the city. It was then became an opportunity for us to
explore Calle Crisologo again after
an epic fail exploration at the streets on the other night. At least that time
there were not too many people. There are many souvenir shops, antiques and
jewelries along the street. There are also restaurants but unfortunately all
were not opened at the time (around 6 am). One of the famous restaurants in
Vigan which is just along Calle Crisologo is Café Leona. The café dine the mouthwatering longganisa meal which
we haven’t tasted because the café was also still closed that time.
Upon enjoying the
street, our feet led us to an eatery near the plaza and there for the first
time I tasted the Ilocano's famous “Sinanglaw”. Aside from Vigan’s bagnet,
longganisa and empanada, this type of soup in Vigan is one of the famous soup
delicacies. Well for me, the soup actually tastes good. Now, I feel hungry
writing this one whooo…
After had breakfast,
we've chosen not to ride a motorcycle and instead walked around while enjoying
the surrounding; there are many Kalesa touring around aside from motorcycles which
are also busy picking tourists. Jo saw the word Vigan near at the plaza and she
wanted us to take her a photo with it so pinagbigyan namin and I joined her on
her trip. ;)
Just to complete the
day at the city, we then decided to visit the Bantay Tower. A motorcycle driver offered us the trip going to the
tower for a certain cost. There are actually tours being offered within the
city and this could be done with the motorcycle drivers who are allowed to
service the tourists and at the same time serves as the tourist guide. If you
want a city tour you can choose to ride a
Kalesa and let the kalesa driver tour you around.
We found it difficult
to get the best shots at the tower because as a tourist spot, there were many
tourists who were so busy taking pictures at the tower during our visit but at
least we had a good one. Yay!
The last spot we
visited was the Baluarte owned by Chavit Singson. No entrance fee needed and
anyone could enjoy the zoo and catch a sight of variety of animals inside. The
zoo also offers an animal museum where animals authorized killed by Chavit were
preserved. There are souvenir stalls at the zoo and luckily the stall we’ve
came to visit whose like me and Jo is a bisaya. She also came from Mindanao and
she gave us discounts on souvenir items we’ve bought.
Around 11 am when we
completed our tour at Baluarte, we headed directly to find a restaurant again
to eat our lunch. At Calle Crisologo where the motorcycle driver stopped us, we
asked a Kalesa Driver where we could eat our lunch and he led us to a famous
one in the City which unfortunately I forgot the name again. Pity me! But at
last at the restaurant we tasted the Vigan
Logganisa we were long to eat since on our first day in the city.
But before the kalesa
driver took us to the restaurant we took our spare time to take selfie with the
kalesa. That was my first kalesa ride so I never missed out to take a photo
haha.
See? Our adventure in
Vigan City is not as perfect as anyone could imagine or the typical trip others
have. It was part of our unplanned adventures in the province of Ilocos but I
could say it is a good journey to look back.
OTHER ILOCOS ADVENTURE YOU MAY READ :)
I never thought Ilocos Sur in behalf of Ilocos province is in itself is wonderful! Your post made me think to visit Philippines again.
ReplyDeleteYes Jing, Ilocos is really one of the best places to visit in the Philippines. I recommend to visit this place aside from those other lovely islands in the country ;)
Delete