As if the Boracay trip wasn't enough, Shalu and I decided to take another trip a couple of weeks after. We have both been planning to go to Ilocos and since there's a long weekend coming up in two weeks, we decided to just go. And this time, this vacation is more action-packed (read: tiresome) and more adventure-filled, which was perfect!
For the next two weeks, we've been very busy researching on places to visit and planning on our itinerary and I was also occupied with picking our hotel and fixing travel arrangements. I was definitely a useless employee in those two weeks, hehe!
We left Manila Friday night at 9:30pm via GV Florida Bus. Too bad we didn't get to ride the their sleeper bus because when I went to their station the day before (that was another adventure in itself!) they only had 1 more available seat, so we settled for the regular bus, which by the way was kinda sucky because the seats un-recline (is there such a word?) when you sit up and the aircon vent doesn't close so you had to cover it with the curtain (so hi-tech!).
Anyway, we had to make do with what we had and get as much sleep as we can because we had a very long day ahead. We were hoping to get to Vigan before sunrise to take pictures of Calle Crisologo in the dark, so we're glad to have reached Bantay, Vigan at 5:30am. Upon alighting, we took a tricycle ride straight to Calle Crisologo and clicked away until way past sunrise!
It was a pretty short street but we took our sweet time taking pictures. By daylight, we decided to roam around the plaza and visit the Vigan Cathedral as well.
Then we took a tricycle ride to Bantay Church, which was actually very near where we alighted the bus but it was still closed when we arrived (it opens at 6am). And another long round of photo ops begins!
Funny thing, I even met someone I used to work with while inside the tower, and we would meet again the next day while trekking the Kabigan Falls in Laoag.
Anyway, since it's already getting really hot and I'm feeling really sticky (I've been wearing the same clothes since 7am the previous day! Yuck.), we decided to go to Cafe Uno near the Calle Crisologo area for brunch and for a quick wash-up.
I must say I was really disappointed with Cafe Uno, I had high expectations of the place based on the blog reviews I read. We both ordered the Vigan longganisa meal and I upgraded my drink to the native tsokolate (which was a good decision because Shalu initially ordered coffee but we were surprised that it was the instant kind, so she changed it to tea). The food was okay at best- it was overpriced for the tiny serving.
After lunch, we decided to walk to Syquia Mansion which was 2 blocks away from Cafe Uno based on the map we got from the Heritage Center. (Since I'm the one who likes maps, I was made the official navigator.) But we couldn't find the entrance to the house (thanks to heat-induced confusion) and we weren't that excited to see it anyway, so we headed straight to the Crisologo Museum.
It was very chaotic inside the museum! There was a huge group of students and lots of other visitors, that the place really felt claustrophobic. There was a couple of caretakers at the ground floor but no one's keeping watch in the other rooms where people kept touching, sitting on/in stuff that are supposed to be off limits. I guess they really should charge an entrance fee instead of making it voluntary for them to hire more staff and keep all the memorabilia intact.
We left the museum and decided to head on off to the Partas bus station for our two-hour ride to Laoag. But we made a quick side trip to Simbaan a Bassit, which was on the way to the station.
Simbaan a Bassit is actually a cemetery chapel and it's most distinctive feature to me (aside from the cemetery right beside it) is it's bright red door.
So this was our last stop in Vigan, as we had to rush to Laoag for the next leg of our adventure.
You can read more about this trip by visiting these links:
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Two
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Three
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Four
For the next two weeks, we've been very busy researching on places to visit and planning on our itinerary and I was also occupied with picking our hotel and fixing travel arrangements. I was definitely a useless employee in those two weeks, hehe!
We left Manila Friday night at 9:30pm via GV Florida Bus. Too bad we didn't get to ride the their sleeper bus because when I went to their station the day before (that was another adventure in itself!) they only had 1 more available seat, so we settled for the regular bus, which by the way was kinda sucky because the seats un-recline (is there such a word?) when you sit up and the aircon vent doesn't close so you had to cover it with the curtain (so hi-tech!).
Anyway, we had to make do with what we had and get as much sleep as we can because we had a very long day ahead. We were hoping to get to Vigan before sunrise to take pictures of Calle Crisologo in the dark, so we're glad to have reached Bantay, Vigan at 5:30am. Upon alighting, we took a tricycle ride straight to Calle Crisologo and clicked away until way past sunrise!
It was a pretty short street but we took our sweet time taking pictures. By daylight, we decided to roam around the plaza and visit the Vigan Cathedral as well.
Then we took a tricycle ride to Bantay Church, which was actually very near where we alighted the bus but it was still closed when we arrived (it opens at 6am). And another long round of photo ops begins!
Funny thing, I even met someone I used to work with while inside the tower, and we would meet again the next day while trekking the Kabigan Falls in Laoag.
Anyway, since it's already getting really hot and I'm feeling really sticky (I've been wearing the same clothes since 7am the previous day! Yuck.), we decided to go to Cafe Uno near the Calle Crisologo area for brunch and for a quick wash-up.
I must say I was really disappointed with Cafe Uno, I had high expectations of the place based on the blog reviews I read. We both ordered the Vigan longganisa meal and I upgraded my drink to the native tsokolate (which was a good decision because Shalu initially ordered coffee but we were surprised that it was the instant kind, so she changed it to tea). The food was okay at best- it was overpriced for the tiny serving.
After lunch, we decided to walk to Syquia Mansion which was 2 blocks away from Cafe Uno based on the map we got from the Heritage Center. (Since I'm the one who likes maps, I was made the official navigator.) But we couldn't find the entrance to the house (thanks to heat-induced confusion) and we weren't that excited to see it anyway, so we headed straight to the Crisologo Museum.
It was very chaotic inside the museum! There was a huge group of students and lots of other visitors, that the place really felt claustrophobic. There was a couple of caretakers at the ground floor but no one's keeping watch in the other rooms where people kept touching, sitting on/in stuff that are supposed to be off limits. I guess they really should charge an entrance fee instead of making it voluntary for them to hire more staff and keep all the memorabilia intact.
We left the museum and decided to head on off to the Partas bus station for our two-hour ride to Laoag. But we made a quick side trip to Simbaan a Bassit, which was on the way to the station.
Simbaan a Bassit is actually a cemetery chapel and it's most distinctive feature to me (aside from the cemetery right beside it) is it's bright red door.
So this was our last stop in Vigan, as we had to rush to Laoag for the next leg of our adventure.
You can read more about this trip by visiting these links:
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Two
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Three
The Amazing Tour of Ilocos - Part Four
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