destination: ilocos - vigan walking tour

getting there:
we rode the first bus out of pagudpud which happened to be a non-aircon bus to laoag. the bus broke down mid-trip and we had to wait for an hour for it to get fixed (see this post entry for evidence. heehee.). once we got to laoag, we took a tricycle to partas bus station and hopped onboard a bus to vigan.

was stuck on the bus but on the brightside,
witnessed this beautiful sunset

settling in:
we were dropped off at vigan city hall from where we asked the information center for directions to vigan hotel. to our advantage, everything in vigan is within walking distance from each other and we were able to find our hotel in just a few minutes.

tummy filler:
we checked in the hotel and i got a bath while my friend took a little catnap. then, we had dinner at cafe leona but we really weren't that hungry so we just had sandwiches. mine was a longganisa sandwich which was surprisingly good. :)

the lonely cafe leona at night

hotspots:
i really wanted to see vigan at night. i think there is something hauntingly beautiful with the old buildings and almost empty streets adorned with vigan's dim lights. so after having dinner, we walked around crisologo street and the plaza before retiring to bed.

the following day, we got up early and after a brief examination of our vigan maps, started a walking tour of the city. we had breakfast at (guess where?) mcdonalds simply because we couldn't decide on where to eat. i have to say that i have always admired the way they keep the restaurants' facade to keep in style with the rest of the city. after breakfast, we headed to the burgos museum. unfortunately, we got there a bit too early as it was still closed. turns out the museum doesn't open until a little after 9am.. so we waited a few minutes, walked around the vicinity a little, and after getting back, we became burgos museum's first tourists of the day. :)

we resumed our walking tour. first, stopping over to see st. paul cathedral (which reminded me a little of quiapo church for some reason) and the arzobispado nueva segovia (the archbishop's residence).

after just a few more steps, we were back at calle crisologo to check out souvenirs. i was really impressed by escolta de vigan as they have very unique shirt designs. we were also able to talk to the shop owner (who happens to do the shirt and other souvenir designs as well).

we walked a little bit further to see the syquia mansion and WOW! i don't think anyone, after seeing this, will not be in awe of the wealth of the syquias. oh, and i was surprised to find out that they still stay at that house whenever they're in town.

museum marker

another house-turned-museum we saw was the crisologo museum. i was a bit disturbed with the assassination pictures, though.

a little more walking and we were at the simbahan abassit chapel which is another unesco heritage site in vigan. a cemetery is situated behind it and it is in this cemetery where the graves of the town's eminent people are buried.

from the chapel, we took a tricycle to chavit's baluarte. it's a free zoo for everyone funded by chavit. it's great that he maintains a place like this but i do feel sorry for those poor animals they let people ride on.

that about sums up our vigan adventure. :) up next, paoay and batac! :)