Finally, another item in my bucket list crossed out! *insert grinning face here* Last March 28-30, 2014, I was able to get the chance to join a weekend trip to the famous provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. Actually, we (my boyfriend and I) were not part of the original group who planned the trip but since some of the original members withdrawn on the last minute due to personal reasons, we were able to hop in. Thanks to Mommy Babes and Sir Iket!
Our trip started on the night of the 28th where we rode a Partas Bus bound to Loaog which departed around 10:00 PM from Cubao. Beforehand, we were told that the trip was to take 9-10 hours to get to Vigan. It was somehow grueling to think that we will be sitting for that long but good thing it was a night trip so we just have to sleep while we travel. Thankfully however, the bus driver was quite a racer because it only took us seven hours to get to Vigan and yes, I quite felt that the bus was close to flying haha! Yet, Partas takes pride in their drivers so I’m confident that no harm will come to us. I guess since we also only had one stop - that's in Pangasinan, that the travel was fast.
This was the bus we rode from Manila to Vigan. It's a sleeper bus but actually, it's not as good as the sleeper bus of Victory Liner but this will do.
We were famished after traveling for hours so the first thing we did after arriving was to find a place to have breakfast. Then I saw this McDonald's whose building was quite bizarre because of its Spanish style architecture. If they have McDonald's back then, it would surely look like this one.
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Aaaaaand fast forward!! I told you already that I'm quite lazy so I will not narrate every single detail of our first day. Yup, that's me. Anyhoo, here are the major places that we visited on our first day along with some pictures that me and Jose Mari took:
Bantay Bell Tower - It's a very old tower built in 1591. We climbed to where the bell is and trust me, it's scary and refreshing at the same time. The air is very fresh above.
Baluarte - a zoo owned by Chavit Singson. You can come there for free to witness animal shows and get up close with animals like deers, peacocks and tigers of course.
Hello from my friend parrot! :D
My first time to see a peacock!!! I love his tail :)))))
Calle Crisologo - a street that has drawn a lot of attention from tourists because of the rich Spanish' houses. You can also find pasalubongs stalls in there.
I think this place is already preserved since Vigan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The buildings looked like they were about to fall apart so the government and the people should have really took care of them to preserved it to date.
Some carved stuffs as souvenirs.
Woven mats turned into bags and baskets for souvenirs.
Vigan is well known for garlic and onions hanged like this. Mommy said their garlic are best for adobo. Not a fan of garlic but loves adobo =)
Cafe Uno - a restaurant that serves Ilocano food. The ambiance is nice and cozy because it's so vintage.
The gang!
Vigan's infamous longganisa :)
Pagburnayan - a pottery where you can witness how a pot is made. The potter has really good skills given his 20 years of experience
These pots are still to be cooked in a brick oven.
Some clay stuffs for sale as souvenirs in Pagburnayan.
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Hmmmmmmm... I'm feeling that this post is getting long. I will continue my tale in the next post soon. Bye for now friends!