April 2010 – We leave La Union early four in the morning as we want to reach Vigan as early as possible, My husband and I didn’t sleep at all since Rai and us have fun conversing about a lot of things, travel, ghost stories and lots of other stuff concerning our interest. We took a super cold shower and then they dropped us off at Partas Terminal of which we waited 15 minutes for the next bus since the last bus already left.

We arrived at Vigan around seven o’ clock in the morning with our stomach rumbling sound and headed directly to Mc Donald’s to have some Breakfast. We had longanissa and a cup of garlic rice plus hot chocolate that is also served with the meal. Our eyes wanted to close unconsciously since we’re tired and sleepless, we’ve gone to Vigan Plaza Hotel (our first choice) only to find out that the hotel is fully booked so tired and sleepy as we are. We hurriedly checked-in to the hotel next door which is known as The Heritage Mansion. We laid our body and shut our eyes off the soonest we set foot in our room. We woke up at 11:30 am and kinda hungry so we ate the burger that we bought in the morning, had some juice and prepared ourselves to see what Vigan has to offer.

Since this is not plan at all, I opened my laptop and researched on the best way to see Vigan and mostly they said that the Calesa Tour is the only option we have. So as we walked out the hotel we saw a bunch of Calesa park near the hotel lobby. We ask the receptionist to give us an idea on how much we will pay so that we will not fall into some kind of tourist trap.

The Calesa Tour – The Famous Guided tour that takes you to Vigan’s famous destination. You have the options of choosing the place that you would like to visit. So research beforehand or just ask the coachman the possible itinerary for you of which they all memorized. Its also a good way to see Vigan and its local neighborhood. It cost us around Php150/hour (4 USD) and the tour took us 4 hours and the whole total amounted to Php600 for both of us.

The Calesa

→First Stop: Bantay Belfry and the Crimson Church

One of the old standing Churches in the Philippines. Famous among tourist since its a well known shooting location for some scenes of the Movie Panday ( A local Filipino Film which stars Fernando Poe Jr. and had several sequels). The church is located at the Bantay District of Vigan a short 10 minute ride from the city. The bell tower sits on a scenery hill, you can visit this not only for historical and cultural significance but also the magnificent view that this tower offers. To access the tower and its panoramic view, you need to climb few flight of stairs, for us we have to battle the heat of the sun but its all worth it since at the end you can gaze all through out the city and its neighboring town.

→Second Stop : Father Jose Burgos Museum

With so much history that standstill here in Vigan, one of which is the ancestral home and birthplace of Father Jose Burgos. A very well known hero (in the Philippines) and part of the three martyr priest Gomburza (Along with Father Mariano Gomez and Father Jacinto Zamora) who was tried and executed by strangulation with the two other priest out of rebellion. The Museum houses the priest significant collection of memorabilia, family antiques and photographs. It also shows and depicts it local history and the famous people of Ilocos which is well-known for heroism and politics. A small amount of entrance fee is collected and registering your name is required upon entry.

→Third Stop: Hidden Garden

Our next stop was something different it contains no history and cultural essence but more on the natural flora, a beautiful garden enclosed in a secluded area and is also well known to tourist guide as the Hidden Garden. We feasted our eyes on with beautiful flowers and trees of different family and kinds. After that, we sit and enjoy halo-halo at their Lilong and Lilang Coffee shop with our coachman.

→Fourth Stop: Vigan Market & Pottery

The next stop was a small open market that sells souvenirs such as bags, shirts and some foods. At the end you can see one of the oldest tradition and business ever established in Vigan which is pottery unlike other they still use the old type of material (clay mud). To show you the details of what Im talking you can check this video.

→Last Stop: Chavit Singson’s Baluarte

For our last stop, as i requested and I felt tired to go along the next stop, we chose to check Singson’s (A Family of Well-Off Politician in Vigan) Baluarte. This is like a personal mini-zoo that is later open to the public. There is also animal show that you can enjoy every 2 hours and hawkers stall outside if you need refreshment.

All in all we love our stay there and we opt to visit Vigan again since there are lot of other things that we havent seen and tried. Plus we missed the food. We want the kids as well to be familiarize with the history and see this cultural heritage site of which is worth seeing for.