Journey to the Past

[April 11-15, 2014]

Vigan-Laoag-Pagudpud Trip

Fifteen years ago, Vigan City was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site and ever since then, tourists and locals have flocked to this beautiful city to embrace history. I, for one, have always wanted to visit. I'm not really a history buff but I've always wanted to see how the past looks like. Thankfully, I have a friend who also loved the idea of visiting Vigan. So we talked about going, discussed how we could do it, I mean, we discussed IF we could do it? We thought it might be too difficult if there's just two of just. So the plan was pushed aside and was almost forgotten. But then came the summer of 2014 (yes it took me a year to write about this) when I finally completed my clinical paper and earned myself a Master's degree. I had worked on my paper for 3 whole months and I never really had the chance to breathe. But now that it's over, I decided to reward myself with a trip--thus, we finally gave Vigan a try and decided to push our luck even more with our plans to explore Laoag and Pagudpud as well. Here we go!!!!

We took the Cebu to Clark flight and landed at Diosdado Macapagal International Airport past 7 in the evening of April 11, 2014. We then took the airport shuttle going to SM Clark to grab some dinner. By 9pm we went to Dau bus terminal and hopped on the bus going to Vigan. The ride was approximately 6 hours and we just slept the entire time. The bus seats were not that comfortable but we managed to doze off. At around 4am, we finally arrived in Vigan! It was still dark when we walked our way to Green R Hotel. We had no idea where it was exactly but we found it no time and we were so happy it was just walking distance to the terminal. Of course, they won't allow us to check in yet, so we left our bags, washed our faces, changed our clothes and immediately head out to discover the city. 

Getting there early worked to our advantage.

There wasn't too many people around and we had Calle Crisologo all to ourselves.

Mena Crisologo Street is a 500-meter stretch  that allows you to travel back in time.

Back when calesas roam the cobblestone streets and allowed people to get from one place to

 another.

As you walk further on, you'll also get to see the strong Spanish influence on houses of the olden days. 

They were built with high ceilings, thick stone walls, huge doors, some made of sturdy wood and the floors are lined with red shiny tiles and most have sliding windows adorned with capiz shells. 

These houses have survived the test of time and the families that own them have turned them into inns, shops and museums to preserve their memories.

Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside when we visited Padre Burgos House later that afternoon.

 But we did get a chance to explore another museum just around the corner-- Crisologo Museum.

 This was posted near the entrance. Now we learned something new!

One that caught our attention was the wooden refrigerator. Amazing!

On the wall are the pictures arranged to depict the Crisologo family tree. And on this picture on the right, you can see that all of their furniture are made of wood. They also have a huge dining table that connects to their family room. The entire house was not that big so it only took us a few minutes to look around. Back to Calle Crisologo..

It was also evident that Crisologo Street used to be the main throroughfare for Filipino-Chinese traders at the time of the Galleon trade.

 Now, it's where you can find some of the marvelous wood works that are highly regarded and priced in antique shops.

You also get to see some of the items that were traded so vigorously during the great Manila-Acapulco trade. Among the traded goods were clothes, gold, tobacco, ivory, spices, etc. There were so many things to see as we walked through the entire street. But we got hungry and decided to dine in one of the shops that we passed by.

Like this one. Too bad it wasn't open yet. We decided to continue looking..

We found Max's! It was built from an old house with wooden interiors, sliding doors and windows. The place was classic and cool! Too bad it was closed too. So we moved farther away from the main street and walked towards the nearby church. Then we found..

We couldn't help but notice how amazing their building is--not the typical McDonald's you see in the city.

So off we went and grabbed ourselves some of their big breakfast meals. There's lots we will be doing to day so we need to fuel up!

Read more of the places we visited in Vigan here

Meanwhile....

After our whole day tour, it was time for us to wind down and look for some place to eat. We decided to re-visit the restaurants we passed by earlier and see if they were already open. My friend and I returned to the vibrant Calle Crisologo and discovered for ourselves, how exciting it is during the 'busy' time in the late afternoon.

Too many delish streetfood to try!

Contrary to what we have experienced early this morning, Calle Crisolog is now filled with so many people.

 By sundown, we made our way to Cafe Leona to have our outdoor dinner. I read several good reviews about this restaurant and true enough-- they did not disappoint. Food and ambience were perfect!

 Around dinner time, restaurants bring out their chairs and tables so their guests can have an awesome outdoor dining experience. 

After we had our tummies filled with good food, we decided to stroll along Plaza Burgos & Plaza Salcedo.

We were just in time for the lights and fountain show!!! Yay!!!
Kids were just all over the plaza running about and playing gaily.

 The fountain was just spectacular! To be honest, I haven't seen one before so this was truly amazing for me.
The show starts at 7:30 PM and I heard there's another one at 9 PM.

Surprisingly enough, there were lots of foreigners who toured Vigan too. So if you haven't visited, it's time to get on the road and discover the new wonder city of the world!!