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My first time in Ilocos was so many years back (around 2002). Back then I had the chance to stay at the historically enchanting Fort Ilocandia Hotel. I could still remember the feeling of almost getting back in time upon seeing the old Spanish motif of both the exterior facade and the interior of the hotel. I also had the chance to visit Calle Crisologo, various churches and Pagudpud. Fast forward to 2008, I once again visited the Ilocos Region and what greeted me was a province with a mixture of the old and the new.

Journey to the North

My journey begun at around 3 a.m in the morning where everybody in the Manila area were still asleep. It was a pleasure to drive along EDSA and North Luzon Expressway. It took us four hours to reach the first town of Pangasinan, just in time for a quick breakfast. And it took us another four hours to exit the province of La Union, before driving for another hour to reach the Ilocos region.

Vigan Cathedral, Calle Crisologo and a forgettable Calesa Ride

It was already a few minutes passed noon when we reached Vigan City. Tired and exhausted from 9 long hours of drive from Manila, we needed to refill our stomach and so we headed off to the Vigan town proper to look for a local restaurant hoping to get a taste of authentic Ilocanon fare. But the sun’s heat was tiring us further and we could not see any site of a restaurant that serves Ilocano food (Bagnet and Pakbet would have been great!). So we settled for a McDonalds lunch instead. After lunch, I took some photos of the Vigan Cathedral which still stood majestically at the heart of the town proper.

Then a local folk approached us and offered for a Calesa tour of the city for P150 per hour price. We boarded the Calesa driven by both an aging horse and an aging local Ilocano man. Our first stop was at the famous Bell Tower of Vigan where the famous Filipino Panday movie was shot. Then the Calesa man took us for a 30 minutes ride to what he calls as a “hidden garden.” Unfortunately that hidden garden was nothing like a place where different sorts of plants were being sold plus a cafe which sells various refreshments. Nothing spectacular about this place. Plus the fact that the calesa you rode to get to the place is waiting for you outside, with the “meter” running just like a taxi cab. After having our first taste of an Ilocos original food fare – Empanadang Ilocos, we hurriedly borded the Calesa and ask the calesa man to bring us back to the town proper faster. But the horse could only manage to run as fast as it could. It took us another 30 minutes to get back to the Vigan town plaza. Before bringing us back there, the Calesa man brought us to Calle Crisologo. It was still the same old houses reminiscent of the old Spanish era in the Philippines. Despite the sprawling modern artifacts and paraphernalias, Calle Crisologo is still historical as it should.

After taking some photos I asked the calesa man to bring us to the drop off point in front of the Vigan cathedral. Our total fare? P225 pesos for more than an hour’s ride off the streets of Vigan. It got me thinking, I should have brought my car instead which was just parked somewhere near, and it would have not cost me that much. But anyway, off we go to Fort Ilocandia in Laoag. To be continued…

See more pictures at our paradise philippines.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Road Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.