Vigan - The Historic City

First and foremost, I'm begging for your consideration as soon as you start reading this article. This has been written using a handheld PC while on a bumpy bus ride going back to Manila so I have to shorten this as much as possible. Not unless I'm writing a thesis, please excuse the typos (blame it to the Graffiti) and the grammatical errors. I didn't spend another time to proofread this. This Vigan adventure is supposed to be done last holy week but since I couldn't get a bus seat reservation, I decided to move the trip the following week.
I started the trip on a Saturday 2am Partas bus ride. I should have started Friday night but a few skirmishes with the boss who insisted that I should have asked permission from him about this weekend trip really caused the delay. In the end, the protagonist won.
It didn't take me long to pack up because I had prepared all of my things already a week before, when I should have left for Vigan during the holy week. Had I wasn't able to catch up the 2am departure, I could have delayed for another two hours that will make me arrive in Vigan in the afternoon. Fortunately, a passenger for seat number 46 didn't arrive so instantly I became a chance passenger.
The bus was clean and comfortable, with reclining seats, adjustable aircon vents, and foot rests. The headrest has side supports so that your head does not fall off the seat as you sleep, so this is very helpful. Do I need to enumerate what's with me on this trip? I always traveled light so I didn't bring another bag for my photography equipments. All of my photography equipments were squeezed inside my back pack together with some clothing that was prepared to last for three days at most.
My photography equipments consists of my Canon 300D, Canon 18-55mm EF-S wide angle lens with polarizer, Quantaray 28-90mm EF standard lens, and Canon 35-70mm fully auto-focus lens. Other equipments include a tripod which is externally attached to my back pack and my trustworthy Kodak Z700 ultra-compact camera as backup. I needed to bring a backup camera to avoid Cunejo's experience in Palawan when his Nikon SLR broke down and everything was, oh...
Since I estimated to be in that historic city for two days and one night, I didn't bring with me chargers. Instead, I brought two more spare batteries for my Canon and 16 pieces of AA rechargeable batteries for my Kodak. I didn't even bring with me my phone chargers. I'm confident my cell phones could last for few more days. Besides that those phones were charged exactly before I left, there are two of them, so the lesser possibility that I can drain their power in just two days.
I also put on my utility vest that I got during the 23rd SEAGames last November. It always saves me a lot of trouble, with lots of pockets here and there. I distributed all of my things that I needed in any case. Kodak camera in the lower right pocket, two cell phones in the lower left pocket, Palm Pilot in the upper right pocket, my wallet in the upper left pocket, ballpens, extra coins, miniature flashlight, etc were neatly placed in the other pockets.

Going to Vigan is one long ride of tiring 7 hours or 405 kms. stretched from Metro Manila. To amuse myself during this period, I prepared for myself few entertainment; MP3 music saved to my cell phone and two movies converted to MP4 format. I brought two actually, A Knight's Tale by Heath Ledger and Tomorrow Never Dies, a James Bond flick by Pierce Brosnan. I could have also enjoyed the scenic route along Ilocos Highway if only I traveled during daytime. Anyhow, I was able to take a few glimpses of Lingayen Gulf on my way to Vigan and even going back.
“A Knight’s Tale” was one of those movies that I always wanted to see despite of its historical inaccuracies punctuated by knights calling each other “dude” all set to Queen power ballads. No, actually, there was no “dude” uttered in the film but the “rock and roll” was plentiful and surprisingly complementary. I have to admit, I did find it a little strange in the first instance--the spectators at the jousting tournament doing the whole “We will, we will, rock you” thing. But once I got used to the fact that this was part of the movie and the director was trying to be innovative I let it go. “A Knight’s Tale” is supposed to be a light-hearted adventure, not a documentary on medieval knights after all.
Anyhow, the basic premise is about a peasant boy who wants to be a knight-- anyone who’s seen the preview can tell you that. Getting into a little more detail, the story begins with Will (Ledger), Roland (Addy), and Wat (Tudyk) who are introduced as three poor squires to a recently deceased knight who has been competing in a jousting tournament (and must only win one final match to win the tournament). Caught in this situation, Will convinces Roland and Wat that he can impersonate the knight and complete the tournament in place of the dead knight. Will wins the match (and the tournament) without being discovered (it is against the law for peasants to compete in the tournaments) and all three squires get a taste of the wealth that can be made by impersonating the knight and set off to the next tournament.
Along the way they run into a naked Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany) who teams up with them and becomes their promoter, a medieval version of Don King. Chaucer is definitely the best character in the movie and provides a lot of wit and laughs. The boy's team up with a gorgeous blacksmith too...she was a pretty shallow character (like most of the others now that I think about it) but there was only one major thing that bothered me about her. She made some special armor for Will and she added her own little logo to it, probably for people to identify her work. Anyway, a little love story goes on between Will and some princess (Princess Jocelyn played by Sossamon) and a little unfriendly competition with (the token bad guy) Count Adhemar (Sewell) results.
In "Tomorrow Never Dies," as all of the James Bond series, the action sequences are suitably entertaining. It's impossible to count the number of bullets fired, and there are pyrotechnics aplenty, including exploding missiles, a fireworks show on the ground, and a fairly spectacular climactic conflagration. There are a couple of memorable chases, including one with a driverless BMW car and another with a low-flying helicopter closing in on a motorcycle. For those who crave flashes, bangs, narrow escapes, and other action film staples, Tomorrow Never Dies delivers.
Ops, why am I doing a movie review here?

Okay, let's get back to the main interest as to why I'm writing this article. Vigan, according to lakbaypilipinas.com, is a great place to visit because it makes you feel that you are living in the past. This is because Vigan still has all those Spanish houses built way way back when the Philippines were still under Spanish rule. Vigan's tourist potential is based on its cultural heritage composed of more than 180 ancestral houses, administrative and religious structures, public squares and other historical landmarks within the poblacion, and built during the 18th and 19th centuries. Being the only surviving colonial town in the entire Philippines, Vigan is being developed as a primary tourist destination in Region I. One should agree that one of the famous places that a person can visit in the Philippines way up north is Vigan. As a travelphotography enthusiast, this is the main reason I'm crazy going into this place.
My accommodation was hosted by Vigan Hotel (www.viganhotel.com). Since it was already off-peak season, I didn't bother to get a prior reservation. I already made a research ahead and I was firmed to check in into this hotel because the name itself rang a bell in me. I occupied a double occupancy room as that was the only available room left for me. The room was very bare, but it was just okay. I've known to be a minimalist. I was just glad there's cable TV with very limited cable channels. Well, for your reference, other hotel choices in Vigan include Aniceto Hotel and Vigan Plaza Hotel.
After taking shower, I walked around and decided to synchronize my researched information with the Tourism office. I was glad I did. The tourism officer was very accommodating and she was very helpful as to giving me the idea how to enjoy the utmost in Vigan. She advised me to walk around by foot the nearest tourist attraction before getting a calesa for the tour. She gave me list of the nearest destinations where I can take a walk. She also told me that calesa ride will cost me 150 pesos per hour. By the way, most of the officers inside the tourism office are real beautiful Filipinas. :) I was also asked to sign the guestbook, I forgot to mention.

Tourism Office	Cafe Leona
Calle Crisologo

St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral

Plaza Burgos

Plaza Salcedo

Museo Nueva Segovia

I took my lunch at Max Restaurant.

 

After the walkthrough, I get a calesa to start getting around with distant destinations. My kutsero, Sir Crisanto Rabacca, who is probably in the late 60s, was already expert in his job and had been doing the same thing more than 30 years, probably even before I was born. Anyway, I trusted him because of that experience. When we started to exchange conversation with each other, I noticed he's awkward speaking in Tagalog. I started speaking in English and that's how he became to be naturally talkative. I realized he is more comfortable in English conversation than Tagalog. I was all spoking dollar to him and for all along during the three-hour ride, I felt I was a foreigner myself right that moment (Hehehe)...

These were our destinations; I mean these are the places the expert Crisanto brought me (in order):

Bantay Church, a beautiful old church with a much-photographed brown and white facade, is the setting of the famous Tagalog movie Panday starred by the late Fernando Poe, Jr. The belfry which sits farther away on a hill, is a brick structure set against a gorgeous backdrop of blue skies and green horizons.

Burnay Jar Factories I was less fortunate to be here. There were lots of tourists and taking photo of the artist making that clay pottery was quite difficult. I couldn't even setup a tripod. I planned to get a photo of the artist on a slow shutter speed while the pot created is in motion. Realizing it was impossible because of lots of other tourists around, I decided to use flash.

Crisologo Museum
I was asked by the in charge to sign the guestbook and donate any amount. Basically, what can be found inside are things of Vigan’s beloved late Governor Carmeling Crisologo, father of Bingbong Crisologo, and probably the most famous in the Crisologo clan. He was so powerful during his time that he got a lot of enemies, and on one occassion, had him murdered inside Vigan Cathedral. His wife was also, at time, was ambushed but cheated death.
The Museum itself is the ancestral house of the Crisologos. It is a huge, beautiful house, obviously well taken care of. Interesting stuff include a gorgeous antique calesa that according to sources, were both used by Snooky Serna and Cesar Montano in their Maruja and Rizal movies respectively.

Baluarte
Baluarte is Chavit Singson's 70-hectare property with a mini-zoo, a caregiver school, its own chapel, man-made decorative falls, and several other buildings. All animals in the zoo are well taken cared. There are calesa rides offered for free but the horses are just too small :(

 

Hidden Garden I can no longer recall exactly the name of the place from which this famous garden is located. Hidden Garden is just a gorgeous haven owned by an architect famous for his landscaping projects. Plants here are sold at very low prices. Unfortunately, I can't buy even one considering my needs of traveling lightly.

Mira Hills Eco-Park

 

 

My tour took 3-hours and 500 pesos was all worth it. After which I proceed to Max Restaurant for snacks. Max Restaurant branches are all credit card friendly so I can always make a sigh of relief every time I found one.
After the snack, I went back to my hotel, again, it is just a walking distance away from the commercial center. I watched TV, took a nap, and took shower after an hour or two. It was already dark when I went out again. By that time, I brought with me my tripod. I planned to take a night time shot. Before doing such, I dropped by to a nearest internet cafe (I bet that was the only internet cafe in town) and later went back to Max Restaurant for my dinner. It was a Chopsuey combo, served with buko juice in its shell and sweet pandan for dessert.

 

Calle Crisologo during daytime

Calle Crisologo - night time

Calle Crisologo Calle Crisologo, probably Vigan's most famous attraction. Old houses left and right and the horse's hooves on the cobblestone floor indeed seems to take you back in time several centuries earlier.

Burgos Museum

Vigan as can be seen from the top of Museo de San Pablo

Museo Nueva Segovia

Sunday morning, I visited Burgos Museum, Museo Nueva Segovia, and Museo de San Pablo. Unfortunately, contrary to most of the country's museums that close on Monday, Museo Nueva Segovia closed on this very Sunday, so I visited only the two among these three mentioned.


5 o'clock in the afternoon, I was already on a Partas bus bound for Manila.
Excuse me, I have to continue reading my Da Vinci code eBook...