Hello again! Here is another local destination you may want to consider visiting. It is the province of Ilocos Sur, up in the north of the Philippines. Let me take you there, and this trip will be in two parts, one covering the province of Ilocos Sur, and the other will cover the province of Ilocos Norte.
I traveled to Ilocos with two of my friends from Hong Kong. We took the bus from Manila, got off in Bantay, Ilocos Sur, and from there my younger brother met us and took us around for two days. The picture you see above is the famous Crisologo Street in Vigan.
We left Manila around 11 at night, traveled for more than 6 hours and arrived in the morning with two stops in between. We arrived just in time for the sunrise and while waiting for my brother to pick us up, we had coffee in Jollibee.
When my brother arrived, we went to visit the Bantay Bell Tower. Bantay is a town right next to Vigan, so it was very near. The beauty of having your own vehicle is that you can stop anywhere and anytime you want.
The Bantay Bell Tower is the belfry of the Saint Augustine Parish Church, more commonly known as the Bantay Church. It was named as such because it served as a watchtower for invading enemy forces during WWII due to its strategic location.
This is the Saint Augustine Parish. It was heavily damaged during World War II and rebuilding was started in 1950.
This is the Bantay police station nearby, which also looks like a colonial building.
After Bantay, we drove to Baluarte Zoo, a zoo owned by the politician Chavit Singson. He built the zoo apparently because his private collection of animals grew too big.
We saw different kinds of animals indeed but I only took a few photos, and one of the ones I took is of this peacock. I was able to catch it while his tail was open wide like this.We spent more than an hour or so in Baluarte, and after that, we got hungry, so this time we went to have a proper meal.
We went to Hidden Garden, which is actually a garden with a restaurant as well. So it is a very good place to visit because you can check out their garden and then eat their food as well.
They have quite a collection of plants, including bonsai ones, and they are for sale, so if you want to buy some, you can definitely do so.
Excuse my bare feet but it was so tempting to relax in the hammock while walking around. We Ilocanos are known to be hospitable so I believe they put the hammock there for guests to enjoy. :-)
One of my friends brought along her daughter with us so we were a group, including my brother who was driving us around. While waiting for the food to arrive.
The plants are reasonably priced, but since we were still going to the north, I did not want to buy that time as the plants may wilt on the way.
Their bonsai collection was quite a lot, and they have different varieties of bonsai plants.
The garden is quite extensive as well, so there's a lot of places for picture taking.
This is another rest area along the garden. Another place to take another photo. I remember our guide when I was in Israel for the second time asking me just how many photo albums I have, ha ha ha! You can just guess my answer.
These days I no longer print everything, we now have social media where to share them, but mostly I just keep an archive, which is now very good because now I can use them for my blogging purposes.
When you're in Ilocos, one of the things you have to try is fresh coconut juice. The price is very reasonable compared to prices in Manila, so while we were there I drank it every moment I had the opportunity.
My friend almost didn't want to get up from this place. It was very comfortable, plus we have already been walking around a lot.
In the area of the restaurant, their decorations are things I used to see every day when I was a child in the neighboring province. It was nostalgia as I was looking around.
Don't know who we asked to take a picture of us. It must have been another guest or probably a staff. Thanks to them we had a group picture.
Aside from these plants they also had fruit bearing trees, like chico, tamarind, and other trees. They were a bit pricey though.
It was a nice trip for us friends who wanted to meet up after not seeing each other for a few years. It was a great time for catching up indeed.
The table and the benches looked like the ones we had at home growing up.
In the restaurant we had empanada, which Ilocos is famous for, we also had the longganisa, another food product from the north, pakbet, I think, and this yummy dessert.
The place is inviting everyone to just relax and enjoy the laidback atmosphere.
The bahay kubo feels. All of the tables and benches look the same, giving off a rustic vibe. If you sit and dine in one of these places, you feel like there is no need to rush.
The City of Vigan is the capital of the province of Ilocos Sur. Sur in Spanish means south, so this is literally south Ilocos, while Ilocos Norte means, you got it, north Ilocos.
Vigan is located on the western coast of the island of Luzon, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the few towns in the Philippines whose old structures remain intact.
It has retained its cobblestone streets, and these days the old houses have been turned into shops where they sell souvenirs and other things.
The place is busy most of the time, because travelers share their photos on social media, and more people visit the city every single day.
In May of 2015, the City of Vigan was officially recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders Cities that include the cities of Beirut of Lebanon, Doha of Qatar, Durban of South Africa, Havana of Cuba, Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia and La Paz of Bolivia.
Most of the buildings in this street has retained the colonial era architecture so we just walked around, although it was so hot! Good thing I was wearing a long sleeved top to keep my skin from getting burned.
Aside from Crisologo Street, the only other place that might be of interest is the plaza, if you are there at night, because I was told that the fountain looks nice at night. We did not stay there that long as we went to Ilocos Norte after.
Anyhow, I grew up in Ilocos Norte, but honestly, this was my first time visiting this place, as we were always passing by Vigan when we traveled to Manila, never stopping by.
There are also kalesas, which are horse drawn carriages that you can ride around in, for a fee of course, so that you can take a tour while riding. I pity the horses though, so I just a picture in front.
Vigan is only an hour's drive from my hometown, which is quite near. But really, I never had the opportunity to visit the place until this time. Shame on me.
Seeing these old houses is like traveling back in time, being able to see the kind of houses people in the Spanish colonial era lived in at the time. It is indeed a historical place, and I am glad a place such as this exists, so that we get to see a glimpse of history.
If you ever visit Ilocos, do make sure to include Vigan in your itinerary, just to see these historical houses.
Not sure if I bought anything here, but it was nice visiting. Stay tuned for the norte part of the adventure!
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