So if you guys are up for something vintage, Vigan, Ilocos Sur is the perfect place to be jotted down on your bucketlist. Vigan is a living museum with romantic images, cobbled narrow streets and antiquated houses.
It was more than 2 hours drive from La Union and along the way, were definitely a lot of beautiful scenery.
You'll be able to see this bridge, and you'll definitely stop over here either to sight or feel the easy breezy ambiance or just take an obligatory self shot, group shot or jump shot.
And I must say, this is one of the best group picture or self shot spot that can be found on your way to Ilocos Sur. If I'm not mistaken, they call it Banaoang bridge.
Along side of the bridge, you'll be able to see a breathtaking view like this.
Another thing to do along your way to Vigan is to experience the zipline and enjoy the vast view of the body of water and the gigantic bridge, so you basically should bring with you your go pro camera and monopod. It will cost you P300 for the one way ride through the zipline.
My first stop in Ilocos Sur is the Vigan Cathedral. Just by seeing the view outside of the church, you'll instantly feel the historic ambiance and peace. The cathedral definitely has a feature of pseudo Romanesque motif and it really has a strong foundation that will protect the cathedral against earthquakes and typhoons.
Vigan Cathedral is definitely one of the perfect spots for wedding events and the view from the center aisle looks like this. The church itself, is well preserved and at the same time peaceful and serene and of course, nostalgic.
Near Vigan Cathedral, Calle Crisologo can also be found. Well, I guess this spot is one of the most famous spot among tourists /visitors. It became one of the major attractions in Vigan because of the old Spanish design and vintage liked houses.
If you want to experience the "throwback" feeling of the Filipino Spanish era, I must say this is the BEST PLACE!
You will spend a lot of time being amazed with the cobblestone streets together with the heritage houses owned by Filipino Chinese traders.
One of the few things you should not miss is to have a picture perfect shot in this " I <3 Vigan" vintage area
And, I got in here one of my favorite pictures taken along Calle Crisologo with a heritage house as my background.
I'm giving the architecture and intricate design and craftsmanship of the houses an A+ and it is fun to tour around the streets of Calle Crisologo because of the stores that offer antiques and souvenirs.
But a piece of advice when going around Vigan on daytime, you guys should bring with you an umbrella, or a scarf and a wide hat to protect yourself from extreme sun exposure.
Upon approaching Calle Crisologo, you'll find Cafe Leona restaurant. Cafe Leona was like an old house turned into a restaurant. This restaurant will give you a taste of Vigan and not to mention, the restaurant is fully packed with customers. By the way, the restaurant is open from 10 am to 10 pm, Don't forget to try their Filipino dishes and most especially the pizza!
And so, this is what I'm talking about and we got in here, their longganisa pizza! We originally ordered and wanted to try their pakbet pizza but unfortunately it wasn't available, so we gave this longganisa pizza a try and seriously, this is one of the best pizzas that I've tasted so far, it is very different from those that were offered in the metro and it has a very unique and distinct taste. Cafe Leona definitely has their own ways of capturing clients and this is through pizza!
Upon entering Cafe Leona, you will be welcomed with this ambiance. I was a little bit hesitant and at the point of backing out when I first saw this, because honestly, it was creepy and I can't figure out how am I going to eat in a place like this but nonetheless, I gave the restaurant the benefit of the doubt and I must say, they had the one of the best menu and their dishes were delicious and one of a kind. The saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" applies to Cafe Leona.
Near Cafe Leona, Vigan Cathedral and Calle Crisologo is the Plaza Salcedo, you will find here a lot of tour guides with their horses and kalesa and a lot of food stalls and among these food stalls is the very famous "empanada". Well, this is way too different from the usual look of an empanada that I expected and you can only find this kind of empanada here in Vigan and this is best eaten with white vinegar while you are sitting and relaxing along the seats of Plaza Salcedo.
And as what I said awhile ago, it is one way or another that you'll be needing a tour guide and of course you must ride "kalesa" or a horse carriage. You're Vigan experience won't be complete without riding a "kalesa" as a means of transportation just to feel the Spanish era feeling.
Roaming around Vigan with the use of kalesa is fun and definitely not bad. It will cost you P300 for the first 3 hours and additional P100 for the succeeding hours and the tour guides will tour you around the best spots of Vigan and of course, they will assist you going up and down the kalesa.
See, even the tour guides were dressed in a Filipino Spanish time way and our tour guide here is very kind and accommodating.
The view looks like this while I'm inside the kalesa and took the opportunity to take some random side shots.
The next stop for my Vigan exploration was the "Bantay Bell Tower", this spot is very famous in the barrio of Bantay. Well, kids from the 90's, if you could remember the movie "Ang Panday" few of the scenes were taken here.
Let's take a closer look of the said tower. It was called Bantay Bell Tower because it was used before as a watch tower for the pirates during the Spanish era. "bantay" in english means "to guard".
The distance of the tower from the church is quite far for a person who happened to roam around Calle Crisologo and Plaza Salcedo prior to exploring Bantay Bell Tower. The way to the tower basically looks like this.
No matter how steep and how high the tower is, I won't let the day pass by without me experiencing the bell tower at its finest. While I'm going up the tower, the story of "Noli Me Tangere" written by our very own Dr. Jose Rizal suddenly flashback into my mind. It's more of a feeling of looking for Crispin and Basilio. I should have gone here while we were shooting for a project for our Noli Me Tangere subject. This is seriously the best spot for such requirements.
The staircase of the Bantay Bell Tower is very steep but is well maintained and this is how it looks like while on my way down the tower.
At the top of Bantay Bell Tower, the view looks like this. This is also the best place to grab a lot of fresh air and escape from the direct heat of the sun.
The bells from the tower were even larger than me, I wonder if they still work.
Some of the visitors who were also at the tower says that some of the scenes from "Kampanerang Kuba" was also taken here but I'm not quite sure about it.
Among all those bells at the top of the tower, this is the largest.
Near Bantay Bell Tower is The Shrine Of Our Lady Of Charity which is commonly known as Bantay Church. The church was dedicated to St. Augustine of Hippo. It is where the miraculous image of Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Charity was housed and was crowned as the patroness of Ilocandia. The
inside structure of the church is very simple but is still very ideal for prenuptial and wedding events with the use of excellent light manipulation and interior design.
Another good place to visit in Vigan is the place which they used to call "Burnayan". It is where clay products are made. "Burnay" industry preceded the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the Philippines.
Some would feel giddy when they hear the word "burnayan" maybe because of Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze's scene in the movie entitled "Ghost". Unfortunately, you won't see any trace of Demi or Swayze here.
And what we have here, is a potter's wheel that rotates manually. It really takes a lot of creativity, caution and patience in making a pot out of Ilocos red clay.
"Burnayan" would be perfect especially for those who loves being creative and loves the idea of creating something and molding something out of clay. This is also a great place for releasing distress.
Clay jars made and molded from the pottery wheel were still needed to be dried and baked on a kiln.
"burnayan" in english means "pottery"
Our next stop was the Old Ilocos Provincial Jail.
This is how the exterior architecture of the Old Provincial Jail looks like. The said provincial jail is now an art center and one of the known spots in Ilocos Sur.
The former president, Elpidio Quirino was born here in Ilocos Provincial Jail. Mariano Quirino who was the father of Elpidio Quirino was a warden of the provincial jail in Ilocos Sur and Elpidio Quirino's mother, Gregoria Rivera delivered him on November 16, 1890 on the second floor of the complex of the said provincial jail.
A scene from the Basi Revolt was painted in the wall of the old provincial jail turned into a new art center. The Basi Revolt painting is one of the treasures of Ilocandia.
We can also see here our former president Elpidio Quirino paintings that was posted on white walls upon entering the hall of the new art center.
We can also see in here another set of treasures of the Ilocandia.
(Note: Camera flashes are not allowed inside the museum because it will ruin the natural texture and form of the paintings)
The Art Center also has their own set of vintage collections including jars, storage boxes and hats during the Spanish Era.
Different designs and forms of jars were also presented in the art center of Vigan, Ilocos Sur which is the former provincial jail.
collection of wines and liquors that was originally made in Ilocos Sur were also presented inside the art center.
This stitch art can also be seen inside the museum.
In this area, meetings are being held even before, during the Spanish era.
Collection of paintings and few of Ilocandia treasures can be seen in this white walled area.
This is how it looks like outside the jails. It was repainted and made more appealing to visitors.
This is how it looks like inside the jail. It was not repainted, reconstructed nor reformed but is well preserved.
The aisle going to the other building looks like this.
Our next stop in Vigan, Ilocos Sur is a beautiful garden that serves as a natural filter of Vigan.
At the heart of Vigan lies a beautiful garden called "Hidden Garden". The garden has many types of plants and flowers as well as bonsai trees.
The hidden garden welcomes their visitors with what they call a "welcome tea", well, it is the first time that I have tasted a turmeric tea made from Ilocos. The tea was made of ginger root, orange and turmeric.
Hidden garden is away from the city center and you have to hire a kalesa to get there.
The so called Hidden Garden was a personal venture of Francis Flores who happened to be a retired engineer. It was opened to the public in 1991 and became one of the usual stops of the tourists.
In this garden, all sorts of ornamental plants are available.
Inside the hidden garden lies a restaurant. It has a native inspired design and you'll feel the fresh air of Vigan because of its open-aired space for their diners.
This is one of my favorite shots from this high top area where I used to catch the sunset.
The highway heading out of Vigan were also at sight in this area where we stopped.
As perfect as it can be, this is how sunset looks like at Vigan.
I also have in here a sunset shot at a different angle.
Lastly, the sunset by the sea. I was able to take this shot while I'm inside the car enjoying the beautiful scenery of Ilocos Sur.
This is how it looks like inside the jail. It was not repainted, reconstructed nor reformed but is well preserved.
The aisle going to the other building looks like this.
Our next stop in Vigan, Ilocos Sur is a beautiful garden that serves as a natural filter of Vigan.
At the heart of Vigan lies a beautiful garden called "Hidden Garden". The garden has many types of plants and flowers as well as bonsai trees.
The hidden garden welcomes their visitors with what they call a "welcome tea", well, it is the first time that I have tasted a turmeric tea made from Ilocos. The tea was made of ginger root, orange and turmeric.
Hidden garden is away from the city center and you have to hire a kalesa to get there.
The so called Hidden Garden was a personal venture of Francis Flores who happened to be a retired engineer. It was opened to the public in 1991 and became one of the usual stops of the tourists.
In this garden, all sorts of ornamental plants are available.
Inside the hidden garden lies a restaurant. It has a native inspired design and you'll feel the fresh air of Vigan because of its open-aired space for their diners.
The restaurant has a variety of food to choose from, especially their refreshments such as herbal juices and shakes.
Our next stop was what they call "Baluarte". the kalesa still offers a ride up to Baluarte but we decided to ride at our own car instead.
Baluarte was a mini zoo in a large hectare of land, it serves as the home of exotic animals both from Philippines and other countries.
The animal sanctuary is owned by former Ilocos Governor, Chavit Singson and he lets the visitors roam around his large hectare land for FREE.
Baluarte also features live animal shows everyday, a petting zoo and a butterfly garden and still, everything is for FREE.
Chavit Singson's personal mini submarine is also open for visitors. It is a functional mini submarine and is one of Chavit's favorite toys that he uses to track treasures.
See how these cute creature ready himself to pout for a picture perfect shot.
I was also able to spot a sleeping swan within the grounds of Baluarte.
One of my favorites is this peacock/peahen who confidently poses everytime people stops to see him/her. Lucky for me that he/she was able to spread out his/her tail feathers just in time that I opened my camera lens. These tail feathers or coverts spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60% of the bird's total body length and has a colorful eye markings of blue, gold, red and other hues.
Trivia: the term "peacock" is commonly used to refer to birds of both sexes but technically, only males are peacocks and females are called peahens and together they are called peafowl.
I was also able to see the biggest tiger that I've ever seen in my entire existence. At times, they let the tiger roam around a particular secluded land area and is also open for viewing.
Another thing that caught my attention as I roam around the large hectare land of Baluarte is this spot. It is a very nice and cozy place to rest and relax at the same time watch the animals at the farm.
Despite the summer heat, I still managed to take a self shot at my favorite Baluarte spot.
Going home, we were able to stop over this area just to watch the sunset. It is also an ideal place to see mountains of Ilocos Sur and at the same time enjoy the fresh air of the province.
The highway heading out of Vigan were also at sight in this area where we stopped.
As perfect as it can be, this is how sunset looks like at Vigan.
I also have in here a sunset shot at a different angle.
Lastly, the sunset by the sea. I was able to take this shot while I'm inside the car enjoying the beautiful scenery of Ilocos Sur.
The Heritage City of Vigan has qualified as one of the 21 finalists in the search for the new 7 wonders of the world. The public may cast their votes online or through phone or SMS to make Vigan one of the seven cities to win the title.
To vote online, log on to the New7Wonders website (at www.new7wonders.com/en/cities).
To vote through SMS, type VIGAN and send to 29290777; each SMS sent will cost P2.50. To vote via phone call, follow these instructions (or go towww.new7wonders.com/phonevoting).
In order for Vigan to win the title as one of the New7Wonders Cities, it needs to qualify in two elimination rounds of online voting. The second elimination round runs from July 7 to October 7; and the third elimination round will run from the end of the second round to December 7. Cities are voted for by the public, and scores are reset after every round.
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