I hope you've read / seen the first part of this series (Day 1 - Pangasinan - My Best Friend's Wedding) about our 5-day vacation, 4 destinations. Call it crazy, but we still had a lot of fun.
Now, on to the next stop of our trip - VIGAN! This is another long post so I hope you'll bear with me. I promise to keep it interesting… at least most of the time. ^_^
From Baguio to Vigan
Right after my best friend's wedding, we headed over to Baguio because we decided to sleep over at my Aunt Zeny's house and head out to Vigan the next day. She was coming with us for the rest of our trip so we had to go to Baguio first. From Urdaneta, Pangasinan, we took a bus going to Baguio. We paid Php 130 each. After a few hours, we were in Baguio.
And as soon as we stepped off the bus in Baguio, we immediately felt that really cold chill. We were already wearing our jackets. I was forced to wear the hoodie, too, 'cause it was just cold. But, I loved it! I prefer the climate in Baguio over the really hot weather in Bataan or even in Metro Manila. My bro and I even wanted to jog right there and then 'cause the breeze was just so cool.
Aunt Zeny lives with her husband at the PMA in Baguio. The security was really strict and it was a longggg drive to their house once you're in the PMA compound. I'm actually scared of long winding roads with tall, gigantic trees. It was a bit creepy, even from inside the taxi cab. *LOL*
Anyway, we had a good rest and the next day, we were ready for Vigan! But, before we even get to that, let me share with you what happened to us at the start of Day 2 of our vacation.
First, we had to CLIMB / hike from Tita Zeny's home up to the area where jeepneys pass by. It was a very longggggg and exhausting walk. Just look at us.
When we finally got to the top, I felt like jumping up and down 'cause I literally couldn't believe I managed to hike up that road. I can't even remember when I last exerted that much effort on anything. *LOL* But, at that time, I didn't know I will be experiencing worse when we get to Pagudpud. More on that on Day 3! :P
And, no, that's not the jeepney stop yet. LOL
She even had time to pose. LOL.
Now, I'm not done yet with our misadventure coming in Baguio. Onboard a jeepney going to the bus terminal, some pollen got into my right eye and infected it. My eye was SWOLLEN! I had to remove my contact lens 'cause it was really sore! The bus driver and conductor of Partas even interrogated me to make sure I didn't have sore eyes. *LOL* My aunt had to rush to the nearest pharmacy because my anti-allergy eye drop medicine already expired. I know, silly me for not noticing that.
I was just looking at the camera and forgot to move my other eye. LOL
Anyway, we paid Php 294 each for the bus ride from Baguio to Vigan. It was a 4-hour trip. Well, it was actually more than 4 hours. I had to take an anti-allergy medicine aside from the eye drop so I was asleep almost the whole trip.
When I woke up, we were a few minutes away from Vigan. Imagine my delight when I started seeing old establishments and buildings. Some were intentionally built that way, some were there ages ago.
We got off at the Partas bus station in Vigan, right across the market. We then talked to a couple of tricycle drivers to take us to Heritage village.
Take note that we left Baguio at 10:30am. I didn't anticipate it'll take us over 4 hours to get to Vigan. When we asked before we bought tickets, we were told it'll only take us 1-2 hours. So, imagine how disappointed and hungry we were when we finally arrived in Vigan.
We went straight to the Vigan Empanadaan 'cause my brother swore I had to try their empanada. There are a LOT of food stalls here so take your pick! We also ordered the Sinanglaw, a very famous beef stew among Ilocanos. I'll let you know more about that on our food blog so stay tuned!
Anyway, after our late lunch, we were confused as to what we should do next. We wanted to tour Vigan, but it was already 3pm so we had to hurry. Plus, we were planning on heading to Pagudpud that night. I know, CRAZY!! *LOL* At least, with our experience, you won't have to make the same mistake!
Just like what my brother said when he warned me about Vigan, the place reminded me of Intramuros. You can go around Vigan in just a few hours. But, we didn't get to do that 'cause it was already late.
We decided to hire 2 tricycles for a quick tour of Vigan. They charge Php 200 per hour, but we haggled the price down to Php 150. The rate was the same if you take the calesa. We've got calesas in Divisoria and Manila so there's no way we're riding those in Vigan.
Our first destination was Chavit Singson's Baluarte zoo. So, off we went!
There's no entrance fee to Baluarte. Anyone can freely go in and look around. The place is HUGE! And, the animals you'd see are not the usual you'd find in Manila zoo. Well, at least for me. Hehehe.
always behind the camera. My bag was really heavy 'cause I had my iPad with me. LOL
There were ostriches, ponies walking about. I never got that close to an ostrich my entire life so I really enjoyed it. I was like a little kid in a, well, zoo.
Did I mention that Baluarte was HUGE?! It was a very safe haven for these animals. 
And can you believe there were LIVE llamas in Baluarte?!?! I wanted to move closer, but I wasn't completely confident about their temperament. Hehehe. My mother was scared to pose for this photo. *LOL*
Here are a few more photos from Baluarte:
actually sleeping. Weird! Didn't know they sleep like that!
After Baluarte, the drivers suggested we go to the Hidden Garden. Well, there wasn't much to see. There were a couple of plants that fascinated me and I wished they had some kind of signs with information about the plants. Most of them were for sale, by the way. If you're into gardening, the Hidden Garden is a must-see. But, if you're like me (*LOL*), then, don't bother going here.
After the garden, we went straight to the popular Calle Crisologo. If you've seen photos from people who visited Vigan, with them walking down this road with old houses as the backdrop, then, those were taken on Calle Crisologo.
By the way, before I continue with our photos in Vigan, let me just mention that we weren't able to charge our camera's battery. The charger short-circuited and we had to buy a new one at SM Baguio. So, most of our Vigan photos were taken using my phone, a Nokia 5230 with a 2 megapixel camera. Ugh. But, thanks to Photoshop, I managed to make them look a li'l better.
I got really excited when we arrived at this area of Vigan. Why? 'Cause it was SHOPPING TIME! There were a lot of pasalubong shops lined up across this street. No other vehicles except calesas were allowed to pass.
I bought a couple of shirts, bought my mom a bag and another one that was supposed to be mine, but she liked it so much that I HAD to give it to her. *LOL* And, of course, we bought Vigan's famous longganisa / sausage, and bagnet.
From Vigan to Laoag
After our shopping spree (we only spent 2 hours and paid Php 300 each to the drivers), we then headed out to the bus terminal to go to Laoag and hopefully travel to Pagudpud that same night. We paid Php 121 each (by the way, I'll be posting the total travel expenses at the end of this series). It was another exhausting trip as it lasted for 3 hours and 30+ minutes.
When we got there, unfortunately, we were informed that there were no buses going to Pagudpud anymore at that time, around 9pm. Some suggested we could hire a private van, and when we talked to the guy, his rate was Php 3,000 just for driving us to Pagudpud. He said it was a li'l scary to drive all the way to Pagudpud, hence the high rate. I said, "Hell no!" at the back of my head. *LOL* He was polite so I kept my cool.
So, we decided to stay for the night at the nearest and cheapest hotel we could find in Laoag. The tricycle drivers who were there suggested Texicano Hotel in Laoag. So, off we went!
By the way, those tricycle drivers tricked us into agreeing to pay them Php 50.00 for that very short trip to Texicano. So, if you happen to be hiring a tricycle from Partas' bus station in Laoag to Texicano, you should only agree to pay Php 30. One of them even suggested they take us to Pagupud for Php 2,500. Is he crazy?! I wanted to punch him in the face! Hahahah.
Texicano Hotel is highly recommended when you're in Laoag if you're a budget freak like me. For the 5 of us, we only paid Php 1,800 for a room with 3 beds and 2 folding beds, a refrigerator, TV, hot shower and air-conditioning. What a deal, huh? Well, they even slashed off 10%! Too bad I wasn't able to take a photo of their hotel. Not sure why, but I've been really forgetful a lot these days. Good thing I found the photo above through Google. But, just check out how big the room was:
Laoag was beautiful, by the way. The area where we stayed looks like the streets in Marikina, but the air is fresher and cooler. Plus, the people seem nicer. Well, except for those drivers we hired to take us to Texicano.
Oh by the way, on our way to Baguio on the last leg of our vacation (coming from Pagudpud, that is), the Partas bus we were in stopped at their Vigan station again. We decided to buy food pasalubongs like the rice bibingka, bagnet and Vigan longganisa again. More about them on Certified Foodies.
Keep posted for Day 3 of our trip. Destination: Pagudpud!
Check out my posts about the rest of our trip:
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