First Destination Vigan

It was already 10pm after the bus dropped us along the highway where Vigan City was situated, we arrived  feeling wasted and hungry and we don't know where to go next, we don't have any van or room reservation because we opted to look around to avail much cheaper rates and our only hope was to ask any available person that we will meet along the way, good thing there were group of tricycle parking along the street, so we approached them and asked if they can take us to Grandpa's Inn for us to check in since that was the first choice that we made due to good reviews from internet. Although we don't have reservation yet from the hotel but we're crossing our fingers hoping there's still available room for us since its not yet peak season. We pay the tricycle driver P10 each for the ride.

While en routing we were completely mesmerized by the place, its a whole lot different from the usual places in the Philippines that we've traveled before like beaches, parks and bars. This place is perfect for escaping the hustle and bustle of big cities. It was so peace and quiet and with only background "clip clop" of Kalesa walking along its cobbled streets. Feels like we were in Spanish era the one that my teacher used to describe during our class in history. 

When we arrived at Grandpa's Inn we immediately talked to their receptionist if there's still vacant rooms good for 4 of us, unfortunately they only had 2 rooms available good for 2 and not air conditioned, that was really a bad news but somehow we are open to other option as we understood we checked in very late. So we checked the available rooms maybe we can manage to stay just for the night because we are really dead tired. Upon checking we were disappointed because  it has no proper ventilation,just a fan room and tightly close with a brick walls.  We find it not convenient to stay knowing that we really need a good rest for us to recover from a very long trip, additionally we find the room creepy because of their interior design like old gadgets, antique chairs and tables, but most of the tourist appreciate those vintage items used as a decoration as well as the complete set up of the hotel but not us. So we decided not to get the room. Despite what we agreed, the receptionist still helped us to look for other option, they refer us to go to El Juliana Hotel and gave directions which is just a walking distance within the vicinity of Vigan City.

We stayed @ El Juliana Hotel,  price is reasonable for only P1,100 good for  3 persons  we just added P300 for extra bed since there's 4 us, it only cost us P1,400 for overnight stay that includes breakfast meal  and unlimited use of pool.

Inside our room, we find it comfy with a full blast a/c, cable TV and 2 big beds plus hot and cold shower 

Pool area inside the hotel

Decided to go swimming first thing in the morning                                

Crispy Bagnet & Sizzling Pork Sisig @ Cafe Leona where we had our dinner

Cafe Leona Dining area

The Kalesa (carriage) and the Cuchero (driver)we hired  from the cathedral for P150/hr  within the vicinity of Vigan City

Wandering around Crisologo Street 

Calle Crisologo @ night 

Looking for some cool and cheap memorabilia @ Souvenir Shop

Travelling Vigan from scratch

It's tiring but rewarding that's what we felt travelling Vigan Ilocos Sur, considering the fact that we are from Davao City, we took Davao-Clark flight via Airphil, since that was the nearest possible flight that was available in our area. Upon reaching Diosdado Macapagal airport we took our lunch at SM Pampanga, we are not that familiar with the place and unfortunately none of us brought our hard copies for our itinerary, its like we are travelling from scratch and our only guide is with the help of internet and google map, so we asked directly the guard from SM if what are means of transportation going  to Vigan terminal, and we were advised to ride a tricycle to take us to a public utility jeep that can send us to Dau bus terminal, so we hired a tricycle and pay P10 each and transferred to a jeepney bound for Dau Its tiring but rewarding thats what we felt travelling Vigan Ilocos Sur, considering the fact that we are from Davao City, we took Davao-Clark flight via Airphil, since that was the nearest possible flight that was available in our area. Upon reaching Diosdado Macapagal airport we took our lunch at SM Pampanga, we are not that familiar with the place and unfortunately none of us brought our hard copies for our itinerary, its like we are travelling from scratch and our only guide is with the help of internet and google map, so we asked directly the guard from SM if what are means of transportation going  to Vigan terminal, and we were advised to ride a tricycle to take us to a public utility jeep that can send us to Dau bus terminal, so we hired a tricycle and pay P10 each and transferred to a jeepney bound for Dau terminal and pay again P8 each.

We arrived around 1pm at the bus terminal and since we're not pretty sure what route and bus to take we decided to ask for assistance from the dispatcher of the terminal and was advised to wait for the Farianas bus bound for Laoag since that bus will stop to Vigan and  can drop us there. We waited almost 3 hours roughly , finally around 5 pm the bus show up "Oh thank you!"  that's the first word that came out of our minds due to the inconvenience that we experienced that time, imagine the scorching heat of the sun surrounded with smoke-belcher buses, so we hurriedly run for the bus and immediately fill in the available seats , good thing the bus was great it had an a/c with a comfortable reclining seats, so the long wait was well compensated . 

Its quite a long travel from Clark, to Vigan, we paid P480 each for the fare and around 3 pm the bus departed.  The bus lines that we took made only 2 stopover and approximately a 15-minute stop to those two designated places, and take note it was far in between like 3-4 hours of interval so I suggest if there's any personal necessities that you need to do like urinating, you have to take advantage of it as much as possible or else you have to hold it until you reach your destination.  Finally after 8 hours of long travel we reached Vigan City around 10pm.  

Our Arrival (Clark Airport)

Brunch @ (Tokyo-Tokyo) SM Pampanga

Run for your seat! @ Dau Terminal bound for Vigan

The Commuters