Nerdo Adventure: Vigan! (Promdi outside Manila)

I've always wanted to go to Ilocos because I've heard so many great things about the architecture and ofcourse, the food. Since Salvador Bernal's class in college on Aesthetics, I've had a thing for appreciating local architecture, how their design and functionality reflect the Filipino ideals and way of life. Last month, thanks to work, I finally got the chance to (which means I got pad to travel! yay!)

If you're a nerdo like me, minus the huge glasses and geeky laugh, and consider museums the ideal place for adventure, then you'll love Vigan. Vigan is one giant museum, complete with exchibits, artwork, souvenirs and culinary delights!

I arrived there straight from the airport at night because the only flight to Ilocos is at 6pm. Vigan looks amazing, elegant and magical at night, particularly Calle Crisologo, with its cobblestone streets, yellow flickering lights and vintage buildings. Plus, everyone's asleep by 9pm so you can run around the streets and no one would give a shiz.

In the morning, we swore we'd eat nothing but Vigan delicacies to compliment the Vigan sites we were going to explore. So we immdiately started sniffing around for some Vigan longanisa. Unfortunatey all the good restaurants were still closed by then. But we refused to eat at Jollibee or anywhere else that did not serve pure Vigan longanisa. So we found Max's restaurant. Yes, that Max's restaurant. They had a special menu that served Vigan classics.

The longanisa was great, with a bit of spice mixed with the sour taste of vinegar and you're good to go!

We were told that the best way to go around Vigan is via the kalesa, a horse drawn carriage. And they were right. Sure, it's a bit bumpy given the cobblestones and our seemingly constipated horse, but for 150php/hour you get an authentic old Filipino ride around the city and a friendly driver/tourist guide who will not only bring you to museums and Churches, he'll also tell you stuff about them.

Vigan by day is grey, old and devastatingly beautiful. The houses in Calle Crisologo looked so fragile and formidable at the same time. No wonder the UN declared it a heritage site. You can almost believe ladies in baro't saya will soon open those capiz windows to drop you a shy, conservative smile.

Our first stop as directed by manong was the St. Augustine Bell Tower. The tower, made of bricks stood magnificently beside one of Vigan's many churches, that could easily trump the ones in Intramuros in terms of architecture, design and history.

The problem was, I have a thing with heights. Okay, okay, I am afraid of heights, I get sweaty palms and my heart jumps out of my chest every time I look down from a 3 storey building. But curiosity, which curiously also killed the cat, got the better of me so I slowly but surely climbed the wobbly stairs (or was that just me shaking in fear.) The view from the top of the bell tower was breath taking. You could see the farmlands of Vigan spread across plains. The air was so fresh, I almost died. Then I looked down and remembered I was afraid of heights, so I sat down.

We also visited museums. And boy are there a lot of museums in Vigan's. We saw old libraries, cars, gardens, pottery, paintings, guns, furniture, telephones, piano. You name it, they've got in old, vintage style.

Last stop was Chavit Singson's Balwarte, which was a zoo/gambling center for Chavit and friends in the time of Erap, when they were still besties. Considering the amount of taxpayers' money that goes into the maintenance of the place, Balwarte is impressive. The gardens are well manicured, the tigers, camel and ponies well fed. The butterflies were abundant and floated around you and you feel magical.

By 11 am, while teasing the tigers at the risk of losing our hands, it had gotten so hot we wanted to run naked and dip into the artificial falls. Travelers are advised to wear comfortable clothes when in Vigan, because, men, it's just really hot.

We ended the day by having ourselves some Basi, sugarcane wine, and Bagnet ofcourse!

A trip to Vigan is one I'd most certainly do again. It's a cheap way to enjoy and learn at the same time.Museums usually don't charge visitors, just give them a donation for maintenance and that's it. Plus, the food is great and the ambience, romantic. Go see for yourself!