Reliving the Past in Heritage Village, Vigan City

After a short stopover in La Union, we continued our way to Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, the original destination of our road trip.

Vigan City is about 400 kilometers away from Manila, depending on traffic situation, around 8-9 hours drive via NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) and SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway).  It is located on the west coast of Northern Luzon and is the seat of provincial government of Ilocos Sur.  Vigan City is famous for its Heritage Village, a tourist destination where ancestral houses and other structures built during the Spanish era can be found.  Heritage Village was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site for these well-preserved ancestral houses and other historical and religious structures.

It was already evening when we reached Vigan City.  We walked around the Heritage Village, along Calle Crisologo and nearby streets, admiring the vintage houses that they turned into tourist attractions, taking photographs here and there.

the famous Calle Crisologo of the Heritage Village, Vigan City

forgot the street name but this one's also part of the Heritage Village

the fusion of the old and the new, McDo in an ancestral house

Plaza Burgos, Vigan City

Done with sightseeing and capturing images, we then had our dinner in one of the stalls (turo-turo style) near the Plaza Burgos.  We ordered rice, pork caldereta and of course, the Ilocos pride, sinanglaw, a beef soup of innards and skin.  I am not fond of innards so I just had a spoon of its soup to taste.  Sinanglaw for me is like the Tagalog's nilagang baka, only that instead of beef meat, innards were used and no vegetables were added.  A papaitan sauce is used to add a bitter taste to this soup and when I asked what's the papaitan sauce made of, my friend just said, 'don't ask, just eat', and that's when I said, 'I think I'll just pass', hahaha!

Ilocos' sinanglaw, the upper-right photo is a version of it from another stall the next morning

After dinner, we asked the locals for the direction to Granpa's Inn.  We're supposed to stay there as I have read good reviews of the place but we're told that all their air-conditioned rooms were already occupied.  We don't have reservation so we just asked for a place they could recommend and told us about the Aniceto Mansion.  Just like the other hotels in the Heritage Village, Aniceto Mansion is an ancestral house converted into a budget hotel.  It is located near the Plaza Burgos, adjacent to the St. Paul Cathedral. Exhausted from the long trip, we decided to stay in Aniceto Mansion rather than look for some place else.  Anyway, the room's spacious enough for us all (we're four in the group) and more comfortable than the fan room we saw in Grandpa's, and most importantly, the room's air-conditioned.  :D

Out of exhaustion, we woke up late the next morning.  Breakfast would only be served until 9am so we go down in a hurry to avail of the free breakfast (room rate includes complementary breakfast). After the breakfast, we then attended the mass at the nearby church, the St. Paul Cathedral.  St. Paul Cathedral is considered as the major religious landmark not only in Northern Luzon but throughout the country as well, as it has been the center of Roman Catholic devotion for centuries (source: http://www.vigan.ph/). After which, I again took some photos, this time of the church and the Plaza Salcedo across the church.

St. Paul Cathedral, Vigan City

Plaza Salcedo, Vigan City

Before heading back to the hotel to prepare ourselves for the long journey back home, we first had our snack at the Vigan Empanadaan, a row of stalls along the street beside the Plaza Burgos that sell Vigan empanada.  Vigan empanada is a delicious snack made of sauteed cabbage, papaya and other vegetables with egg and Vigan longganisa stuffed in a crispy taco-like shell. It's so yummy we had two orders each of this empanada...nagtakaw eh, hehe!

Vigan empanada

That's about it with our Vigan road trip (with short stopover in La Union), a two-day adventure  on and off the road.  I am so glad I finally visited this City; it's a great place really, unique and beautiful.  With its colonial houses turned into tourist attractions; with its affordable, delicious and unique-tasting dishes, Vigan really is a must-visit city of the north. :)

Date of Visit: November 5-6, 2011