Midnight Bus to Vigan

The jet lag has since subsided and we are slowly getting into the swing of things. I am sporting a shiny face and three mosquito bites on my feet (one on my left, two on my right), but thanks to Rachel I was able to get my hands on some Malarone which means no malaria for me. I am trying really hard to be a "good tourist" meaning observing the scene without disrupting things. But I got moony eyed over the big lights, jeepneys, and kids smoking cigarettes that I'm sure I got in a lot of peoples way, thus pissing them off. One thing I quickly learned was that it sucks to be a pedestrian here. Who knew that crossing the street would be a life or death situation? You either wait until the coast is clear or wing it and weave through the damn cars. It's like playing Frogger, only when you get smooshed you truly are fucked.

As I mentioned earlier, we were doing a mini-back packing trip through three places in Northern Luzon: Vigan, Baguio, and Banaue. I was genuinely excited about going on the trip until two hours before we had to leave for the bus station. It dawned on me that in my 24 years of existence, I had never back packed anywhere. The closest I came to back packing was in the halls of my middle and high schools. I panicked. Carlos was very excited- which is understandable because this is a guy who went on a cross country trip by train all by himself. He's a wanderer at heart, like Dora the Explorer. Anyway, I eventually got over my panic attack and we were on our way to Vigan. It was a 10 hour bus ride from Cubao to Vigan. We decided to do it baller status and ride a deluxe bus (which is higher than First Class) It was the best decision ever; big comfortable seats, sub zero temperature, and few passengers. We left at midnight on Tuesday with the hopes that we'd sleep through out the whole 10 hour trip. I would doze off then be jerked awake and distracted by the scenery. This was the pattern until I took two NyQuils. Along the way, the scenery looked like Metro Manila; chain restaurants, shacks, make shift businesses but without the high rises and jeepneys.

When we got to Vigan, we were a bit disappointed. Vigan is supposed to be the best preserved example of Spanish Colonialism and architecture. When the bus pulled in, the city looked disappointingly modern. We took a tricycle, which is a motorcycle with a side car, to our hotel. Carlos and I are fairly small people and we barely fit into the side car, I can't imagine how anyone over 5'7 could fit in there. We were staying in a "quaint" hotel called Grandpa's Inn. When I say quaint I mean budget; we just needed a place to sleep. Our room was a small, mildewy dungeon. On the flip side, it had powerful air conditioning.

We took a calesa, which is a horse drawn carriage, and toured Vigan. Note, always ask how much something costs before partaking; failure to do so will result in a hustle. Anyway, we saw a jar factory, the hidden garden, a really weird zoo in which ostriches were wandering freely, two museums and Calle Crisologo. The two that were worth the tour was the Crisologo Museum and Calle Crisologo. The Crisologo museum is a museum dedicated to the Crisolgo family. Their mansion was turned into the museum. The husband was a congressman and the wife eventually became mayor. Everything was well preserved: their offices, their furniture and clothing. The congressman was assasinated and in a glass case were pictures of his assasination, the pants he wore that day, his glasses, and various news paper clippings. Morbid, but nonetheless fascinating.

Calle Crisologo is what we traveled 10 hours for: it had the cobble stone streets and the colonial architecture. It was beautiful. Mansions with crumbling paint and large wooden doors were turned into equivalents of live/work lofts: store at the bottom, home up top. Stores sold everything from various Vigan souvenirs, funny t shirts, hand made purses, and hand made furniture. We watched other calesas go by and I loved the sound of the horse shoes on the cobble stone streets. (what I didn't love was the horse shit smell) We also watched toddlers do dances that I'm positive they learned on Wowowee. We sat on bench taking in the scene until we were ambushed by blood thirsty mosquitoes.

As far as food goes, we went to one of the street stalls in Plaza Salcedo to try the empanadas and the okoy (fried whole shrimp omelett) The empanadas were huge and filled with cabbage, pork and egg. They were large, crispy and delicious. The okoy was good but not as good as the empanadas.I guess I was thrown off by the whole shrimp thing; I prefer mine shelled, deveined and headless. So for two empanadas, okoy, and two giant Pepsis, it came out to P 116, which is roughly $2.30. I was worried that we'd regret eating street food, but fortunately we didn't vomit or get the runs.

In conclusion, Vigan didn't have that rustic charm that I was hoping for but seeing Calle Crisologo was well worth the trip. Vigan is very down home; friendly people, managable weather and an overall charming atmosphere. Next is Baguio.