Philippines

Trip Start Jul 12, 2010

100

Trip End Jul 12, 2011

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Where I stayed

Grandpas Inn

(Vigan hotels)

Flag of Philippines Vigan, Ilocos, Philippines
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Yesterday we awoke to blue skies and decided to hit the road early so caught the 7am bus to Baguio. The views were spectacular as we meandered through the mountain roads and slowly began to return to the hussle and bustle of city life instead of the relaxed vibe of the mountains. We arrived to Baguio about 1pm and decided that we would just continue on our way so we caught the next bus to Vigan at 2pm arriving into Vigan at 7.30 that night , we were left at Plaza Salcedo looking down onto St. Pauls Cathedral , all the trees in the Plaza were illuminated by lanterns and the whole scene looked magical.

We found Grandpas Guesthouse after a quick stroll through the cobblestoned streets , the only traffic being the horse-drawn carriages or kalesa. Didnt see any Western folk in the outside restaurants which instead were filled with Filipino tourists which was nice , we were greeted by lots of them as we passed

Vigan

. "Hello Sir Maam!!!" Our room is really nice and even comes with stone walls and the sliding capiz shell windows. They were cheaper then glass and add so much charm to the place. The whole guesthouse is beautiful and looks like the inside of a museum.

Today we wandered through the historic streets but slowly began to melt in the heat so decided to take a siesta. We are in a Spanish colonial town after all. Vigan was almost destroyed by American carpet bombers during WW2 but they aborted the mission at the last minute as the Japs fled. Poor old Manila was not as lucky .

Being here reminds us of the beautiful cities of Salvador and Cartegena in South America and is a real nice place to finish our trip up north. Wish we had the budget for a room with A-C but an ice cream in McDonalds has to do. Bring on Boracay!!

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