After last year’s All Saint’s Day, we headed to the North for some adventure! This was my 2nd time to be in Ilocos and my first was 9 years ago. So this is pretty exciting for me too. 
ticketing booth at Partas
We rode the bus in Aurora Blvd, Partas around 9.30pm and started to depart Manila by 10:00pm. The bus fare was Php 685 each.
Partas bus
We arrived early morning in Vigan so we had our breakfast in one of the carinderias beside the Bell tower. Actually, we didn’t know that it was beside the tower. When we had our tour in the daylight, we realized that it was the Church’s bells beside us that were ringing while we were eating. Since it was almost sunrise, we went straight to Calle Crisologo to rent a Kalesa to tour us in Vigan. If I remembered it right, it was Php 200/hour.
Our Vigan destinations were as follows:
1. Calle Crisologo
my entry for DOT's more fun campaign. )
2. Bell Tower
inside the bell tower. (dyan daw kinuha yung espada ni Panday!)
3. Baluarte ni Singson
4. Island Souvenirs
my favorite souvenir shop
check out our Kalesa's plate number! *143*
After the tour, we went to the terminal to catch a bus going to Laoag. We thought that there was a straight bus ride from Vigan to Pagudpud in mid day but we were wrong. Their schedules are in the early morning and in the evening. If you plan to go to Pagudpud in midday, you have no choice but to ride the bus to Laoag then from there ride another bus or van to Pagudpud. Quite tiring really.
The bus ride from Vigan to Laoag is Php 141/pax via Partas again then transferred to a van in Laoag going to Pagudpud that cost us Php 80/pax. Just a word of caution, be aware of tricycle drivers that ask you to pay them more than the standard rate. It’s usually only Php 11/pax but we experienced being charged for Php 25/pax. Ask the locals to help you negotiate. They’re pretty helpful and accommodating when approached.
We arrived in Pagudpud Rinnovati Inn around 3pm. We’re dead tired so we decided to rest and had a quick nap. We woke up just in time for dinner! Hahaha! We ate dinner in a nearby restaurant since it’s already dark and we don’t know the area. It’s been a long day for us so we just stayed inside our room for our first night.
As for the rooms in Pagudpud Rinnovati, it’s pretty decent though our faucet is broken. We have to use the valve instead. The arrangement of the bed and the TV is quite unusual but it’s okay. The aircon was fine too but sometimes, ice comes out from the aircon. Hahahaha! We don’t know why. Since we’re not staying there the whole time and we’re not that picky because of our budget. The room is okay for us. By the way, they also have a wifi but if your room is upstairs like where we were accommodated, you’ll only get 1 bar of wifi connection. You have to go out to have a good signal.
inside our room 4pax
That would be pretty much our adventure for our first day in Ilocos. The next day would be a whole day of Pagudpud tour.
Check out the summary of our Ilocos trip here: November Travel 2011: Ilocos, Philippines
