The Story
This post is the third part of the Vigan, Ilocos Sur DIY Trip + Baguio City Side Trip Series. Go back to the main article to view the details and the followed itinerary:
3 Days & 2 Nights in Vigan and Baguio City:
Going North: A DIY Trip to Historic Town of Vigan and Baguio City in 3 Days
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur:
A Mesmerizing Half Day Tour around Calle Crisologo & Bantay
Get Artistic in National Museum, Cafe Leona and Calle Crisologo at Night
Enjoying Baluarte, Loomweaving, Bagnet Factory and Hidden Garden
Baguio City, Benguet:
Baguio City: Exploring the City of Pines in One Day, DIY Style
Budget Guide and Travel Tips:
Vigan – Baguio DIY Budget Guide and Travel Tips
Accommodation Review:
HEM Apartelle: Your Cheap But Comfy Stay in Vigan
After having a goodnight sleep in HEM Apartelle, we are excited to start the Day 2 of our Vigan tour. This time, we wonder how we can maximize the time we had since we left the farthest destinations in the city for this day. So, we went back to Calle Crisologo and charter a nearby tricycle. This will be the convenient way to go into places to places when you are running short of available time. We are able to transact to a kind tricycle driver who offered us the service for P300.
Baluarte
Baluarte is also one of the most visited destination here in Ilocos. Not only because entrance is FREE, but because of the fact that it is owned by Chavit Singson, a well known politician in the country. Most of the target visitors are very curious to see the property. Baluarte is actually a zoo, it was named as Baluarte or “Baluarte ni Chavit” because it is the same area of residence of Mr. Singson.
Safari Gallery is the newest “attraction” in Baluarte. It is a park of mounted head of animals and few selected taxidermied ones. For us, this is a bit ironic for a zoo to house such a exhibit, noting that each animal have its “trophy” picture of who killed them. Anyway, this is a notable experience to see real-size animals that some could’t be seen alive in the land of our country.
During our visit, several areas are closed due to renovation and some are closed because we are too early for the scheduled time. Hence, We are not able to roam around freely. Also, some areas are only accessible if you avail the tour they are offering. We didn’t bother to go for it since we think it isn’t practical.
The deer just ignores what Sonny is offering. Oh come on buddy. Maybe that’s because those leaves aren’t tasty! 😀
Haha. This is the only decent picture of the tiger. I am hesitant to post the others since I think I am distracting the “private” time of him or her.
We enjoyed our short “hike” tour to Baluarte despite of a higher expectation of many animals to be seen.
Cristy’s Loomweaving
Oh! Aren’t you curious how those nice table tops are made? You can observe and even try how to do it here!
In here, everything is manually done and made. Right from arranging those fibers to make a design up to finally making the desired product. Few meters of it took a long time to make, even for experienced weavers. We noticed that only one weaver is in the factory when we came in. It is because the manufacturing of it depends on the orders made. If there is a bulk of orders, more workers are required to work full time.
The fiber strands are arranged manually on bamboo strips or “patpat”. This is to avoid them to be tangled.
After the educational tour with Ate, oops I forgot here name, sorry. We go into the shop to buy some finish products. We are able to buy some table top linen/placemat set for 150 (depends on the set you want) and a double bedding piece for 270.
Bagnet Factory
Indeed, you can just buy Bagnet in Calle Crisologo. But we want “fresher and cheaper”. That’s why Kuya driver suggested that we should pass by to a nearby bagnet factory. He also insisted that there is a free taste of bagnet there.
Kuya is right. There is a free taste Bagnet right after arriving on the shop. The lady just chopped a pieace of Bagnet and offered it to us right away. I wish this free taste is unlimited! Haha.
As I can remember, buying your Bagnet in the factory is about P10-P20 cheaper per kilo compared when you just buy it from the Poblacion/Calle Crisologo shops. And I guess you can get it for a lower price if you buy in bulk. Native Vigan Longganisa is also available in the Bagnet Factory. If you are wondering, Bagnet is priced at P400 per kilo and longganisa at P120 per dozen.
Hidden Garden
This place is hidden. That’s why it is obviously called Hidden Garden. You won’t even know that there is a garden inside when you arrive in the place (assuming you aren’t assuming Hidden Garden is a garden. This is weird, yeah. Haha.) This garden, located far away from the city center also houses a restaurant.
I am not sure what is the religious beliefs of the owners of these garden but one thing for sure is that they believe on having a good luck.
This huge board is located on the left of the front desk. Let’s play a game, I will give a name of an artist and find it him/her in the photos!
There are designated places wherein plants are placed on mini-pots. These are for sale. Price starts at about P40-60 per pot and can go as high as thousand pesos. Of course, those pricier ones are larger and hard to find varieties.
After ending up the garden tour, you’ll then arrive to an outdoor restaurant where you can order foods you want, from native delicacies to classical cuisines. Dishes are a bit pricey than they should be but they are delicious.
We chose the table located outside of the nipa. There is still a nice landscaping just beside us when we were eating.
The food we ordered appeared that it can be easily done for two persons. But, we ended asking for a take-out since we are not able to eat all of it.
That ends our Day 2 Tour for Vigan. It’s time to go back to HEM Apartelle to pack-up and rest for a bit. See you Baguio City in a few hours!
Planning to do the same trip? Check out Baguio City: Exploring the City of Pines in One Day, DIY Style.
Expenses Summary
Tricycle Tour (Vigan + Tip) – 350
Ice Cream Snack (P20 x 2) – 40
Brunch at Hidden Garden – 735
Total for Vigan, Day 2 Tour: Php 1,125 (2 pax)
If you are wondering about our complete expenses and budget, you can look at Vigan – Baguio DIY Budget Guide and Travel Tips. Everything we spent is written there.
