I had qualms about buying a new journal to chronicle yet another backpacking adventure so I made do with writing bits of thoughts and observations at the back of the paper where I plotted our planned itinerary. Only during the quite lengthy trip to Baguio (from Laoag) did it occur to me that BB is equipped with documents to go feature. So I might as well start telling our story. Chances of my being able to write in the comfort of home seems nil, especially that I caught this nasty cold from exposure to heat and rain which no amount of multivitamins has prepared me for.
Day 1 (29 Oct) - We left Annie's place in Alijis at sometime past 4. The whole neighborhood was quiet; the residents deep in slumber (including our hosts 3 doors away whom we chanced upon the previous night preparing "ibos" for the holidays). Only the warning barks of dogs can be heard from the houses we passed by. The sky was illuminated by frequent flash of lightning from the north, foreboding a rainy morning. At the commercial area though, a store was still open, catering to four men each nursing a bottle of beer (drivers apparently). After a short negotiation, the youngest (and sober) person of the lot took us to SM where we caught the 430 van. It left earlier than scheduled to pick up more passengers (described by annie and arlen to be too loud) at an inn (situated a street thast cut across lacson).
Check-in was a breeze for me. Annie's was a different story though. A frequent traveler that she is, she still made a mistake of bringing a tripod on a lite fare plane ticket. So I suggested that she approach our company in the van and negotiate. So much ado about something especially with the teller who apparently is bent on collecting the baggage fee instead of extending a little courtesy to a customer. We were ready to queue for the terminal fee but only after I finished a chapter of "Tuesdays with Morrie". To keep myself from dozing off on the terminal seat while waiting for boarding, I had a cuppa from Kuppa (taking two extra sachets of sugar).
On arrival at NAIA terminal 3, we again shared bus with our van buddies. One of them sat beside me and I engaged him to a small talk. He turned out to be the DA Regional Director for Region 4B. They attended a seminar in Bacolod on Organic Farming.
Volts was already waiting at arrivals even before we got annie's tripod from the carousel. He has not changed physically. Even his Taz shirt has seen better days. My baby bro. What can I say :) He went with us to Cubao on the taxi. On both sides of Edsa just after SM Hypermart were Northbound bus terminals. The only liner there that was familiar from my blog reading was Dominion. It was hot and we did not eat anything so we stayed and decided to take their A/C service. Fare to Vigan was Php 580. The 930AM trip left shortly after 10 and the 2-stop trip had a tad too many. As was my habit, I did not sleep during the trip and noted the time when we reach a famous town or landmark. Late lunch was at Moncada's kambingan. I had sisig, rice and cola for Php 85.
Twelve hours after leaving Cubao, theb bus inched slowly towards the liner garage in Vigan. The time was10pm, 3 hours later than the usual travel time. There were road sections in La Union under repair that required the use of a single lane.
Vigan has a lot of one way streets. Owing to our greenness to the place and the dark streets, taking a cab was a safe choice. Or so we thought. For the short ride, the cab driver charged us php 15 each. As if to say "welcome to so-commercial vigan!"
Even before checking in to our reserved room, we were held up by the passing "Twilight Parade" which traversed the whole length of "Calle Crisologo", through Cordillera Inn where we spent the night.
Calle Crisologo at night
Shortly after we had our backpack stashed inside the room, we took a short walk to Cafe Leona to grab a much needed dinner. It was almost midnight. I had their much advertised vigan longganisa (which is really good as claimed, being lean and lightly spiced) and pinakbet (which dismally failed expectation on both taste and appearance - the vegetables looked like it's been cooked all day) which I shared with Annie while Arlen ordered cheeseburger de luxe with egg. I had a light beer to aid digestion. Finally, browsed a few pages on Morrie's before sleeping.
Day 1 (29 Oct) - We left Annie's place in Alijis at sometime past 4. The whole neighborhood was quiet; the residents deep in slumber (including our hosts 3 doors away whom we chanced upon the previous night preparing "ibos" for the holidays). Only the warning barks of dogs can be heard from the houses we passed by. The sky was illuminated by frequent flash of lightning from the north, foreboding a rainy morning. At the commercial area though, a store was still open, catering to four men each nursing a bottle of beer (drivers apparently). After a short negotiation, the youngest (and sober) person of the lot took us to SM where we caught the 430 van. It left earlier than scheduled to pick up more passengers (described by annie and arlen to be too loud) at an inn (situated a street thast cut across lacson).
Check-in was a breeze for me. Annie's was a different story though. A frequent traveler that she is, she still made a mistake of bringing a tripod on a lite fare plane ticket. So I suggested that she approach our company in the van and negotiate. So much ado about something especially with the teller who apparently is bent on collecting the baggage fee instead of extending a little courtesy to a customer. We were ready to queue for the terminal fee but only after I finished a chapter of "Tuesdays with Morrie". To keep myself from dozing off on the terminal seat while waiting for boarding, I had a cuppa from Kuppa (taking two extra sachets of sugar).
On arrival at NAIA terminal 3, we again shared bus with our van buddies. One of them sat beside me and I engaged him to a small talk. He turned out to be the DA Regional Director for Region 4B. They attended a seminar in Bacolod on Organic Farming.
Volts was already waiting at arrivals even before we got annie's tripod from the carousel. He has not changed physically. Even his Taz shirt has seen better days. My baby bro. What can I say :) He went with us to Cubao on the taxi. On both sides of Edsa just after SM Hypermart were Northbound bus terminals. The only liner there that was familiar from my blog reading was Dominion. It was hot and we did not eat anything so we stayed and decided to take their A/C service. Fare to Vigan was Php 580. The 930AM trip left shortly after 10 and the 2-stop trip had a tad too many. As was my habit, I did not sleep during the trip and noted the time when we reach a famous town or landmark. Late lunch was at Moncada's kambingan. I had sisig, rice and cola for Php 85.
Twelve hours after leaving Cubao, theb bus inched slowly towards the liner garage in Vigan. The time was10pm, 3 hours later than the usual travel time. There were road sections in La Union under repair that required the use of a single lane.
Vigan has a lot of one way streets. Owing to our greenness to the place and the dark streets, taking a cab was a safe choice. Or so we thought. For the short ride, the cab driver charged us php 15 each. As if to say "welcome to so-commercial vigan!"
Even before checking in to our reserved room, we were held up by the passing "Twilight Parade" which traversed the whole length of "Calle Crisologo", through Cordillera Inn where we spent the night.
Calle Crisologo at night
Shortly after we had our backpack stashed inside the room, we took a short walk to Cafe Leona to grab a much needed dinner. It was almost midnight. I had their much advertised vigan longganisa (which is really good as claimed, being lean and lightly spiced) and pinakbet (which dismally failed expectation on both taste and appearance - the vegetables looked like it's been cooked all day) which I shared with Annie while Arlen ordered cheeseburger de luxe with egg. I had a light beer to aid digestion. Finally, browsed a few pages on Morrie's before sleeping.
2 comments:
dear, 'tis funny. been thinking this same week that i buy you a notebook for christmas... =)
hmmm...that is good to hear...i would love to get something in the mail this christmas :D
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