The Vigan Coma

After getting our beach fix care of the rough waves and clean waters of Pagudpud, it was on to the next stop of this 5-day vacation: the heritage city of Vigan. With our bags repacked (and I'm telling you, repacking takes some serious skillz) and ourselves refreshed, we were off to another three-wheeler adventure that landed us to what looks like an unused police outpost-slash-bus stop. Here, C noticed yet again the carefree provincial life in the form of a waiting passenger just leaving his belongings in the outpost while he chatted away with some of the tricycle drivers stationed there. A shout of "Ma'am" alerted us to an incoming bus bound for Laoag, readying us for the next phase of our Northern stroll. 

Waiting for a bus on a Sunday.

But before heading to Laoag City, we decided to have a quick stop into another fabulous site, the Bangui Windmills, which C, and in her adorable geeky fashion, termed as the "Isengards of the Wild North". Very clever LOTR reference. I wish I thought of that first instead of settling for "Majestic Structures of the North". Tsk tsk.

Or maybe "The Propellers of Power" could work.

After a rather bumpy and expensive-when-compared-to-bus-fares trike ride, we reached the shore of the towering fanblades (Gaaah, that's a pretty good caption!) and soaked in the awesomeness of these spinning white giants! Simply marvelous especially when combined with the steady breeze, the calming sound of the waves, and the warm rays of our yellow dwarf star. And in case you were wondering, yes, a mandatory selfie was taken at this pretty tourist spot.

That blue hat of C. Hmmm.

Once our vanity meter was filled, we proceeded to scour some of the souvenir shops a few meters away from the coast. C pointed out that these shops weren't present the last time she visited these sources of electricity. A quick scan of the products led us to purchasing a pair of cute, miniature windmills from a pleasant local seller. Afterwards, it was back to the highway for us to catch another bus ride, this time back to the capital.

Around 45 minutes later, the now-familiar site of the capital welcomed us as we headed straight to a bus terminal with trips going to Vigan. Once again, excellent timing worked for us as we arrived about 15 minutes before the bus departed. A rainy 2-hour ride to Vigan followed where I couldn't help but get distracted by the local comedy film being played on the bus. I don't know if C was bothered too, but nevertheless, it was a big relief for me once we started seeing signs of Vigan. We got off in what looks like the town plaza (once again, assuming that we were on the correct stop) and took a very short ride to Hotel Felicidad (nothing beats the golf cart ride in Las Casas though in terms of travel time!).

Once at the hotel, a group of nice hotel personnel greeted us with welcome drinks and moist wipes (which amused me for a second) while we settled the usual registration stuff and selection of our breakfast  for the next day. A few flight of stairs later, a room featuring a mixture of modern and classic designs astonished us: tall curtains, wooden furniture, brass shower heads, pretty lamps, and a comfortable queen-sized bed. 2 out of 2 so far in terms of accommodations. Thank you tripadvisor reviews! 

Lovely.

With our day already consisting around 4 hours worth of travel, our stomachs were certainly not in a cooperative mood anymore. After a brisk check online for recommended food spots while catching a glimpse of a John Lloyd-Angel starred movie (I didn't finish the movie!), we decided to grab dinner at one of the nearby cafes, Cafe Uno.

A place this good deserves a selfie.

Cafe Uno's a small, simple, hole-in-the-wall food spot with a cozy, laidback atmosphere, a common denominator for food places in this area. We got a table near the counter and was presented with 3 different menus that included food items from nearby competing restaurants. Pretty neat. Just looking through the list of mouth-watering dishes was overwhelming in its own way. After a lengthy battle with our desire for bagnet sisig (!), we finally agreed to munch on the following: bagnet with monggo, hungarian sausage pasta, Felicitas rice (recommended!), a slice of cheesecake, tea, and a Vigan tsokolate. Ecstatic tummies!

I could eat this everyday. Seriously.

I have no idea how we got back to our hotel room given the physically limiting effects (even emotional in a food kind of way!) of our big time dinner. Needless to say, our bed felt the wrath (and the weight!) of our so-worth-it, sleep-inducing, food coma initiative! Hehe. Next up: Calle Crisologo Chronicles!

P.S. There's photographic evidence of C's food coma experience but we're keeping it to ourselves. Heh. :p