6 Week Gap Year

Sunset over rice fields and the South China Sea Lu & me in the Bell Tower, Vigan






Wednesday 6th June 2007
We got up early packed and went down to find the others had already gone into the town. They returned very quickly and we arranged to have a breakfast later. Ludy explained her nightmares to Ate B and we asked the receptionist without mentioning the reason, if the hotel was haunted. She replied that she has seen and felt the presence of 2 ghosts, a male and a female in the hotel many times before and was not surprised that we had been disturbed. I wasn’t sure if we should’ve asked for a discount for having a haunting but every body said I would’ve been charged more for having extra guests in the room. We toured some of the fine old streets of Vigan with beautiful Spanish colonial houses and warehouses and bodegas. The streets were cobbled with the original stones and Unesco has now decreed the town as a world heritage site. We make our way back to the town square and take a horse and carriage (Calesa) tour of some of the town. Our first stop is the bell tower of Santa Maria? which is what it says but dates back to the 15 Century. The original bells are still there but no longer are they rung. We are allowed to enter the tower and climb to the top where we get a great view of the town. There is a large bell in the centre and 5 (I think) smaller bells arranged around the outside walls facing the town. They all still move on their brackets but the bells themselves are badly cracked and in poor condition. There is also a large amount of graffiti on the wood and brickwork of the tower. Ludy, who has a fear of heights was very brave and climbed to the top and with a little cajoling sat near the edge for a photo opportunity. I also got a picture of her clinging to the wall for dear life! From here our pony and trap trots us to the Ilocano museum housed in Padre Burgos’s house. He was a local martyr who refused to bow to the new administration by the Spanish and fought for the rights of the local native Ilocano. He was hanged and beheaded for his trouble as a warning to other rebels. From here we are taken to the local pottery and market which is very disappointing and we do not stay long. Back to the town centre and we disembark our trap. Our “Jockey”, who by the looks of him must be at least 100yrs old, tells us the ponies are fed on corn leaf and rice seed and watered 3 times a day to prevent them having water sickness. To be fair I thought the ponies were in reasonable condition, it was our jockey I think we should have worried about. We checked out of the hotel for which we paid peso2000 for 2 rooms. About £22. (ghost - Govt Haunting Optional Sur Tax included foc)! We have early lunch at Grandpa’s Inn with usual Filipino style food at incredibly low prices and then make our way around 2ish to a beach resort up north called Pagudpud, where we will stay overnight and have a little r and r time until midday Thursday. We drive for many hours past small villages and miles of rice fields, many of which are being planted or tilled by locals and their long horned cattle. Our next destination is Bakat where past and much revered President Marcos’s body is preserved and on display. His mausoleum is an unpresupposing building set between his 2 old family homes. A curator unlocks the door and we enter a dimly lit entrance area and are ushered to the right and into the final resting place of the ex President himself. The body is in what looks like a hermetically sealed glass coffin resting on a silk mattress and pillow. He is dressed in presidential dress and sash and medals. I am assured it is his preserved body but the face; well I suppose they have to do some wax and make up work for appearance but I have some doubts about what I see. But hey, no doubt I’m wrong. Leaving the presence of the most loved president in comparison to other past presidents we make or way upwards and skirt some of the mountains in the north. Around 6 the sun begins to set and we luckily happen to pass a ridge which looks down on rice fields aand out to sea and the sunset. PI is called the Land of the Setting Sun and is reflected in their national flag and the scene we witnessed as the sun went down. Whilst not perhaps the most spectacular sunset it was still pretty good. Within half an hour we had reached the resort of Pagudpud and checked into the hotel Villa del Mar. We have early dinner and retire early as I think we are tired from the travelling. No ghosts tonight but we do have cockroaches wider and longer than your thumb! I don’t think we get charged for them. We are all looking forward to tomorrow morning for a walk on the beach, a swim in the sea and then breakfast.