Huwebes, Marso 17, 2016

WHEN in VIGAN, ILOCOS NORTE.


Vigan is a city located on the northwestern coast of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the capital of the Ilocos Sur province and the only UNESCO World Heritage City in the country. Recently, it won as one of the New Seven Wonders Cities of the World. 


The city’s cuisine is also quite interesting and numerous restaurants around the area makes it readily accessible to visitors.There is no denying the popularity of Vigan City for the typical tourist and even veteran travelers. And for those planning to visit it anytime soon, here’s an intensive travel guide, complete with a 2-day and 3-day sample itinerary for a DIY tour of the Vigan City.



The main draw of Vigan City are its well-preserved Bahay na Bato structures located at the Meztizo District, its historical core. Currently, there are 187 listed ancestral houses in town. Besides this, it also boasts of beautiful colonial churches, a plaza that comes alive with a fountain show at night, a free-roaming zoo and numerous historical museums.


Many people travel through Vigan on their way to and from destinations on Ilocos Sur. It’s common for other people to skip a night in this small city because they have other plans. But don’t skip Vigan. It’s an old city with soul and you can spend a few days enjoying its charms if you’re not in a hurry. Great food, homes of prominent historical figures turned into museums, a ride in a kalesa, or horse-drawn carriage – there’s a lot to enjoy in Vigan.


 

But make sure you see the Calle Crisologo on foot, too, so you can take the time to view the ancestral homes of the Spanish colonial period. The Crisologo family’s belongings are housed at the Crisologo Museum. Also of note are the Burgos Museum, where Jose Burgos, a martyred priest, once resided, and the Syquia Mansion, home of Doña AliciaSyquia, the wife of the 6th President of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino.




Baluarte Vigan – Fortress of Vigan

The Baluarte or fortress is a must-see attraction for first time visitors, and even for those who have visited Vigan before. The reasons for its being on the list of places to visit are two. First is that it has a mini zoo with animals from other countries and others endemic to the Philippines. It is a private collection and is therefore continuously being improved. The second reason is that it is owned by Mr. Chavit Singson, a well-loved son of Vigan and well-known to most Filipinos and foreigners who follow the Philippine political scene. The resort complex lies in hectares of land that stretches from the rolling plain towards the hills, where the former governor’s multi-storey house sits with a grand view of Vigan and the South China Sea.From the caged animals, visitors can move on to the fenced areas where they can visit and feed the monkeys, swans, flamingos, ostriches, albino and spotted deer and the one-hump camel. Children are allowed to sit on top of the bigger animals, but if they really want to ride, they can go to the tracks where they can ride the miniature horses. For a closer encounter with the animals, visitors may choose to visit and feed the parrots and hornbills that are placed in a more open area where visitors can openly approach them with bananas and seeds. There are also scheduled show and tell times when audiences are introduced to the animals.

Within its private area is a landscaped garden complete with its own nature pools. However, the area open to the public has plenty more engaging attractions that visitors can busy themselves with aside from the mini zoo. There is a butterfly farm, a track for horse riding and a skeet shooting range. Visitors can start with visiting the rows of cages where they can see lions, Bengal tigers, peacocks, civet cats, iguanas, pythons and other reptiles and birds. In this part of the Baluarte, people will also be able to see the Philippine cloud rat, a nocturnal animal endemic to the Philippine Cordillera region. This very large rodent is an herbivore and hunted by large birds and local people.



THE WIND MILLS OF BANGUI.

It is truly an awesome sight.
It looks like a surreal scene from an extra-terrestrial movie.
The Bangui Wind Mills or Wind Farm is composed of 15 wind turbines, each of them soaring high the equivalent of a 23-story building – planted in a row along the shore of Bangui Bay, Bangui, Ilocos Norte.
The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, each wind turbine was built at a cost of US$1.75M. Cheap.
The Bangui Wind Mills were built by the NorthWind Power Development Corporation to take its share in reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) causing global warming and to accelerate the rural electrification of the goverment.
At Bangui Bay, wind mostly comes from the South China Sea, headed towards land. To optimize the full benefit of the winds, turbines are installed along the shore facing the sea effectively avoiding wind breaks.
The turbines are arranged in a single row spaced 326 meters apart. The turbines hub height (ground level to center of nacelle – that part holding the blades) is 70 meters high (roughly equivalent to a 23 story building), each blade is 41 meters long (just 9 meters shy of an Olympic-sized pool) giving a rotor diameter of 82 meters and a wind swept area of 5,281 square meters.
Bangui is located way past Laoag City, Ilocos Norte further up north along the Laoag-Cagayan national highway, 5 minutes after the municipality of Burgos.










I don’t know why but there is something about windmills which strikes a cord within me…


















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