Ilocos Chronicles: Bantay Bell Tower

This is why I don't like napping on such important days -- I often oversleep. Deja vu all over again. Haha. We woke up late on our first day of adventure in Vigan.

We stayed in Casa Teofila in Pantay Daya, Vigan. I think they offer the cheapest accomodation, we paid Php 650 aircon room good for 2 persons already. Check-in time is 7AM which makes it convenient but we checked-in earlier than 7AM so we paid an additional Php 300. Not bad but it was bad for our budget. Haha!

Thank God for good breakfasts that makes up for an unfortunate morning.

We decided to crunch some time at breakfast but the house's skinless longganisa was so good that we just enjoyed breakfast! I had no regrets! All in the name of good food! Breakfast: Php 115

Now that we're ready to start our day, off to our first stop!

The Bantay Bell Tower!! Wherein we got ripped off by the trike driver, made us pay Php70 from Pantay Daya to Bantay Bell. They say it only costs 40. I really get sad + annoyed when people take advantage of travelers. Tsk. We also asked if we can hire him to take us to Baluarte and he asked for Php500! Kamusta naman yun Manong. Oh well.

I will admit that I was this "I kind of get bored with landmark hopping" but I'm getting the hang of it. :)Especially when I learn interesting things about it, meet new people along the way and just see the beauty unfolded before my eyes (naks!).

Interior of Saint Augustine Church.


I find old churches to have this rustic charm that gets me everytime. It can be creepy, spooky or anything in between but they're wonderful nonetheless.

Saint Augustine Church

Visiting the Bantay Bell tower is for free and donations are very welcome. What I didn't like was that when we got there, the person on the donations booth was calling us to give donations. Aren't donations voluntary? Good thing one of the caretakers (I assume) went with us in the tower and told us facts about it. (Kahit papano natuwa naman akong magbigay pa ng extra donation.)

Bells, bells, bells. Gorabells sa Bantay Bell. Lol.

The caretaker-slash-guide told us the purpose of the bells, the large one in the center of the tower is rang when a mass is to begin, there's also one for baptismal, funeral service and a wedding and they come in different sizes so they sound different too. Awesome right?

Santorini? No. That's a graveyard. Only in the Philippines.

This is what you'll miss if you don't choose to climb up the tower. The view gets breathtaking with each flight of stairs you take. :) The last floor might be a little challenging with the creaking, wooden make-shift ladder but hey, once you're with the bells, it's all worth it! But the next problem was how to go down! Haha!  

FARE: Php40-50. Don't get ripped off!

Donation: Php40 (it's not wrong to be generous!)

Off to our next destination! Baluarte!