Holy Week
Holy Week is an anticipated holiday in the Philippines, a mostly Catholic country. The holidays usually start on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and end on Easter Sunday.
For most Filipinos, the long holidays is a chance to travel and go on vacation. For devout Catholics, Holy Thursday and Good Friday are often spent visiting churches or praying and contemplating in silence. The revelry usually starts on Black Saturday and Easter Sunday, where most go to the beach and celebrate.
Going to Vigan
For our family, Vigan, Ilocos Sur, was the destination of choice. Coming from Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, we took the SCTEX-TPLEX loop, which was still the fastest way to traverse the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union.
By car, the route is pretty direct. Traverse the Sta-Rosa-Tarlac Road until you reach the TPLEX-Tarlac Exit, which will be on your left. Traverse TPLEX and exit at Pozzorubio in Pangasinan. From there, follow the road to La Union province, until you reach Vigan in Ilocos Sur.
Traffic
However, our decision to leave on a Holy Thursday was a big mistake, with the usual 7-hour travel time stretching all the way to 12 hours because of traffic. The sheer number of motorists all going up north made bottlenecks of the many towns and municipalities along the way. The typical 2-lane roads of these towns were no longer able to support the volume of incoming--and outgoing--traffic. Good thing we already had a place to stay once we arrived in Vigan.
Going to Calle Crisologo
Vigan, too, was pretty crowded. But despite the crowd, we had an amazing time visiting a few interesting places, like the St. Augustine Church in Bantay, and the Bantay Bell Tower. We took the customary walk at Calle Crisologo, and visited St. Paul Cathedral.
One highlight of our visit to Calle Crisologo was witnessing the "Semana Santa" parade of numerous religious images depicting the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Despite our little misadventure on the road, visiting Vigan was an enjoyable, as far as spending time with loved ones is concerned.
Holy Week is an anticipated holiday in the Philippines, a mostly Catholic country. The holidays usually start on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and end on Easter Sunday.
For most Filipinos, the long holidays is a chance to travel and go on vacation. For devout Catholics, Holy Thursday and Good Friday are often spent visiting churches or praying and contemplating in silence. The revelry usually starts on Black Saturday and Easter Sunday, where most go to the beach and celebrate.
Going to Vigan
For our family, Vigan, Ilocos Sur, was the destination of choice. Coming from Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, we took the SCTEX-TPLEX loop, which was still the fastest way to traverse the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union.
By car, the route is pretty direct. Traverse the Sta-Rosa-Tarlac Road until you reach the TPLEX-Tarlac Exit, which will be on your left. Traverse TPLEX and exit at Pozzorubio in Pangasinan. From there, follow the road to La Union province, until you reach Vigan in Ilocos Sur.
Traffic
However, our decision to leave on a Holy Thursday was a big mistake, with the usual 7-hour travel time stretching all the way to 12 hours because of traffic. The sheer number of motorists all going up north made bottlenecks of the many towns and municipalities along the way. The typical 2-lane roads of these towns were no longer able to support the volume of incoming--and outgoing--traffic. Good thing we already had a place to stay once we arrived in Vigan.
Going to Calle Crisologo
Vigan, too, was pretty crowded. But despite the crowd, we had an amazing time visiting a few interesting places, like the St. Augustine Church in Bantay, and the Bantay Bell Tower. We took the customary walk at Calle Crisologo, and visited St. Paul Cathedral.
One highlight of our visit to Calle Crisologo was witnessing the "Semana Santa" parade of numerous religious images depicting the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Despite our little misadventure on the road, visiting Vigan was an enjoyable, as far as spending time with loved ones is concerned.