Philippines: Salomague

Friday, June 9, 2023, Salomague, Philippines

We arrived at the port of Salomangue at 9:30 am, an ancient port of call for Chinese merchants who traded with the people of the Philippines before the Spaniards arrived. Dancers and drummers greeted us on the dock. 

Dancers at the dock

By 10:30 am, we were on a bus heading south to Vigan City, one of three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Ilicos region of the Philippines. Vigan is about an hour away, was established in the 16th century, and is considered the most intact example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia (or the world, depending on who you ask). The bus dropped us at the Vigan Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Paul), completed in 1800. It was damaged by a 2022 earthquake so we could not enter, but we started taking photos here.

Vigan Cathedral

We then walked to Calle Chisologo, the cobblestoned street and main tourist draw in the center of town. We walked by a line of horses and buggies awaiting tourists, many offering their services. This small city is easily explored on foot. Pretty much the only vehicles on Calle Chisologo were horses and buggies. We wanted to walk at least the main drag first. Like all of our recent stops, it was very hot and humid!

Buggies lined up & waiting for tourists

Calle Chisologo is lined with 2-story structures of wood and brick—businesses selling local crafts and foods. It definitely has a Spanish colonial look, with Chinese and Philippine influences that make it unique. These influences are combined in a way that creates a pleasant uniformity. 

Essential place for selfies

Smiling through the heat

Calle Chisologo with beautifully dressed young ladies

Calle Chisologo

One of our first stops was the tiny post office, where we bought stamps. We then went on to look for postcards to go with the stamps, and did not find a single one anywhere! But at least the search gave us an excuse to see more of the town and talk to the locals.  When we got back to the bus, we may have talked our guide into starting a postcard side business. 

The side streets had tuk-tuks, this one moving a washing machine!

We found a place to eat, a small hole in the wall with some people we knew from our ship. We had the Vigan version of empanadas—in our case lots of veggies wrapped in a thin, crispy rice flour crust. Very delicious!

By now it was scorching. We wandered a bit more, then stopped in the popular and air-conditioned Cafe Leona so Charlie could use wi-fi to listen to a Van Morrison song. It was crammed with people drinking coffee, not a spare seat to be had. We reluctantly left the air-conditioned cafe, back into the oven outside. The young manager suddenly came out and told us there were a couple of seats in the lobby area that were freed up. We gratefully took them, and Charlie used the WiFi.

Charlie listening to “Into the Mystic” using Cafe Leona’s  WiFi

Crowd loitering outside Cafe Leona

A troupe of dancers and drummers were performing outside the cafe as we left. They were outstanding and we found a spot of shade to watch them for awhile. The youthful male dancers were very scantily clothed!

We had a little time left to explore. We found bookstores, a pharmacy (they didn’t have what we were looking for). Then a smoothie stand, and although plant milks were foreign to them, they came up with a very good fruit smoothie that was cold and refreshing. 

Fruit smoothie!

Back to the meet-up area, we watched the dancers (still performing though how they managed in the heat remains a mystery). The bus finally showed up, and we scrambled aboard into air-conditioning and enjoyed the scenery on the way back to Salomague.

Excellent choreography performed for grateful tourists

Colorful fruit stand from the bus window during the return trip from Vigan