Over our meal in Vigan we had decided that with only a couple of museum/houses to see we could probably fit them in the following morning and be heading back south.It had taken much longer to get here from Clark than we'd expected and E had decided that he didn't want to add too many more miles to drive.So we agreed this was the right thing for us.Next morning we managed to visit the excellent Syquia Mansion which was home to former President Quirino.It's supposed to be open at 08.30 and at 09.30 we were to be found standing outside ringing the bell and knocking on the door.Eventually a bleary eyed old queen opened the door and let us in.Downstairs is a quirky museum with displays of Quirino's hats, shoes, walking sticks, photographs etc - all very interesting in their own way.But upstairs the house and its original furnishings (which are safeguarded for the nation) were an eye to behold and gave a real insight into the life of a wealthy Filippino family. It certainly shouldn't be missed on any visit to Vigan. Of the other two museum/houses we wanted to see one was closed for restoration and the other we just couldn't find. This certainly justified our decision to head off.The hotel didn't bat an eyelid and even refunded our one night's room charge.

We decided that the right distance to cover was as far as San Juan where we again stayed at the excellent P&M Final Option Beach Resort.We made good time on roads which seemed quieter at the weekend and stopped at Santa Lucia to take some photographs of the splendid church which had been restored after having been badly damaged by an earthquake 17 years ago.Final Option was busier that on our previous stay but we still enjoyed an afternoon sitting by the pool and then on the terrace looking out over the South China Sea, which on this occasion was much rougher and stormier due to a strong wind that had got up.

E M xx