Been to San Carlos,bit boring to be perfectly honest,wasnt robbed,assaulted nor even raped,theres very,very little danger somewhere like that,if its akin or likened to the wild-west it must have been after it was cleaned up bu Wyatt EarpPinays will often over-exaggerate the dangers,thats one thing I found outThey wont let their "foreigner" wander around on his own for some reason,its claustrophobic to be kept on a tight rein like that,from personal experience I have been to Pangasinan on my own and felt neither threatened nor frightened,but I did find it kind of boring compared to elsewhere in Pinas(thats the abbreviation you were looking for 'Nak).