Bicol Trip 2008

Two weeks before holy week, Rosahlee, Mellany and I have constantly sending text messages, planning to spend the long holy week in places that we have not been to.

Batanes, Malapascua Bohol, Sagada (revisit), Bicol and Dumaguete were the chosen places. Well, Batanes of course will be out of the picture as time will not permit us, Mellany and I both have new jobs and so we cannot take leaves yet. Besides, it would really need careful planning and budget consideration. Perhaps we will have to skip Batanes for next year, I hope.

After further consideration, we settled for Bicol. Rosahlee and I have been trying to get tickets to no avail. We were more willing to get on bus even as chance passengers. Unfortunately, there were no available slots for us. We were losing of hope and had accepted that we will be staying at home during holy week. Rosahlee, being as friendly as she can be, asked the “barker” (passenger caller) in the terminal station if he knew anyone in their association who has vehicle for hire travelling to Bicol. The “barker” told Rosahlee that he knew someone who will be leaving for Bicol on Wednesday night with his family. I guessed it was really meant to be for us to visit Bicol. It was final, we are leaving for Bicol Wednesday night, 8:30 pm! We didn’t have fix itinerary, except that we need to go back to Manila on Sunday, that’s it!

I had packed my things Tuesday night and brought it with me the following day at the office. Rosahlee and I met Mellany at Jollibee, Sucat branch. It was also where we met our “Mang Amar" , the owner of van for hire, and his wife along with 3 other guys with them.

It was a funny scenario and such rare instance. There were three ladies who came in ahead of us, waiting for a van going to Bicol. The van, which was supposed to fetch us in the specified meeting place, stopped in front of the three ladies. The guy inside the van stepped out and asked the three ladies, “Kayo yung papunta Bicol?” (going to Bicol?). Without any question of their identities or names, they picked up the three ladies and their companion man and then left the scene. They thought that the three ladies were actually us. WOW MALI!!! Rosahlee was a bit worried already, she called Manong??? to inform him that we’re waiting for him. Only then that they realized they mistakenly picked up the wrong identities! Whaaat!!! Funnnnny!!!! The 3 ladies were going to Bicol for medical mission. Well, Manong had to turned back and switched for the right personas, that’ us! =)

While we were inside the van, we can’t stop laughing with what happened. It was an eight hour travel of fun, convenient and safe ride going to Bicol. Manong was a good and experienced driver.

We arrived Thursday in Naga City central terminal station before 5am. We met Rosahlee’s friend, Charmaine, in Naga City that accommodated us. As we didn’t have planned itinerary, we just decided to leave, after breakfast, for Legaspi , visit Mt.Mayon and some churches. We asked Charmaine for directions going to Legaspi and an inexpensive hotel that we can spend the night.

Travel time to Legaspi was two hours. There were vans and buses waiting at the terminal. We took the van going to Legaspi for convenience. When we arrived in Legaspi, we contracted a tricycle driver,named Buddy, to accompany us in different spots in the area and he freely accepted. We first looked for a not so expensive hotel to lay our things and we settled at Magayon Hotel (PhP750 for the three of us). We asked Buddy to come back for us after lunch so we can arrange our things and take a powernap.

Our first destination was at Wildlife sanctuary. We spend time taking pictures of animals, different nooks as well as visitors in the area. I especially like taking photos of the tiger. It was caged in a yellow steel bar with barb fences outside. Timing was all it takes to capture the movement and the tiger’s ‘expressions’. Captivating indeed!

Our second stop was at the Cagsawa ruins. The majestic Mayon Volcano’s mouth was perfectly seen at the background. It’ looks like a painting! The weather was kind enough to allow us to see the beauty of Mayon Volcano. There was a local joke for ladies. One will know if the lady is still a virgin by just looking at the Mayon. If the lady failed to see the perfect cone-shape of Mayon, it means that she’s no longer a virgin. =)

Many local tourist thrive the site. Ruins left by typhoon Reming were still scattered in the area. Shattered houses were left uninhabited in the vast stricken land. Black sands spewed by Mayon were being turned into hallow blocks for building houses. Slowly the town is recovering from damage.

Afterwards, we visited Daraga church which was about 20mins ride from Cagsawa ruin. Daraga church was one of the oldest churches in Bicol. It’s elevated so one has to walk uphill going to church but only short distance. If your facing the church, you’ll see Mayon volcano on the right side.

At night, we went to the hill overlooking the whole Legaspi City flickering with city lights. The hill was quite steep but it’s wasn’t difficult to ascend because of concrete pavements. Locals have placed stations of the cross along the way. It was past 7m when we reached the top. I could imagine the unbearable heat if we decided to go late in the afternoon. It was a rare sight, actually my first time to have seen blind people doing the traditional “pabasa”. There were also stalls selling foods and souveniers in the area. The full moon illuminated the area and the silhouetted Mayon volcano was still visible in the background. At least the cold wind gave us a relaxing ambience...

The night will not be complete without food intake. So we left the area and asked Buddy to bring us to a restaurant for dinner. We tried their local food called “Laing” (gabi with “gata” or coconut milk). I’m used to eating this food as both my parents are Bicolanos. We also tried their “sisig” and sinigang shrimp. Delectable meal, indeed!

Rosahleee and I planned of going back to the hill the following day for last photo ops before leaving for Naga. Mellany however opted to stay for longer sleep. We have arranged with Buddy to fetch the two of us at the hotel. It was 4:45am when my phone alarmed and so Rosahlee’s too. I turned off the alarm of my phone and remained flat in bed. I got up past 7am and looked outside the window. The clouds were gray and looked like it’s gonna rain. At past 8am, Buddy came knocking at our door to check if we’re still going up the hill. We forgone our plan and decided to just stay and packed our things. Since it’s a Good Friday, few vans were expected to travel. We ate heavy breakfast first in a nearby restaurant, Chowking, before checking out of the hotel.

It was past 1pm when we got to Legaspi. Rosahlee called up Charmaine and informed her that we’re already in town. Charmaine suggested us to check in at the Green Hotel which was in the central district area and quite near the bus terminal station. We’ve checked out other bus providers but there were no more buses leaving Saturday night for Manila. The only bus available on Saturday was Amihan bus leaving for Manila at 8:45am. We have no plan of taking the early morning bus schedule to leave on Sunday. We were anticipating the influx of passengers on Sunday. There were few tickets left at Amihan bus and we’re fortunate enough to get the rear seats.

At lunch time, we ate at Geewan a local restaurant serving food like “pinangat”. .This is similar to “laing” only it was stuffed with ground shrimp. They actually served this viand with coconut milk on top. Customers can even buy frozen “pinangat” for pasalubong. I would recommend it to my friends, it’s delicious!

After a couple of hours, we met Charmaine and she accompanied us in three different Churches in Naga; Cathedral church, Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia and the last one was I think St Mary’s Church (my apology). We left Charmaine in latter church where she will meet a friend of hers.

We headed to CWC or CAMSUR Watersports Complex. It’s located in Pili, a town outside Naga. We were supposed to check in CWC, trailer type, but it was fully booked. This place was being promoted by the local government and clearly it showed attractions to both foreign and local tourist mostly young ones. The placed has not yet been fully developed but tourists were coming in. There were villas for those with higher budget and trailer type for average budget. The cost for wakeboarding was PhP 200+ per hour. Rosahle and Mellany tried wakeboarding and they had fun. I didn’t get to try it because I was feeling crummy (it was my first day! L) though I had fun taking pictures of them.

We went back to Naga at 7:30pm. We were hoping that Charmaine could join us in dinner, funny ‘coz Charmaine and her friend were also in the same restaurant that were in. After dinner, we had coffee at Starmark Cafe.

Saturday. We’re leaving Naga. Charmaine invited us to have breakfast at their restaurant, Casa Moderna. They served tasty pancit bihon with crunchy lechon kawali. Ang sarap!!! They also have frozen pinangat that we bought for pasalubong.
I had so much fun during the two-day trip. I enjoyed the company of Rosahlee and Mellany. I met new friends and discovered new places. I hope I can come back visit those places again. Next time, I would try the wakeboard! =)

6:00pm, home sweet home!... =)