A Weekend Trip to Bicolandia

I was so desperate to go out of town last long weekend. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating then and like many others I was stuck at home sleeping and just staying indoors. Gladly, last week a CS friend has invited me to join them to travel to Legaspi, Albay. I thought about it for a while since we are only going to travel on a weekend and because of work commitments I cannot afford to take another leave. Well, I was actually saving up my leaves for my travel on November and for next year!

Friday evening, I left the office to board the bus heading to Daet. One of my objectives as well for this weekend trip is to get another stamp at the Rizal monument in Daet, Camarines Norte! I was travelling with another CS friend, Charlie. He is coming from Cubao, but I decided to take the bus from Pasay which is near my office. The bus stops at the Pasay terminal at 9 PM. The bus fare costs 730 pesos one way. After a few around 7 hours we reached Daet - 4:30 AM. Since the stamp site is not yet open we decided to get something to eat a nearby lugawan station!

Lugawan sa Daet

We walked to the monument and just got some photos. There was a Jollibee just at the other end so we decided to stop by there and perhaps have our second session of breakfast. Okay, so I had pancakes and coffee. I was really stuffed.

Oldest Rizal Monument

It was so long ago

When the sun was finally shining, we walked to the capitol building again to finally get my Rizal stamp. Good thing it was already open at 6 AM. We looked and waited for kuya guard to place the stamp. Since we are meeting the other group in Legaspi, we actually still need to travel from Daet to Legaspi.

I need to log my name to be validated

Stamped in Daet!

Capitol Building in Daet

We dropped by the church

From Daet, we took the tricycle that took us to the terminal for vans. Tricycle costs 8 pesos. This is where we will board a van to Naga, then from Naga, take another van going to Legaspi.

The vans leave the terminal as soon as its filled up, so you may have to actually wait a while. The cost for the van to Naga is 145 pesos, travel time of around 2 hours.

From Naga, we wanted to drop by the mall but it was still closed. So we just decided to ride the next van to Legaspi instead. Naga to Legaspi costs 150 pesos, travel time of around 2.5 hours.

We arrived in Legaspi at noon. We have booked to stay at Mayon View Apartelle. Tricycle could be a bit expensive, our tricycle to the accommodation cost us 30 pesos each.

Since it was lunch time, we went to the mall to eat. We had lunch at Chicboy which was newly opened at that time. From our hotel to the mall, tricycle costs 15 pesos.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to wait for the rest of the group. After a while, Jay, Sam and Martin arrived.

Our plan for the day is to climb up Lignon Hill and view the majestic Mt. Mayon. But since the group were hungry, we went back to the mall again. We ate at Bigg's Diner. It looks somewhat like an American restaurant and had nice look and feel! While waiting we were entertained with answering the sudoku on the paper placemat.

With Sam and Charlie

Sudoku while you wait

Entrance to Lignon Hill

After the fulfilling meal, we took another tricycle to Lignon Hill, which is 20 pesos each person. The tricycle won't be able to go up so we had to hike up the hill. It was probably 15 to 20 minutes hike. The entrance to the hill costs 20 pesos.

The view at the top is overwhelming! We are so lucky to have finally seen the unobstructed view of the perfect cone of Mt. Mayon! There is a zipline also for those who want to try it.

Myself and Mt.Mayon

Majestic Mt. Mayon

We took lots of photos and later on decided to head to Embarcadero de Legaspi for dinner.

Embarcadero is great for chilling and should offer a nice view of Mayon on a good weather. We got our dinner in one of the restaurants, unfortunately when we ordered Bicol Express, it wasn't available.

There are a couple of shops in Embarcadero if you are the shopaholic type.

We went back to the hotel to rest and prepare for the next day. It was funny because we had enjoyed sleeping that we woke up so late in the afternoon and was only ready to check out.

We just had lunch again at Embarcadero and rested a while. We didn't have time left for other activities anyway. We had to be at the terminal at 6:15 as it was the departure time for the bus back to Manila.

Walking around Embarcadero shops

From Legaspi to Manila, we took the Deluxe bus worth 1,100 and arrived in Manila at around 4 AM.

Wow, it was such a quick but also fun trip. As always, it would have been better if we have spent more time to explore but nonetheless I'm fine with that spur of the moment trip with CS friends.

I can't wait to travel with my backpack again! :)

Itinerary Summary: Manila - Daet (Rizal Monument) - Naga - Legaspi - Lignon Hill - Embarcadero

Transpo:
Bus - Manila to Daet - 735
Van - Daet to Naga - 145
Van - Naga to Legaspi - 150
Bus - Legaspi to Manila - 1,100

Tricycle around Legaspi depends on location and haggling skills :)

Entrance fee:
Lignon Hill - 20