Roads in the Philippines

I’d been travelling the Philippines far too long.  I have a list of roads that I have covered and some I wanted to try and test my driving skills and capability.

Growing up, we always go to Lucban, my mother’s hometown.  There are actually three main roads that will lead you to the town along the foot of Mount Banahaw.  The roads are Tayabas-Lucban,Majayjay-Lucban, Luisiana - Lucban Road.  The first one is an easy zigzag road. The Majayjay road has a portion of zigzag roads that are also quite dangerous. But you should try the Lucban-Luisiana road that extends to Pagsanjan and Cavinti Road, because of the really sharp curves.  I also tried the Manila East Road, from Kaliraya to Taytay Rizal.

During my Quezon – Bicol Escapades, I have tried driving along the Old Zigzag Road going to Atimonan.   With the view of the Quezon National Forest Park, going up to the road was quite nerve wrecking.  One should be alert with the breaks and the other cars on the opposite side.  Locals from Atimonan assists motorist along the sharp turns. 

Quezon National Forest Park in Atimonan

The scariest road I have driven is the Pantabangan – Baler road.  

Overlooking Pantabangan Dam

This one only has one zigzag that is very hard especially when you’re driving an automatic car.  But the challenge with the roads is the too many steep roads.  The bridge were usually in low lying areas and the roads after the bridge are ascending in a 45 degrees angle. When you get to the part of the Canile Trail, where there are large humps, car would bump into the humps.  Most tourist go there using 4 x 4and it is not advisable for a car full of loads, maybe if you’re travelling alone like I did, it is much easier, but yeah it scares the shit in me.

Canile Trail

The most travelled zigzag roads are Kennon Road, Marcos Highway and Naguillian Road and the Bauang – Baguio Raod going to Baguio. 

The longest road I’d driven is the Manila – Pagudpod Road.  We should thank the SCTEX, TPLEX and diversion roads, travel time have shortened.  Upon reaching the McArthur Highway it’s a straight road ahead, covering Pangasinan, La Uniona and Ilocos Sur.  Then you’d reach the Pan-Philippine Highway from Laoag towards the Patapat Viaduct.

My favourite stop over usually to take pictures are the Narvacan – Santa roads going to the bridge in Bantay Bridge also known as Quirino Bridge. 

Narvacan - Santa Roads

Quezon Bridge

I also tried driving the Sayre Highway Malaybalay Bukidnon going to Cagayan de Oro.  The battle neck is in the Manolo Fortich Town of Bukidnon and the Barangay Upper Puerto, Cagayan de Oro.

Sayre Highway

Still on my list

1. Dalton Pass and Cagayan Valley Road, Nueva Ecija to Tuguegarao
2. Halsema Road, Baguio to Mountain Province
3. Benguet  - Nueva Vizcaya Road
4. Patapat Viaduct – Pagudpod to Cagayan – I had been here before but I wasn’t the one driving
   
5. Partido Highway – Quezon to Camarines Sur – I was in a bus traversing this road.
6. Digos - Makar Highway, Digos to General Santos
   
7. San Juanico Bridge - Connecting Leyte and Samar

Boat rides: Paracale to Tinaga Island to Vinzons

Finding a beautiful tourist destination in the Philippines is not that easy.  Most of the precious, amazing, and unspoiled islands in the archipelago are far away from the town.    And Calaguas Group of Island is not an exception.  Two hours ride is not good for other people, especially if the waters are hasty and the waves are high.  And if you have a problem being sea sick, you have to think twice.  And most of the time, the hardest journey ever is the most satisfying of all.

Our jump-off area is the fishing port of Paracale, one town away from Vinzons.  Sometimes the problem would be how big are the boat.  In our case, since it was owned by a fisherman, the banca was not convenient for passengers.  Since tourism had boosted in the fishing port, most of the fishermen’s boat are rented to accommodate travellers like us.  And yes we had to endure it for two hours. 

While travelling the best way to enjoy the boat ride is to look around.  Since it is a group of islands, there will be nearby islands or islets that are just around the corner.  We were able to see the Maculabo Island from the left side going to Tinaga along Paracale Bay.  

The boat ride is almost straight and just a little left towards the island.  Upon reaching the tip of Tinaga island, rocks are visible in the shorelines. 

Tinaga Island is the most travelled by visitors because of the long and wide sand bar of Mahabang Buhangin.   There is a barangay called Mangkawayan where the local fishermen lives with their family.  The hill side of Tinaga is also accessible if you want to see the long beach from the top. 

We only rented the boat for a one-way trip.  The following day, the usual passenger boat from Vinzons arrived after lunch.  And we availed the service with other tourists who were going back to the town.

From Tinaga island, we then saw the Guintinua Island and some small islets.  The water was rought, but because we had a bigger boat this time, the two hours ride was okay.  And yes, I didn’t wear any life jacket, even if the waves where a little rough going to Vinzons.

Or maybe because I’d been to different long boat rides in the country that I don’t get sea sick or get bored and sometimes it also helps to get excited first to your travel destination and the rest will follow.

Calaguas: Tinaga Island's Mahabang Buhangin

Our 5^th Quezon – Bicol Escapade happened last 2013

There was actually no plan on that year, and we usually do our escapades during  Labor day.  I just had my hair curled a week, before I called Butchick and Cam, two days before the Araw nang Kagitingan Holiday.  That time, I drove my car, fetched Butchick in Bicutan, and we were headed to Calauag.

As we often do, we stayed in Cam’s house in Calauag on our first night.  We packed our things, this time with a tent, food and water.  The following day, we rode a bus towards Paracale.  

Along the bus stop we rode another bus towards Paracale town.  We headed to the fishing port of Paracale, and bought some other stuff while we waited for a boat for a two hour boat ride.

We were excited to see the picturesque paradise from afar.  Sighting the pristine white sand of Mahabang Buhangin or Long Beach, the unparalleled green mountainous area of Tinaga Island, turquoise water, the island was a real beauty.   

Calaguas is a group of islands including the famous Tinaga, Maculabo, Guintinua islands and other islets, included in the town of Vinzons in Camarines Norte.  The seaboard of Calaguas is rough during the rainy season as it is located along the Pacific Ocean.   The best time to explore to Calaguas is during summer.

There were no resorts in the island during the time of our visit.  But I remembered there were Nipa Huts being constructed in the center of Mahabang Buhangin, and we were told that the owner have a resort in Boracay.  Upon setting foot in the island in the afternoon, we were sun kissed already by the sun’s heat.  We looked for a good camping site in the left part of the island.

The island was divided into different owners, because there were caretakers in the area.  We found a nice spot, near a nipa hut of the caretaker, with so many coconut trees that shaded our area.  At our back, was the caretaker’s source of water, public bathrooms and a small house with a sari-sari store.  They have food, drinks and water supplies.

We set up our tent, mingled with the caretaker where we bought our coconuts.  We took a nap to enjoy the tranquillity of the island.  There was a set up of volleyball net near us, so Butchick and Cam played beach volleyball, as were able to get a ball from our caretaker.

The beach was fronting a very romantic sunset, as many tourist likes us, started lining up to witness the orange colored sun going down the horizon.

Although it’s camper’s site, the phone signal is high and there’s electricity in the island.  We had a few drinks with our caretaker and jammed with them because they had a guitar. We watched the stars while in the sand.   

Early in the morning, Butchick and I played with the water in the beach front because there were few boats along the coastline.  We stayed in the beach for a long time until the time we had to leave the island.

Camarines Norte: Mercedes Group of Islands

Because we weren’t able to get a tour package in Daet that would take us to Calaguas Island, locals from Daet suggested we go to Mercedes Island.  So the four of us decided again to take a different route from the original plan.

From Daet, we rode a tricycle to take us to Mercedes.  From the Daet-Mercedes boundary, we rode another tricycle to get us to the town of Mercedes. When we reached Mercedes, we had our lunch in Graceland, a local restaurant. After which we rode another tricycle to take us to the Mercedes fish port. There was a tourism office in the port, and we inquired about places to stay in Cayucyucan and where to go to in Mercedes.  

It was only a five minutes ride to Cayucyucan, another barangay in Mercedes. The port is located in Manguisoc wharf.

From the port we rode a tricycle and went to Palms Farm Resort.  We booked for an overnight stay, and we talked to the staff for an island tour in the Mercedes islands.  

The staff got a boatman to tour us in the islands around. And we were all set to tour the quiet beauties of Mercedes, in which way back then was not really known tourist destination.

Mercedes is a town after Daet in Camarines Norte.  The town is known for the siete pecados or seven islands around the Pacific along the coastline of Daet which was called Mercedes Group of Islands.  The seven islands where Canimog, Apuao Grande, Quinipagan Island, Malasugui,  Apuao Pequeṅa, Canron and Caringo.  For me, Mercedes islands where unadulterated and quiet beauties, that provides tranquillity from the crowded Bagasbas Beach. 

We were able to see 3 out of 7 islands because some islands From Cayucyucan, the first island in our itinerary is Canimog Island.  I love the island, because of the long sand bar, white powdery sands and crystal clear water.  We stayed here longer for about an hour to swim and explore the island.

From Canimog, went to Apuao Grande and Apuao Pequeṅa, two islands that were connected by a sand bar.

Apuao Grande Island used to be a private resort and a golf course area.  But due to some problems and was in the state of disrepair, the island stopped accepting tourist but remained open to the public that was managed by the care taker.  The island have a long sand bar, pristine white sand and clear blue waters. 

After Apuao Grande, we went to Caringo, a barangay where most locals lives.  It is also near a coral sanctuary, and the sands was white sands with shells.  We were accompanied by our boatman to go to the barrios and bought freshly caught fishes from fisherman.

From Caringo, we were able to see Malasugui and Quinapagan Island before going back to our resort.  Going back to Cayucyucan, we encountered a problem with our boat.  For almost 20 minutes were stuck along the shores of Cayucyucan and Quinapagan.  But we were not disheartened as we were able to see the beauty of sun rise in the horizon.

We asked for the staff of Palms Farm resort to for us, what we bought from Caringo.  During the night, we stayed outside and enjoyed the sound of the water and each other’s company.  There were rattan swings, hammocks and wooden chairs and tables within the resort.  The beach area of Palms Beach Resort was also good for swimming, and there is a net for beach volley ball fanatics to enjoy the sun.

We went back to Mercedes town in the morning and went to Baybay Beach where there was an event for kayaking and skimming. 

John tried kayaking and we were grateful of the locals of the tourism department of Mercedes who accompanied us.

Camarines Norte: Daet's Bagasbas Beach

Bagasbas, our 4^th Quezon – Bicol Escapade:Part 1

Cam and I started the trip in 2007.  In 2012, there were four of us who explored Camarines Norte.  We were joined by John and Butchick.  John and I came from Manila, while Cam and Butchick were from Calauag. 

It was always a must to enjoy Calauag first before we start our escapade.  I usually had a one night dedicated in Cam's house. We had a blast during our stay in Calauag.  We were with this group of people in Country Mom, friends of Cam and Butchick, who we spent the whole night until the morning (Cam and I was able to sleep, while Butchick and John where still awake the whole time).

We left in the morning and rode a bus from Calauag to Daet.  The plan was to go to Calaguas and find a travel package for the four of us that includes a tent, since we were not prepared for the camping. When we reached Daet, we rode a tricycle and went to Bagasbas Beach.  

Since we were tired of the night before, and the other two hadn’t sleep yet, and because the beach was dragging our itch feet to enjoy the sand and the water, we opted to stay for a night here.

We then look for a place to stay and found a guest house called Zenaida’s Palace.   The place seemed to be a residential house which was turned into a hostel.  It was just a few minutes away from the beach, with nearby sari sari stores.  After resting for awhile we decided to explore Bagasbas Beach.

Bagasbas Beach is located in Daet, Camarines Sur.  The 4 kilo meters stretch of fine, gray and powdery sands is also a surfer’s haven.   It is one of the top surfing destinations in the Philippines as big waves from the Pacific Ocean makes it an ideal spot for surfers.

 It was already low tide when we got there.  And because it was not the surfing season, only small waves roll in the ocean.   There were surfing lessons being offered.  It was a public destination but the beach was very clean.  The unadulterated wide stretch of sand bar, took us far from the Bagasbas Promenade. 

We ate at Surfer's Dine Inn. Hostels, inns, resorts and restaurants lined up the Promenade.  Make sure to book early or you might not find a place to stay especially during summer season and surfing season.

Bagasbas is facing the east of the Pacific Ocean.  We were up early except for Cam) and we were amazed by the view of the beautiful sunrise.