BICOLANDIA GETAWAY: The Tale of Two Cities and Uncertainty at the Port

I'm back folks.
And where did I left off?

Ah, on to Day Two.

If you are reading this series just now. better if you hop on over to Day One first on this link so that you would be able to follow my story.
Here's the link:
 http://magnetsonmyfridge.blogspot.com/2013/06/bicolandia-getaway-touchdown-in-legazpi.html

We had an early call time despite the fatigue we all experienced from the previous day.
We had to start agad because there was so much non our itinerary and we would not want to miss any of the "must sees".

Four (4) Big Grandia Vans were waiting for us outside our hostel.

Our first stop? Saan pa kungdi sa kung saan ay nagkakasundong gawin at puntahan, PASALUBONG SHOPPING!

Ang saya lang dito.  Hindi pang-turista ang presyo!

As usual, my Mom went crazy buying for pasalubong for the whole barangay. Haha.

Teacher Cecille with the new employees of MALP.
Honggaganda divah?

After spending a considerable amount of time here, we were off to see the LIGNON HILL.

The view from the top of the hill was simply spectacular!
You have  360 degrees view of the Legazpi Airport runway.
If you are lucky enough, you could clearly see how an airplane approaches
the runway or how it takes off.  Breathtaking!

Here's what I gathered from the website itself.

The 156-meter high Ligñon (also spelled Lingñon, pronounced as /li-NYON/) Hill has always been one of Legazpi’s most famous landmarks. For years, Ligñon Hill is known only for the PHIVOLCS observatory located in its flanks and an old lighthouse on its summit. Today, it has become one of the city’s prime destinations for sightseers, adventurers and even fitness buffs.

The new Ligñon Hill Natural Park promises to be the city’s best destination offering sights and activities for all types of visitors. For sightseers, a panoramic 360 degree view of Legazpi City, Daraga, Albay Gulf and the Mayon Volcano awaits at the viewdeck. A landscaped promenade as well as restaurants and shops also cater to guests.

It was just too bad that it was drizzling when we were there.
But we had fun nonetheless.

We bought nga our own sunshine, remember?

We did not spend too much time there and off we went to our next destination, CAGSAWA RUINS.

From the web:
In February 1, 1814, Mt. Mayon began its most violent and deadly eruption to date. During the eruption, some 1,200 people took refuge in the stone church of Cagsawa. Unfortunately, all perished when lahar and pyroclastic flows engulfed the church. Only the belfry of the Cagsawa church remains as a grim and silent reminder of that fateful day. For almost two hundred years, it has withstood the test of time and the elements to become one of the most recognizable landmarks of Albay Province.

This particular site really aroused my interest to the highest levels.

I'm a history buff haven't I told you yet?

This was how it looked like before the eruption.

A peaceful looking church at the foot of a mountain.

And then, boom!

This is what's left of the church now.

Taken on a different angle of course kaya parang umusog ang belfry, hehehe

From my readings, many people were buried alive here.
Just imagine, it happened a long long time ago di ba?
I'm sure people rely on more simple ways or tools to signal danger.
No wonder nilubog ang buong barrion with its inhabitants.
SAD.

Anyhoo, the Teachers were all so happy and thrilled to see the place.

And who wouldn't be?
For so many years, they have been teaching their students this exact piece of history and yet most of them had seen this just now.

Syempre pa, di pwedeng mawala ang mga fantasy shots!

We then proceeded to the nearby Daraga Church

And off we readied ourselves for a bit of  a long drive to Naga City.

We made a pit stop in Cmalig Albay to taste their famous ulam -Pinangat!

Yummy!

We arrived Naga by mid afternoon.

Witwuw, ganda girl ni Teacher Rose!

We proceeded immediately to their famous cathedral.

Before sunset, we made sure to get to CWC for the Wakeboarding experience (or at least a picture of it, haha!)

At talagang hindi nga nagbiro, nag picturan lang talaga ang tatlong
maririkit na Teacher na ito!
Feelingera lang ang peg nila Ma'am.

Magpapahuli ba si Principal Beng? Na-uh!

Just chillin in Camsur. Yeah, yeah. :)

From CWC, dito na nagsimula ang aming kalbaryo.
It rained very very hard.
And we learned that storm EMONG is threatening the Bicol Region.

Papunta pa naman kami sa Caramoan the next day.
In fact, we were on our way to Sabang Port to spend the night para maaga kami sasakay pa-Caramoan.

Tahimik ang lahat on the way.
Too afraid to "risk" their life in the 2 hour boat ride to Paradise yet too brave to give up their dream of seeing the famous island where many a  "Survivor" series were filmed.

By 7PM, we got to Sabang Port and checked in at our hotel for the night.
The Teachers who grew up near oceans checked on the waves that night and all of them weren't hopeful that it would mellow down in the morning.

The boatmen were not encouraging enough.
Sabi nila usually ikakansel yan what with the big waves and non stop raining.

As the group's leader, I met them after dinner and told them about our options.


If the Coastguard okays our trip by 5AM, noone will be forced to go should they feel that it is too risky.
I had set up plan B to just spend another night at the port where there is also a good enough beach.

We prayed really hard for guidance and for discernement.
We have read many stories kasi that the two hour boat ride to Caramoan is usually "maalon".
What more may bagyo pa.

We slept that night with much uncertainty.
We were so near and yet so far from our dream destination - CARAMOAN!

Makakasakay kaya kami?
Titigil kaya ang ulan?
Will our prayers be heard?

Itutuloy.

BICOLANDIA GETAWAY: Touchdown in Legazpi, Albay

I know I am not even halfway through my India Series and here I am now, starting a new one.

Pasensya naman.

It's just that I had a grand time in Bicol last week together with my whole staff at work that I can't help but share it to you ASAP.

So  pagbigyan na, okay?  

I promise that reading this series will get you all excited about this destination.

Image borrowed from Matnog, Sorsogon Facebook Account

We were a big group of more than 40 members that left Manila on  a cloudy Sunday morning.

Kebs na the gloomy weather, we brought our own sunshine naman, hihi!

Kinabog namin ang NAIA Terminal 3 sa dami at ingay namin.  Even inside the
plane, we were all over.  Ang saya saya lang!

As expected, the plane ride was with turbulence.  We were, afterall having EMONG in our country's area of responsibility.

Pero we all believe that there is nothing that a fervent prayer could not do.  

The Big Boss (and the small boss? hehe) was present.
It definitely made the day more special.

We were touching down in Albay faster than we could unbuckle our seatbelts.

Yahooo, welcome to Bicol! 

With no less than Mayon Volcano to welcome us gleefully!

At the airport, we were met by a smiling Kuya Lando, whom I have met when we came to Bicol  more than a year ago.

At may ganyan ganyan pang nalalaman. O ha!

He then brought us to what would be our house for the night - Mayon Backpackers Hotel.

I like it here - no frills, homey and cheap!

We then prepared lunch for the whole group after a quick trip to the market.

Parang nasa Canteen lang eh. :)

And, when everybody has eaten, we all geared up for what would be the MOST EXCITING part of our getaway - An All Terrain Vehicle ride to the foot of Mayon and back.  Yipee!

It was the ride that the rich and the famous took when they went to Bicol kaya feeling "sosyal" kami talaga.

Ninong Manny tried it! :)

And more recently,

Pareng Zac was there too!
Thanks Teachers Neri and Beng for making a cameo here. 

So we wasted no time, we each took an ATV and away we went for a real EXTREME adventure!

Syempre, picture picture muna ulit bago mapasabak sa matinding adventure.

It was so so so fun.  It was actually my second time already but still, I enjoyed it immensely.

At one point during the trail, I whispered to J that my dream is to do the trail ALONE without any guide at all so that I could drive at my own desired speed and perform stunts I know I could do without anyone telling me to stop. Haha!

J led the whole group.  

We were more than 30 in all.

Just imagine the fun and thrill when you are in the company of friends!

At first, it was just plain driving.

Then we started going through slopes.

What made it even more challenging is that we were going through natural terrain.  

Definitely NOT MAN MADE!

Many times during the trail, we had to hurdle many rivers to get through the other side.

We had to stop midway just to capture the moment and feel everything in.

We were very close to the majestic volcano.  

Perhaps, the closest that you could get to it.

Ready for the second leg.
LET'S DO THIS!

We can't help but pose for a picture when we realized that we are really very
near the volcano na.  What a surreal feeling indeed!

    Just had to take this picture.
    Because of the Volcano ha.  Not because of Kuya Guide who kept on egging me
    not to go before him.
    Kating kati na kaya ako humarurot. Hmp.

Towards the end of the trail, super difficult na talaga to drive through it.

Wala na halos na trail.

I must admit I got a little scared here. 

After a few more minute of wild ride, we reached the foot of Mayon and had to walk a few meters.

Mahaba-habang lakaran din huh.  Kering keri naman ng mga Co-Teachers ko.
Asus, pampicture lang yan.  Kakafagud kaya.

And then, we had to climb a steep mountain of boulders to get to  a better view of the Volcano.
It was actually a helipad said to be owned by the owners of Misibis Bay.

Tapos noon, all hell broke loose.
Kanya kanya ng picturan! Haha.

According to age ba ang posing nito? Bwahahaha

We were so tired when we got back to our starting point.

But we were all happy despite the muscle aches we were experiencing all over our bodies.

Before going back to the backpackers hostel, sumegue pa kami muna sa Embarcadero to feel for ourselves the nightlife in Legazpi.

As expected, we were dog tired when we reached our hotel.

Good thing the other Teachers who chickened out n joining the ATV experience the last minute offered to do the marketing and cook our dinner. Hooray!

We capped the night with a mini Program sponsored by the new employees as part of their "initiation rites".

Star studded ang gabing ito!

What an eventful day.

May susunod pa ang kabanatang ito ha.  

Wait lang kasi my two and a half year old kulit wants my undivided attention.

Magpapakananay muna akech!

HEY, IT'S ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

Hi there folks.

Yes I am still alive (but barely breathing!)

You see, school has started and I do not have much free time these days.

Anyhoo, what's important is I am back, ayt?

To make amends for my prolonged absence in the blogosphere, let me make a loud entrance via another blog giveaway.

borrowed from cupcakesglitterandart.blogspot.com

Many of you already know that me and my co-Teachers has just arrived from our Annual Getaway.

This year, we have chosen the beautiful Bicolandia as our destination.

Oh, we have gone everywhere!

We flirted with danger and went to the foot of Mayon on an ATV.

We saw the hype that was Camsur Watersports Complex

And yes, we have conquered  CARAMOAN, baby!

I have so many stories to tell but that would have to wait.

PATIMPALAK MUNA!

How would you want to win this?

And most especially a slice of this:

Frozen PINANGAT that is ready to eat after heating.

As usual, the first SEVEN who would comment "I want one" shall win these.

Anyone who is a Facebook Fan is entitled to win.  But due to the Frozen Pinangat's perishable nature, we shall limit the participants who stay within Las Pinas City only.

Of course, my co-Teachers who were with me in Bicol is not eligible to join. (Sorry you guys!)

What are you waiting for?

Join na!

Thanks for reading.