Paguriran Island, Bacon, Sorsogon

Its past 3pm, and it has been 17hours on the road so far. I swear i am not taking that Belleza ordinary bus to bicol anymore. My toes are swelling, and my ass is so sore.

From the terminal, we took a P10/head trike to savemore where we'll get the jeep bound for paguriran. 

We were on topload from sorsogon city to brgy sawanga. An hour and a half trip with about 2/3rds of the time used for loading and unloading passenger baggages. 

I didn't really expect the trip to take that long. As we drove closer to Paguriran, houses and vehicles  become rare prompting me to think about the timings of the return trip.

It was one of the great news of the day.. There are no more trips. There was really no more option though as we were already there, so i didn't even bother worry.

Meantime we hurried to take some pictures and get in the lake of the island. We swam around the lake but there wasn't really much in the scene especially it was almost dark.

It was lowtide so we did not really need a boat to get to the island. Besides, even if it were high tide, I think an average Filipino of I'd say 5'6" will make it by foot even of it were high tide.

A little while later, we walked back to the mainland and prepared to leave. One of the locals who we met there walked us through the concrete road to get us a habal service to sorsogon. Luckily, a guy agreed to servicing us for 2 Liters of crude plus 150. 

In 30 mins, we managed to get back to Sorsogon city. And, just right in time for another topload ride on an Irosin bound jeep.

How to go to Paguriran Island:

From Manila, make your way to Sorsogon City. From Sorsogon City, ask forthe jeeps going Bacon/Sawangan and ask to be dropped off in Paguriran

First trip from savemore in sorsogon is 5am.last trip from Paguriran to Sorsogon is 3pm. 

Fare is P44 per way.



Looking to travelling to this destination? Talk to me and we'll let's talk about your accomodation, transpo, and tour options

Its past 3pm, and it has been 17hours on the road so far. I swear i am not taking that Belleza ordinary bus to bicol anymore. My toes are swelling, and my ass is so sore.

From the terminal, we took a P10/head trike to savemore where we'll get the jeep bound for paguriran. 

We were on topload from sorsogon city to brgy sawanga. An hour and a half trip with about 2/3rds of the time used for loading and unloading passenger baggages. 

I didn't really expect the trip to take that long. As we drove closer to Paguriran, houses and vehicles  become rare prompting me to think about the timings of the return trip.

It was one of the great news of the day.. There are no more trips. There was really no more option though as we were already there, so i didn't even bother worry.

Meantime we hurried to take some pictures and get in the lake of the island. We swam around the lake but there wasn't really much in the scene especially it was almost dark.

It was lowtide so we did not really need a boat to get to the island. Besides, even if it were high tide, I think an average Filipino of I'd say 5'6" will make it by foot even of it were high tide.

A little while later, we walked back to the mainland and prepared to leave. One of the locals who we met there walked us through the concrete road to get us a habal service to sorsogon. Luckily, a guy agreed to servicing us for 2 Liters of crude plus 150. 

In 30 mins, we managed to get back to Sorsogon city. And, just right in time for another topload ride on an Irosin bound jeep.

How to go to Paguriran Island:

From Manila, make your way to Sorsogon City. From Sorsogon City, ask forthe jeeps going Bacon/Sawangan and ask to be dropped off in Paguriran

First trip from savemore in sorsogon is 5am.last trip from Paguriran to Sorsogon is 3pm. 

Fare is P44 per way.



Looking to travelling to this destination? Talk to me and we'll let's talk about your accomodation, transpo, and tour options

Read More »

Sorsogon: My best daytrip ever

Rainbow caught along Irosin, Sorsogon on our way back to the Town proper

Days before the scheduled Burias Trip, I have thought about taking a vacation leave for the 3 remaining working days of the long All Saints Day holidays.

In the PASACAO-NAGA jeep, on our supposed way back to Manila, Gina, the travel fellow, said she felt the trip was shortlived. Then, I was reminded of my plan, that prompted me to ask if they'd like to head further to Albay and Sorsogon. Without any other convincing, they, Gina and his friend, said YES. So, from NAGA, we waited until the other 2 buds gets to the scheduled 8:30pm bus to manila. I also took the time to research on possible destinations thru the wifi enabled buses (and peeping on the windows for the wifi passwords ;-) ).


Rapu Rapu was certainly in the plan since I had long wanted to see these 2 islands.

In Sorsogon, we had subic beach and bulusan lake for our plan. 

To maximize our time, We thought to start from the far end in Matnog where subic beach is. All arriving buses though are full, and waited further.

Afraid that we might loose anymore night trip,  we hopped on a jam packed Legazpi/Tobaco/Tiwi bus that arrived at 10pm.

Based from terminal workers I asked, this must be the last bus for the night. So, even if it was standing, we took it. It was as packed as the manila buses on a rush hour. I was standing on the door holding firmly on any sturdy metal I could. There was probably about 30 more passengers standing on the hall and doorway. It was only after the town of PILI, Camsur that we got a seat. 

We got off in Daraga Shell junction and waited for another bus bound to Matnog. It was past 3am when we arrived, and since it will take only a few hours more, we just napped on the deserted (Ukay Ukay) papags there.



By 7am, we were awoken by the morning heat, and beside a few men who were negotiating for our beach trip. They were telling us that the normal charge for the boat is P2500 and the least they have given us is P1500. Still, that would be unaffordable for us.

Next to the port is a fishing village, and I thought about checking it there how much they will charge us. I also saw some passenger boats arriving.

Matnog Port

A man appoached us and asked if we'll go to subic beach. I told him about our limitations. We managed to bargain the boat charge to P700 for the 3 of us.

We did not waste any time and rode the boat immediately.

The water was so cold as it is just 8 in the morning; The sand as fine as that of Isla Reta in Talicud Island in Davao.

We explored around and one end of the island is a good snorkelling site.

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

After subic beach, we headed next to the fish sanctuary. Unfortunately, the nets are under repair so we can't get off the boat and feed the fishes.

The view is spectacular as each piece of land would have that blue-white color spectrum and water was sparkling clear. Nonetheless, since we can't do much in the sanctuary, we thought about moving ahead to the other spots in the mainland.

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

We went ahead back to the port. And, the problem was, there is nowhere yet to rinse. The option is only thru the public toilet in the market.

Meantime, the next plan is towards Irosin for the lake and hot and cold springs. We left Matnog without rinsing since our next destination is but another bath. In fact, Gina was on her swimwear covered in a bugger jacket and with her goggles on her neck for the coming trips.

view of Mt Bulusan from the Jeep's topload

We reached Irosin in close to 1 hour. From the town proper, we were supposed to ride another jeep to get us to Bulusan. The jeep wasn't available yet upon arrival, so we had lunch first.

The meals were extremely cheap at P25/meal. Several trike drivers were also offering service, including one who approached us as soon as we finished eating. We got our Bulusan Lake-Town-Mateo Springs trip for P350 for the three of us.

heading to Bulusan Lake

Crystal Resort

Mateo Hot and Cold Spring

From Irosin, we took a jeep bound for sorsogon city. From there, we'll take a bus for legazpi city. We planned to have a shot at the pier but when we got there, there were too many people. So we took a detour and passed by a cathedral

Sorsogon city eats @One Burgos Resto (wifi+)

Cathedral

inside the cathedral

City Center

Contact Kuya Noli for the ultra affordable boat trip quote: 09289485262
Bryan the Irosin trike service: 09183921100
For Bulusan Lake Tourism: Mark 09467587515


After Sorsogon, we went next to Rapu Rapu Island

Rainbow caught along Irosin, Sorsogon on our way back to the Town proper

Days before the scheduled Burias Trip, I have thought about taking a vacation leave for the 3 remaining working days of the long All Saints Day holidays.

In the PASACAO-NAGA jeep, on our supposed way back to Manila, Gina, the travel fellow, said she felt the trip was shortlived. Then, I was reminded of my plan, that prompted me to ask if they'd like to head further to Albay and Sorsogon. Without any other convincing, they, Gina and his friend, said YES. So, from NAGA, we waited until the other 2 buds gets to the scheduled 8:30pm bus to manila. I also took the time to research on possible destinations thru the wifi enabled buses (and peeping on the windows for the wifi passwords ;-) ).


Rapu Rapu was certainly in the plan since I had long wanted to see these 2 islands.

In Sorsogon, we had subic beach and bulusan lake for our plan. 

To maximize our time, We thought to start from the far end in Matnog where subic beach is. All arriving buses though are full, and waited further.

Afraid that we might loose anymore night trip,  we hopped on a jam packed Legazpi/Tobaco/Tiwi bus that arrived at 10pm.

Based from terminal workers I asked, this must be the last bus for the night. So, even if it was standing, we took it. It was as packed as the manila buses on a rush hour. I was standing on the door holding firmly on any sturdy metal I could. There was probably about 30 more passengers standing on the hall and doorway. It was only after the town of PILI, Camsur that we got a seat. 

We got off in Daraga Shell junction and waited for another bus bound to Matnog. It was past 3am when we arrived, and since it will take only a few hours more, we just napped on the deserted (Ukay Ukay) papags there.



By 7am, we were awoken by the morning heat, and beside a few men who were negotiating for our beach trip. They were telling us that the normal charge for the boat is P2500 and the least they have given us is P1500. Still, that would be unaffordable for us.

Next to the port is a fishing village, and I thought about checking it there how much they will charge us. I also saw some passenger boats arriving.

Matnog Port

A man appoached us and asked if we'll go to subic beach. I told him about our limitations. We managed to bargain the boat charge to P700 for the 3 of us.

We did not waste any time and rode the boat immediately.

The water was so cold as it is just 8 in the morning; The sand as fine as that of Isla Reta in Talicud Island in Davao.

We explored around and one end of the island is a good snorkelling site.

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

After subic beach, we headed next to the fish sanctuary. Unfortunately, the nets are under repair so we can't get off the boat and feed the fishes.

The view is spectacular as each piece of land would have that blue-white color spectrum and water was sparkling clear. Nonetheless, since we can't do much in the sanctuary, we thought about moving ahead to the other spots in the mainland.

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

We went ahead back to the port. And, the problem was, there is nowhere yet to rinse. The option is only thru the public toilet in the market.

Meantime, the next plan is towards Irosin for the lake and hot and cold springs. We left Matnog without rinsing since our next destination is but another bath. In fact, Gina was on her swimwear covered in a bugger jacket and with her goggles on her neck for the coming trips.

view of Mt Bulusan from the Jeep's topload

We reached Irosin in close to 1 hour. From the town proper, we were supposed to ride another jeep to get us to Bulusan. The jeep wasn't available yet upon arrival, so we had lunch first.

The meals were extremely cheap at P25/meal. Several trike drivers were also offering service, including one who approached us as soon as we finished eating. We got our Bulusan Lake-Town-Mateo Springs trip for P350 for the three of us.

heading to Bulusan Lake

Crystal Resort

Mateo Hot and Cold Spring

From Irosin, we took a jeep bound for sorsogon city. From there, we'll take a bus for legazpi city. We planned to have a shot at the pier but when we got there, there were too many people. So we took a detour and passed by a cathedral

Sorsogon city eats @One Burgos Resto (wifi+)

Cathedral

inside the cathedral

City Center

Contact Kuya Noli for the ultra affordable boat trip quote: 09289485262
Bryan the Irosin trike service: 09183921100
For Bulusan Lake Tourism: Mark 09467587515


After Sorsogon, we went next to Rapu Rapu Island

Read More »

Tentative Itinerary for 2012

I have given up the idea of savings and whatever nonsense long time and short time goal I have; For my pleasure is my pleasure...

I have given up the idea of savings and whatever nonsense long time and short time goal I have; For my pleasure is my pleasure...

Read More »