Doing the Bicol itinerary last April, I came across Calaguas, a group of island hidden in camarines Norte. Reading itineraries of some travel bloggers, I found out that going to a Calaguas trip would only cost php 2,000- php3, 000. Who am I to refuse?
So, we found ourselves Sunday night in Superlines Terminal in Cubao. We were surprised that there is already a direct bus to Paracale. Add to that, the fare was cheaper compared to Daet, which was our original route.
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| Stopover somewhere in Quezon. |
Almost ten hours of butt numbing bus ride, we arrive at Paracale.
We had our breakfast, on which mine was a php13 lugaw with egg, bought our overnight food and water, called Mang Nelson and off we were to Calaguas. The boat was also a surprise for me. I was expecting a small boat with no cover, no seats and no life vests. And luckily, ours had a cover and Kuya Nelson provided us life vests. Except for the lack of seats, I think the boat was more than I expected. And that was a good thing.
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| Kuya Nelson at Paracale Port. Fish crates. |
We did the island hopping today so we can get home early the next day. Maculabo island and Pinagkastilyuhan Buhangin were stunning.
First, Maculabo Island. From afar, I was certain that it was just another ordinary white beach. But getting off the boat and running through the shore, I was convinced it was not just another white beach. Let the pictures convince you too.
And now the Pinagkastilyuhang Buhangin. I thought the place will be like Manlawi Island in Caramoan. One kilometer stretch of white sand beach submerged during high tide. Pinagkastilyuhang Buhangin offered one long stretch of sand bar. The sandbar was not visible when we came and we waited for the sandbar to show up. It was incredible!
And finally, we arrived to the beach we came for. Mahabang Buhangin. Coming from Pinagkastilyuhang Buhangin, we see long stretches of white sand beaches. We couldn't just pinpoint where Mahabang Buhangin is. We thought if not for the mountains between the beaches, it will be like a one long stretch of white sand beach and that would be awesome.
We arrived at Mahabang Buhangin around ten in the morning, I think. We set camp, had lunch and were waiting for afternoon to come so we can swim without the sun. Waiting means sleeping, siesta time! I believe every one of us had their own siesta. And yet when we all woke up, it was just two in the afternoon. Indeed time is slow.
We tried looking for some snorkeling sites around the area. Unfortunately, all we saw was sand underwater. I think we still need a boat to get to the snorkeling sites within the area. So Donna and I talked. I haven’t seen the girl for almost two years. With all the dealings she had for the past year, I understood. Girltalk for us!
And dinner. Because we were not able to purchase disposables in Paracale, the group who went to the barrio managed to cut some banana leaves as replacements. It’s boodle fight! Adobo, hotdog and tuna never tasted better.
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| Boodle Fight! |
Finally, the booze was out. We played a little bit of good old pinoy henyo, on which the boys won with a lot of help from their lead player, Leah. (I can hear Leah bragging). After consuming three bottles of The Bar, we called it a night.
The next morning, we spent the rest of our time taking pictures and just having fun.
I woke up seeing Marela, Donna and Ryan sleeping outside.
Nagyaya pa naman ako sa kanila na wag na sa tent matulog.
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| No cook breakfast |
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| Leah playing with hermit crab |
We arrive at Daet past noon. Arriving at the Daet terminal was a surprise. It was an empty parking lot with just two buses and no people at all. We even have to tap the window at the ticketing booth a few times before someone can assist us. What were more surprising were the schedules. Bus trips were limited to six to seven trips, per day. The earliest we can get into is the six o’clock but it's an ordinary bus. Our best bet was to take the last trip, 8:45pm, which is an air-conditioned bus. We were in luck to see that there were only eleven seats left. We have no idea; trips were reserved ahead of time. As I said, we were lucky. We got the seats. Now, where to kill time? We asked around and learned that Bagasbas beach is just a few minutes from town and is known for its waves.
We had dinner.
And the obligatory pasalubong buying.
And now, we face the ten hours butt numbing bus ride to Manila. And the weird part when we came to Manila, Cubao bus stop came first before Pasay. Before we realize we went passed the Cubao terminal, we were halfway to Ortigas and the sad part in that is that the bus could only drop us at Pasay terminal. Just great. Simply great.
I can’t imagine my work friends and my long time friends would get along. I was expecting, yes, they would get along, but it’s more that what I expected. It was a whole lot of fun! Leah can even attest to that.
Manila-Paracale via Superlines Cubao : php485
Daet- Manila : php580
Paracale-Daet (van) : php50
Entrance (Mahabang Buhangin) :php50
Boat :php3000/7
Food and water for overnight stay :php150
Total : php 1,815 (not included Bagasbas sidetrip)
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