Caramoan Tour Day 2: A glimpse of Naga and the town of Camarines Sur

By 5 in the morning, we arrived at Naga Central Bus Terminal. Catched some breakfast and prepared ourselves for another 1-hr long land travel using a Hi-Ace Van to Sabang Port. Since the sun isn’t that flashy, the clouds were still low that time.

            We passed by fields, houses and some establishments. We noticed a very beautiful mountain that we thought it was the beautiful and the perfect cone mountain named as Mayon Volcano because the summit/peak was still covered by the clouds. But of course, we’re definitely wrong. Hence, Mayon Volcano isn’t located in Naga but in Albay. And as we noticed from the map that we have, we found out that the mountain was, Mt. Isarog.

We reached Sabang Port as early as we can and we felt the exhaustion from the travel already. With the luggage and bags we have, lying in front of us is another hurdle of the travel.

The scenario in the port is different from common ports found in the Philippines. Porters were available that time to carry the luggage and bags so that it won’t get wet. You can pay them how much you wanted to. The ferry is said to be, can accommodate 80++ people/travelers in one trip. 

With my classmates and our professor: (Top to bottom, Left to Right)
Kheyyen, Josephine, ME
Echo, Jen, Ms. Bing
Dee/Deane

After the long 2-hr ferry ride, we reached Guijalo Port wherein we were disappointed to the porters available. The porters in Sabang Port accept and received gratefully how much monetary value we can give. Unlike ones here, the work done by them were much shorter and easier than in Sabang. Porters in Sabang were soaked in water, fought against the battle of the waves so that luggage and bags won’t get wet while in Guijalo, all they need to do is carry it from ferry up to the vehicles. Yet, you can see their faces that a ten peso coin won’t be enough. I was totally dismayed by the attitudes that welcomed us from a long and tiring journey.

There are lots of fields along the road. Rice Fields! I screamed inside my head. It’s because, rice fields became the first thing that will pop out of my mind after seeing a field. But at the second thought, I knew it wasn’t. Though I still can’t name what kind of crops will be harvested soon.

There were also carabaos, of course! The difference is that, they weren’t working; instead, they were taking a nap or a short rest in a kind of mud or swamp. 

We reached the West Peninsula Villas after a 15-minute ride which offered us a visit to the town of Caramoan. The town was simple; there are no urbanized establishments and food chains like McDonalds, Jollibee, KFC, etc. The life was plain, yet they didn’t look less than a person in the city. And I admire them for that.

A buffet lunch welcomed us and it really fades the disappointments in me. The food was great, in quality and quantity. Then, we started to fix ourselves with our own room assignments. The room relaxes the sight, body and mind.

The rooms at the first floor were about to 3-4 rooms too.

The afternoon part of the day gave us more tiredness. After a couple of minutes, we departed the villas and went to Bikal Port for our island hopping, which said to be the highlights of the tour. The weather isn’t good when we leave the Port, but as we get farther from the land, Mr. Sun showed us his mighty rays. 

(Left to Right) ME, Jen, Daisy, Leth & Josephine

With Jen

We reached and went to Matukad Island first after maybe a 1-hr long boat travel. We saw different rock formations, different shades of the water, some flying fish and some mighty waves along our way. The island hides an enchanted lagoon believed to be the sanctuary of the solitary milkfish that is as mysterious as the lagoon that it guards. A steep rock cliff assault challenged us to reach the top to sight some angle of the lagoon. 

Caramoan’s powdery white sand beaches, interesting rock formations, and lush greenery make it the perfect setting for numerous franchises of the reality television series ‘Survivor’.

We visited another two islands nearby Matukad Island but prefer not to go down the boat due to tiredness. Hence, the islands were really beautiful, uninhabited, and looked perfectly reserved. We attempted to fool around but our body pushed us to just say “NO” and look forward to rest as soon as possible.

When we arrived back at the villas, I tried dipping into the pool for some serenity after a tiring and of course an exciting and full of adventure day. Words aren’t enough to witness how blessed the Philippines was when it comes to natural resources and adventures. Truly, it’s more fun in the Philippines!

The day completed by having a buffet dinner in the open dining area with a delicious viand again. The dessert was great. A really great compliment of the meals we had. 

The night crept in and we fool around in our own rooms with whatever trip we had. But mostly, we do a lot of eating! Hahaha! After our jaw got tired of chewing foods for midnight snacks, lights off approached us and that’s how we bid DAY 2, a peaceful goodnight!