Road trip in the Island of Mindoro

Mindoro is an island province, actually the seventh largest island in the Philippines. It is famous for its white beach in Puerto Galera as well with the Apo Reef in Sablayan.This is one of the most visited islands in the Philippines.

Currently, Mindoro is divide into two provinces namely Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro. Puerto Galera is in Oriental while the Apo Reef is in Occidental. Since this is an island, you need to board a "RoRo" (Roll-On-Roll-Off a moving vessel that can carry vehicles).


A week before May ended, I got the chance to have a Road Trip in the whole island of Mindoro! No exaggeration but I really experienced it accidentally. I joined a group, Plan B, on their trip to Apo Reef and they rented a van.

Batangas Port is your jump off point going to Mindoro. They have hourly trips going to Calapan Port and Abra De Ilog. The most popular RoRo going to the said places is the Montenegro Shipping Line. You can check their site for more details about the schedules and fares.

Since this is a Plan B, literally speaking, we changed the main plan for safety reason. We boarded an old Roro going to Abra De Ilog, luckily we were warned by the coast guard that it is not safe, so the group decided to transfer to a much safer vessel but the route is Calapan. It was my first time to ride a Roro and I do not want to experience unnecessary things. Special thanks to one of my travel buddies who is a daughter of an Officer in the Port.

A bigger and safer Roro

Since it was crowded already, we opted to stay in the top bunk where the Pilot House is.

Inside the Pilot House

This is the scene inside the boat. Didn't expect this.

Pang masa kami. MASAndal TULOG! :D

After 2 and a half hours, we arrived at Calapan Port. You know the saying; " Late entrance, Early exit" this is the mantra of RORO. Those you came early will be the last one to alight in the vessel. boo! haha. 

 

When our van came out, we all rushed inside to get some sleep! We thought that if we take the Calapan to Sablayan Road it will only take us 4 hours but unfortunately it took us 6 hours! Whoa. It was really a Road trip, we really travelled the whole island province of Mindoro!

Scumbag Google Map!

The Road or the so called "Strong Republic Nautical HighWay" is a road less travelled. Some roads are developed but some are not, and the road going down to San Jose was really steep! Though the sights along the way are very worth seeing! According to the local that I talked to, long before, it was forbidden to pass through that Hi-way because the rebels used to block it. 

There are few vehicles passing by this road, a great facade for a long road trip. If you are up for a road trip, try driving the whole Mindoro Island, you can do it for less than 12 hours. You can start from Calapan going to Abra De Ilog! :) 

The road trip was really a Plan B. Our first plan was to docked at Abra De Ilog to get to Sablayan early in the morning but since we docked at Calapan, it took us 6 hours of long, steep, bumpy but worth seeing sight road trip!

Ano, TARA GUMALA?

CIAO. 

--

GABRIELA

Road trip to Bicol

Traveling During Holy Week

24 Hour Road trip

Holy Week is celebrated in countries that the main religion is Christianity, like in the Philippines. We celebrate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday as regular holidays. Most Filipinos take advantage of this long holiday, some go home in their provinces while others spend it somewhere else. So expect super heavy traffic in expressways both North Luzon and South Luzon and very looooong pile of twisted line in every bus stations!

It was my first time to have a road trip on Holy Week! I tell you, it was one hell of a ride. That butt numbing 24 hour trip made me you wanna fly to my destination. HAHAHA. We were exhausted and all became impatient.

Anyway, our driver Kuya Jaime was a very cautious driver and he was only going on 60 KPH!! How slow can that be. He said he didn't know the place. Fine! Though 100 KPH  and up will do. HAHA.

So what welcomed us on our Road trip? Nothing else but HEAVY TRAFFIC because of road constructions! EMPHASIS ON THE S! Yessss! There were lotssss of road re-blocking! gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddd! hahaha.

A two way road became one way!

Of course! Holy Week travel will not be complete without seeing a "senakulo" or reenacting what Christ did. They believe that it is a way of repenting from their sins.

Lastly, your road trip is not complete without stop - over. We had several stops to pee and eat. haha. Oh and we had some time to visit the CawaCawa Hill, where the so-called magnificent sun flowers are, and the famous Cagsawa Ruins. 

Station of the Cross at Cawa Cawa Hill

The very crowded Cagsawa ruins!

Some bikers who came all the way from Manila!

I didn't enjoy the stop over because it was very crowded! I never liked crowded places. haha. Yea I am a bit snob. HAHA. After 24 Hours of travelling! Finally we arrived at the end of Luzon! *Drum roll please* MATNOG, SORSOGON!We were rejoicing but everyone is so exhausted to celebrate. Since it was late, we immediately settled our things and loaded in the boats waiting for us. 

Hello Matnog and Hello Moon!

Out boat going to Subic Beach.

It was a dream to stay in an island with a full moon. Too bad, I didn't enjoy it that long because it was cloudy and rainy. 

So there you have it, that was my loooongest road trip in my entire life! Whew. Now I can say that I can conquer loooong driving. hahaha. I want to try going on a cruise ship and feels being in the middle of the ocean. haha. 



Samahan mo ko, ano, TARA GUMALA?


CIAO.
--
GABRIELA