Biak na Bato Day Tour

Looking for a quick out-of-town day tour for our balikbayan relatives, we opted to go to one of the Philippine's neglected historical site - the Biak na Bato National Shrine in San Miguel, Bulacan. You may do your own homework on what about this place that played a vital role in our past. 

Leaving from Makati City, it took us about 3-4 hours in order to reach the place. There are no visible signboards along the way so make sure you do your research eagerly. I forgot the exact amount of per head entrance fees and tour guide fee but on my rough estimate it is about Php50 per head and Php200 per tour guide. I'm not sure if they allow visitor to explore on their own since the path is pretty straight-forward. I've read some blogs before that you can swim in the river here but during our time, the river is splashing with mud from the mountain since it just rained the night before. The over-all tour of the area is approximately 1.5-2hrs with not all the sites are allowed for tourists.

Here are the scenic and the not-so-scenic views of the place...

The walk path has been cemented so trekking shoes are not that necessary. There were steeps encounters but even our senior citizens able to reach the end with just some hesitations; but there is just one place that is not paved that scared them not to continue.

the biggest and grandest caves of them all..the final stop

I just felt so bad seeing all the vandalisms in the area and the area is not properly conserved anymore and maintained. I hope sites like this would be preserved by the government for the generations to come.

Anawangin Weekend

For this tour, I hitched with my former officemates to save on planning and tour expenses as such they got a group package tour which includes van return transfer from Manila to Zambales, all-inclusive meals and water, round-trip boat to Anawangin and tent rentals. All-in-all, I just spent Php3000 including souvenirs (shirt, keychain and bracelet), transportation from and to Laguna and additional snacks.

We left Quezon Avenue pick-up point at around 4:30am and arrived in Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales at around 8:30am. Our first stop before heading to Anawangin Cove is Capones Island. It is about 20-30minutes boat ride from the Pundaquit shoreline. If you will be doing this, be sure to be in your swimming attire as boats can't dock close to the shoreline so we were forced to swim chest-deep. Caution: the sea floor is rocky and full of corals so watch out for sharp edges or yet be prepared to get wounded.

the trek up the island from the beach/docking area

quite nice view from the top

on the way up to the lighthouse, it felt like an oven in here

view from the lighthouse

Capones Island lighthouse

After spendin about an hour and a half in Capones Island, we headed then to our final destination - Anawangin Cove, which is approximately 20-30 minutes boat ride from Capones Island. On our first day, we explored the area and swam, bought some alcohol in the nearby sari-sari store to spend the night away. For our second day, we hiked the hills near the cove, swam again then packed-up.

the beach front

the picturesque forest of Anawangin

superb mountain view!

also on the other side

the famous lake of Anawangin, you need an entrance fee to get in here unless you stayed in their premises

the jump-off point for our 2-hour hill-trekking

the view of the cove atop flag #2

steep and rocky hill-side trekking

stunning view from flag #3

We left at around 1pm to give time for enough rest before going to work the next day.

Baguio City Tour: Day Two

Mines View Park

On our second day, we left our pension house in DPS Compound at around 0830H. We rode a jeepney going to Burnham Park and from there we waited for a Mines View jeepney to pass by. Getting off right infront of the entrance of the entrance, our tour starts. This is the park where you would see a lot of souvenir items and I think the prices are reasonable enough. I bought all my souvenir from this place. Things to do in the area are pictures, pictures and pictures!

the view why people are going here for

right at the entrance

The Mansion - Wright Park

These two landmarks are situated right infront of each other. We rode again a jeepney going here from the entrance of Mines View Park; just ask the barker to be sure it will pass by the area, fares are just minimum. 

the gates of the Mansion; free entrance!

scenic view of Wright Park without the parked vehicles

on the other side, you may hire guided horses for a ride

Botanical Garden

Nothing much to see here now since they are still rehabilitating the park but if you want to complete all the landmarks of the city plus there's no entrance fee, it's just a hefty 10-15mins walk from Wright Park. Just do a research first on how to get there using a map; it's not a straight path that you would be taking.

this old lady dressed in tribal costume immediately made her way toward us and asking for a price, tsk!

BenCab Museum

From the Botanical Garden, we took our lunch first at Glen's 50s Diner. It's just one jeepney ride plying the route of Burnham Park from the outside (minimum fare). Then from the diner, we rode a jeep going to Burnham Park then within the vicinity of the town proper, we asked people on where is the terminal for Asin. BenCab Museum is about 5-10mins walk from the jeepney terminal in Barangay Asin. The museum is very neat and organized; all of us were amused from what we saw inside. They have this ecological tour downstairs but due to time constraint, we were unable to do that. They also have a cafe in the area!

3 Days / 2 Nights Baguio City Itinerary

Baguio City Tour: Day One

Philippine Military Academy (PMA)

Before eight in the morning, we left our pension house in DPS Compound (walking distance from Victory Liner Terminal). From the main road, we took a taxi going to PMA compound. In just about 20mins we were already at PMA's gate but was not allowed to enter since we are wearing slippers. There are stalls outside the gates that sells rubber soles which are enough to let you through the mighty guards. For the ladies they costs Php50 while for men it's Php150. From the gate, we just waited for a jeep to arrive. Only Php8 fare up to the parade grounds, which is also the jeep's turn-about point. 

I think this is their main hall

 

you may watch the cadets parade and march for free!

 

PMA Museum: just Php10 entrance fee

 Camp John Hay

From PMA, we waited again for a jeep at its turn-about point. This same jeep goes back to the city proper and will pass by Camp John Hay entrance gates (fare: Php14). From there we started to walk along this huge area for half day; very tiring yet still relaxing as the view is scenic and refreshing. They have only one main road and road signs are evident everywhere so just be patient in reaching your destinations. Restaurants are also available inside.

theater

 

the Bell Ampitheater

 

inside the Bell House (entrance is about Php50)

Burnham Park

From Camp John Hay's gates, you may wait for jeepneys marked Burnham; it's that easy isn't? Well, I just observed that here in Baguio City, almost every jeepney route starts and ends nearby Burnham Park, if not within the park. I don't have much pictures in Burnham Park but what we just did here is hired a boat and bicycles. So much activities and walking to do here though.

3 Days / 2 Nights Baguio City Itinerary

3 Days / 2 Nights Baguio City Itinerary

I've been to Baguio City for several times already since childhood with my parents and relatives using private vehicles but since one of my friend want to experience the city for the first time, we did a quick tour of the city budget-style! Sharing our do-it-yourself tour of Baguio City...

Day 0	2230H	ETD Cubao (Bus: ~Php450)
Day 1	0400H	ETA Baguio City
	0500H	Check-in: Tuvera Pension House (~Php1200 per room per night, triple occupancy)
	0800H-0830H	Taxi: DPS Compound to PMA (~Php200)
	0830H-1200H	PMA Grounds Tour
		watch the cadets march/drills
		PMA Museum
		Lunch at a carinderia
	1200H-1230H	Jeep: PMA to Camp John Hay (~Php14)
	1230H-1630H	Camp John Hay
		Bell Ampitheater
		Bell House (~Php50 entrance)
		Cemetery of Negativism
		The Mile-Hi Center
		Snack: Filling Station
		Paintball (~Php200 for target shooting)
	1630H-1700H	Jeep: Camp John Hay to Burnham Park (~Php8)
	1700H-1900H	Burnham Park
		boat rental (~Php150 per boat)
		bike rental (~Php100 per hour)
	1900H-1930H	Walk: Burnham Park to SM City Baguio
	1930H-2100H	Dinner: SM City Baguio
Day 2	0815H-0900H	Jeep: DPS Cmpd-Burnham (Php8), Burnham-Mines View (Php10)
	0900H-1045H	Mines View Park
	1045H-1100H	Jeep: Mines View-Mansion (Php8)
	1100H-1200H	The Mansion and Wright Park
	1200H-1215H	Walk: Wright Park to Botanical Garden
	1215H-1300H	Botanical Garden
	1300H-1320H	Jeep: Botanical Garden-50s Diner (Php8)
	1320H-1500H	Lunch: Glenn 50's Diner
	1500H-1545H	Jeep: 50s Diner-Burnham (Php8), Burnham-Asin (~Php21)
	1545H-1730H	Ben Cab Museum (~Php50 entrance)
	1800H onwards	Rest at Pension House
Day 3	0800H-0830H	Jeep: DPS Cmpd-Burnham (Php8), Burnham-Mines View (Php10)
	0830H-1000H	Pasalubong: Good Shepherd's Convent
	1000H-1100H	Lunch: Glenn 50's Diner
	1200H	ETD Baguio City (Bus: ~Php450)
	1830H	ETA Cubao

Pardon for the prices as all are estimates since I haven't took down notes during our tour. At first I am hesitant of touring the city via commuting but because of this trip, I stand corrected. Total Budget consumed: ~Php4000; not bad eh?!

Ayutthaya Day Tour

Right after visiting the Grand Palace on the onset of its opening, we headed to tour the ancient city of Ayutthaya, known for its century-old temple and ruins. It's about 2 hrs travel from Bangkok when we got to set our foot on our first temple stop - Phra Chedi. This is I think the highest temple-mountain of the city and with that you need to climb steep stone staircases. I'm with my mom and aunts who managed to climb under the heat of the sun so I bet you will too! There is a minimal entrance fee here but I forgot how much; it won't go higher than THB50.

After touring the place, we stopped for a quick lunch over a nearby local eatery before heading to our last stop - Wat Maha That where the famous Buddha face relic on a tree roots can be found. The place is more ruin-liked and more spacious and said to be comparable with the ruins of Siem Reap temples though smaller in scale. Like with Phra Chedi, there is a minimum entrance fee here.

These are just two of the most important temples in the city. There are still a lot more to see. We just opted to visit two since we don't have much time. We were back in Bangkok before 5pm. Estimated time of visit for each temple is around 1-1.5 hour each. On this day, we rented again our airport taxi whom we used for our Floating Market tour for about THB2000-2500 since this is farther than Damnoen Saduak.