Exactly a year after our amazing North Luzon road trip in 2010, we had our latest road trip (2011) -- this time in the Western part of Luzon! Not as far as the first one, but I would say, this was more exciting and adventurous than our last. To all who wanted to try this itinerary, please feel free to duplicate and adjust for whatever will suit your own trip! Enjoy!
The map will tell you which places we have been. Guided only by Samsung Galaxy Tab GPS, we worked our way to our destinations with no hassle, shorter time and never ever got lost! Weeepeee!
Marc, Joseph and Khen picked me up at our house in Cavite at around 2:30AM. Just in time with our plan to arrive at our first destination at 8:00AM.
Here's our map!
Pangasinan Sun Rise
Khen brought her SIL’s lasagna for breakfast. Actually, it was supposed to be for all of us but I almost ate them all. Hahaha! Aside from the slight traffic along Guadalupe EDSA traffic and car accident along Balintawak Highway, everything went well with our travel until we reach Pangasinan.
Luckily, the weather did not go against us. The sun just happily kicked off its lovely stages as early as 6:00AM. We all agreed to pull over along Romulo Highway in Pangasinan especially my sunrise-addict travel mates to capture the perfect sunrise.
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| We had our first stopover at Romulo Highway. Do you see the nice curves behind us? On our second day, we were on the other side of it heading to Zambales. |
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| We love the clear skies that morning. We waited at the side of the highway until this amber sun came up. |
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| Nice view at the other side of the road... |
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| We had our road trips with White and Cruzee, so this time we chose Blue. |
Pangasinan Hundred Islands
Believe it or not, our Hundred Island tour was the only one included in our “sure” list -- the rest were all such an adventure and so spontaneous! We reached Lucap Wharf, the dock area of the Hundred Islands in Alaminos, around 9:00AM. We parked our car at an open area beside the pickup point. We paid P200.00 each for the entrance and P1200.00 pesos for the unlimited boat ride for the four of us plus tip. It would be a good thing if all Filipino would be able to visit this wonderful place, curved by nature, and be able to witness such beautiful view.
As of 2011, here's the list of fees in Hundred islands
The boat ride was not that scary compared to some of our Galera trips. The sea was blue and calm.
This was taken at the Children's Island. Madami ngang bata hehehe. Probably because the shore area is kids-friendly.
Welcome to Old Scout Island. It is a small island na may kaunting swimming area.
Look at me at the back... super excited na akong lumangoy! Sobra! Hahaha!
Trust me when I say every island looks like a turtle or an alligator! Hahaha! Or optical illusion ko lang. Hehehe.
Quezon Island
Picture taking
Cuenca Island, parang cave na tagus tagusan.
I found these corals and i was able to spell out my name!
Now in Governor's Island, my favorite among the islands we visited
It has an amazing view from the top of the island. Nakakapagod yung papaakyat kasi ang laki ng steps, pero don't worry, may nagtitinda ng ice cream sa itaas. Hehehe.
With Khen, Joseph, Marc -- the fearless road trippers! Harharhar!
I only used to see this in postcards but now, I already experienced being there! Awesome!
Shot from Joseph's cam
Eto yung nakakatawa sa lahat ng binisita namin! Marc and I went to watch the corals and giant clams. Joseph and Khen stayed at the boat. I think mga 500 meters yung lubid na hahawakan mo para makarating ka sa isa pang end point. Parang hindi pa ako nangangalahati... inaatake na ako ng takot! I felt may hihila sa akin pababa! Marc felt I was so scared Hahaha. We ended up going back to our boat sooner than we planned LOL
Kulitan mode. Hehehe. "Why the hell are you using your camera phone?" Hahaha! Ganda pa man din ng pose ko dito...LOL
At first, we were given option whether to visit 3 islands of our choice for P800.00 pesos (most likely where the bankero would suggest where to take you especially if it is your first time) or unlimited island tour for P1100.00; we chose P1100.00. We all wanted to reach as much islands we could, what else we have to aspire with island hopping anyway! It was not bad at all; it satisfied our passion for astonishing landscapes in the form of a hundred century old islands!
The only disappointment we had was our lunch. There was this small canteen beside the wharf. They were selling overpriced flat-tasted meals. ;’( So watch out… you might want to try dining at the nearby resort restaurants.
Our Hundred Island tour ended around 1:00PM and headed straight to Zzzzambales! “Here we coooome!”
The Search for Potipot Island, Zambales
Trust me when I said Pangasinan was the only one on our “sure” list. We never reserved any boat or booked any hotels to stay in for the night – we only kept our precious tablet PCs and cell phones with GPS and Internet!!! Technology ruled in this road trip.
We travelled south from Pangasinan to Zambales via Dasol and Santa Cruz for about 2 hours. Potipot Island lies within Barangay Uacon (pronounced as “Wacon”). As we reached Candelaria in Zambales, we knew we were very near our destination because according to our GPS, we were. At first, all of us were very confused as we saw several sign boards about boat rentals/resort banners, but none seemed caught our instinct to choose them. When you visit Potipot Island, you have the option to check in on a resort along the shore line of Brgy. Uacon and hire a boat that will take you to the island.
We were originally planning to camp on one of the islands in Hundred Islands but we decided to do it in Potipot. So instead of checking in to any resort, we only looked for a boat that will take us to the island. It was around 3:00 PM, we ended up entering a small road with a sign board “To Potipot Island/ P400.00 Boat Ride”. It was a remote place, which has a bunch of kids and most people were so confused to see us – which, by the way, bothered me a lot. O_o We asked someone that could take us to the island and it seemed that what we were doing was something that is not normal. Hahaha! But then, we finally closed a deal from a local bangkero for P800.00 (back and forth). Since no resort for us, our bangkero offered a nearby lot to park our car. At first, I was not convinced to do that but we all took the risk even though we were so scared that something would happen to our car.
After the car fiasco, we immediately loaded our things to the boat. I think, for the rest of us, I was one of the most excited about the camping!!!! After 5 minutes, we hit this small patch of land with fine white sand surrounded by clear waters.
These are the things that you could do in Potipot Island:
- 1. Swim in the clear waters
- 2. Throw physical games at the beach
- 3. Picnic with your family or friends
- 4. Build sand castles
- 5. Lie under the sun
- 6. Take pictures, tons of pictures
- 7. Pick fruits within the island
- 8. Camp overnight
- 9. And my favorite….stargaze under the magnificent sky at night
We spent the night cooking hotdogs, eggs and worrying how we could fit into a tent with only 3-person capacity. Hahaha! Marc ended up sleeping outside the tent… awwww. The night was very very cold. Joseph was not feeling well that night and we all hardly taken decent bath. Mga gusgusin kami. :-)). But if given another chance, I would definitely go back there. That is how I love camping!
The next morning, we had back aches and colds :)) Hahaha! We had one last round of early morning swim. The water was very cold and calm. That morning was a gloomy,cloudy one. Unfortunately, no sunrise for us in Potipot...
The boat picked us up at around 9:00 AM the next morning. Thankfully, our car was safe – just with hundreds of small hands, finger, nose and forehead prints on all windows! Hehehe.
The original plan was to go to Anawangin and Capones Island right after. But plans changed, we decided to visit Bataan!!!
Subic Pampanga Side Trip
Geared up with our GPS, we decided to go to Subic for some groceries and to gas up our car before heading to Bataan. The gas was as low as P46.00 pesos around the area! I could not believe it is as high as P58.00 pesos now as of this writing.
Before we hit Subic, we encountered areas fogged with white dust in the air. The wind was crazy as we passed this bridge along a very large open area along San Narciso. We could see where the dusts coming from.
After completing our grocery list in Pure Gold and gas up at Petron, we headed straight to Bataan.
Bataan Sisiman Bay
We reached Bataan at 3:00 PM and picked a resort to spend the night. We stayed at Raven Resort and Log Cabin (www.ravenresort.com.ph). The place is nice and the houses inside are big. It is more of a subdivision with a pool. ^_^ As soon as we pay for our room at the guard house, we went straight to Sisiman Bay in Mariveles, Bataan to catch the *sunset*. While all our bags were still inside the trunk, we immediately hiked the way towards the shore. Unfortunately for us, the sun was behind the cloudy skies, so no sunset for us. Another thing, the famous lighthouse along the beach was washed out months ago by a storm. We just enjoy what we had – ourselves, the mountains and the rocky shore.
We were the only visitors around the area. Medyo dulo na kasi ito ng mabatong beach. We could even see Manila area. We did not catch the sunset again because it was cloudy, so we just made fun of ourselves. Hehehehe!
Joseph was so sick when we went back to the resort; he has fever and barely spoke because of headache. Wifey Khen was so there to-the-rescue, such a nice view. With our little portable stove and lots of groceries at hand, we cooked our dinner inside the room! Hahaha. Parang bawal pero tinuloy pa din namin. LOL. We ended up filling the whole room with the smell of fried egg and hotdogs.
Bataan Mt Samat
The next morning, after we finished our breakfast and packed all our things, we checked out at the resort and headed straight to our next destination – Mt Samat in Pilar, Bataan. The road to the mountain was quite a challenge; I think similar to Baguio. I searched in Google map and found this that made my eyes got bigger! Oh my, parang roller coaster. No wonder madaming riders ang nakasabay naming paakyat.
They allow people to climb up to the top but just a few minutes before we reached this door, the guard put the "No Power" sign board in front. T_T
Mt. Samat souvenirs
We spent most of our time taking pictures of Blue kasi biglang sumikat ang araw. It was cloudy the whole morning.
Because Jospeh has acrophobia LOL, he was not able to do this jump shot!
When I knew about this next place, I almost jumped! Hello??? I love turtles!!! … not as much as I love cats but …they are turtles!!!!!! Century old creatures, sleepy, slow and they are precious.
Before we reached Pawikan Conservatory, we stopped by at a local Japan Surplus store along the highway. They have pretty interesting stuffs there like bikes, appliances, cabinets, tables, chinawares and almost everything!
There are bikes!
Different kinds of china wares
Just before the sunset, we reached the conservatory. Oh my! We learned that Pawikans breeding season is from October – February! Weeee. The day before we went there, there were few eggs hatched and gave baby turtles we let go to the shore!
Here are Dory and Nemo. Hehehe. Wala na kaming maisip na name eh
Bawal tong ginagawa ko dito kasi nangangagat pala tong oldies na pawikan. Don't worry, hindi ako nakagat. Hehehe.
If you visit Bataan, please do include this place in your itinerary. It is nice to help the people who run this place, which from what I learned were former pawikan eggs busters who were selling eggs for their living, eventually left that kind of job to help conserve our precious Sea Turtles. Spread this!
Subic Dinner
As we reached Pampanga, we had our last stopover at KFC Subic. We were all pagod and almost lowbatt lalo na yung mga drivers. May nakaaway pa kami na mommy sa counter LOL… ^_^v I must say I enjoy this trip a lot. If I would be given a chance to do it, I would do it again with the same people. Maybe we could try the Eastern part next year J …
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