This post should have been published weeks ago but better late than never... so here goes...
And so the first ever OUT-OF-TOWN trip me and my college friends dared to go to is one that would take us to Camarines Sur. This trip is BIG for all of us mainly because yeah it is our first trip as friends and it requires us to use all three means of transportation: by land, air and sea!
So we met up at NAIA Terminal 2 at, if my memory serves me right, 6:oo in the morning coz our flight is at 7. Everyone was psyched and ready to board the plane to Lepazpi. One particular person who was excited more than all of us, i assume, is Diane because it would be her first time to board a plane! I had to interview her before and after the plane ride and all she could talk about was the "cute" steward who according to Celso and Triccia is a "becky". LOLZ.
Chapter 1: Malapit na...
From Legazpi Airport, we rented a van and made a two hour drive to Sabang Port where we are supposed to catch the last boat ride (11:00 AM) that would take us to Guijalo port in Caramoan. The boat was not what I was expecting. It was too small for a two hour boat ride IMO. But that didn't matter back then because we were so pumped for this trip nothing would ruin this day! Or so we thought...
The first hour of the boat ride was ok, it was even great in my opinion because even though it was long I get to see the ocean, mountains, and what have you. It was such a breath of fresh air from the manila traffic and steel buildings I see everyday. Of course that was before the waves came crushing in... LITERALLY! The waves weren't that big but considering the boat wasn't that big either, we could feel its ups and lows! It was fun at first but when we started to get wet, and the waves got too big for the boat to handle... it got terrible. It was then when I started hearing people asking "Malapit na ba tayo?" which the boat guys would reply "Malapit na...", and of course you'd believe them, right? They've been going to these ports back and forth their whole life so they know exactly where we are and it is just rational to assume that their calculation of the distance is pretty accurate. HOW WRONG WERE WE!!! An hour after and we are still in the middle of Gawd knows where!?! We were starting to feel sick and to my horror Mr. Boat Guy enclosed the boat with a tarpaulin so as to prevent as form getting soaked with sea water which proved to be a bad idea because not only did we felt sicker, it also drained us of , I can't believe I'm saying this, HOPE. We felt desperation like we've never felt before. It was that bad. I started to fear for our lives!!! And my friends felt the same way too. I had my eyes closed and would only open it to check how far we are from shore. I've never felt desperate to walk on land until that day. It was so relieving when the tarp was pulled up and we saw that we are just meters away form the port. Phew! A trip I would never ever froget. We couldn't stop talking about it. "Malapit na..." my ass.
So from Guijalo Port, we were picked up by the shuttle AKA Silver Strada to take us to the hotel. We stayed at CMC Villa Caramoan which was actually owned by the Mayor of Caramoan. Tired, hungry and shaken kids that we were back then, we were thankful that our lunch and rooms were ready. CMC is a good place to stay at Caramoan. It was disappointing though that it isn't located near the beach and we actually had to make a 15 minute drive to get to there. But the place is okay, still new. But the best thing about CMC is their service. Lunch was delicious and we needed that to take our minds off the boat ride from hell. The people at CMC are really really nice too. Since it was almost 3:00 PM, we had to make a quick wardrobe change and freshen up so that we could start with our island tour.
Chapter 2: Wow Caramoan!
We rode a small boat that would take us to the many islands comprising the Caramoan group of Islands. Even from the beach where we started the tour, I could see how beautiful Caramoan is... it was really lovely.
The islands, more like the big rocks, are a beauty to look at it made me forget about the ordeal we had going to Guijalo. The scenery was breath taking I just couldn't stop clicking on the camera so as not to miss anything. I especially love that the ocean is so blue! The charm of Caramoan was growing on me and by the time we arrived at our first island, I think I fell in love with the place. First stop: Matukad Island. They say that this Island has one of the best beach here and for really good reasons. The sand was so fine we had to take home handfuls to show people back home. The beach was great! The water was so clear and the view form the beach was fantastic. It was paradise! The island was home to a famous "big fish" that is living in a pond but we didn't get to see it because in order to get to the pond, we had to climb a steep wall of rocks and after what we've been through earlier, we didn't think risking our lives for the second time would be such a smart idea so we took pictures of ourselves instead and man were we cam whores!!!
We took so much pictures that it is safe to say that we spent more timing smiling for the camera than to actually swim! Which was weird because we are at one of the most gorgeous beach I've been to. Parts 1 & 2 of Photos from our CamSur Getaway HERE and HERE. But we didn't just took photos at Matukad Beach, the island also became the venue of our Sand Castle Making contest... if it were really castles that we've made because the photos suggests something else... haha.
After, some more picture taking, we headed onto the next island: Lajos. Lajos Island isn't really good for swimming because the shore is lined with really sharp rocks so what did we do there? More picture taking of course!!! The island, just like Matukad, is really lovely but this one is much better for picture taking. The rock formations in this island is really nice and the sand, though not as fine as that over at Matukad, is good too. It would have been nice to eat here but we were running out of time so we had go back to the boat.
The last island we visited was... shoot, I forgot the name. But that was the island in front of Hunongan beach. Of the three islands, I think this was my least favorite but it is still a nice island though, we ate snacks there and soon enough we were heading back to our boat to wrap up the day.
And what a crazy day it was! From being pumped, to being desperate, to being calm... it was crazy! And what better way to finish off the tour but with a cinematic sunset? The sunset was one that can rival those of Manila Bay and Boracay! Sure enough the shuttle was there to take us back to the hotel but not before we visit the historical San Miguel Church. After setttling down, we attacked our buffet dinner. Food was good!!! They would usually serve seafood and my were they fresh!
Even at the end of that day, we still couldn't get over the boat ride. It already made a mark on all of us! LOL. We were all hoping that because our boat ride back to Sabang Port the next day is in the morning, the waters would be calmer. We had little chats about our college life, classmates and career before heading to our respective rooms to call it a day. So far so good. This trip was meant to be remembered.
Phrase of the Day:
"Malapit na..."
Event of the Day:
BoatRide form Hell
Picture of the day:
"Naks naman! Woot! Woot!"
Part two HERE
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