Today was a Tuesday. I had a nice one day break after the Sunday trek to Mount Pinatubo. I was to leave Manila and head to Cebu by flight. I thought I’d take the train to Pasay and then take a taxi or jeepney from Pasay/TAFT Avenue to the airport.
But that was a mistake. When I got to the Cubao station, first there was a line for tickets. After I got the ticket, there was another line just to pass through security. Then another line after security just before taking the steps up to the platform. Then another line to get inside the train. This was done because that’s how many people there are during morning rush hour! It took an hour after getting my ticket just to get inside the stuffed train. It was such a struggle to stand inside with my two bags but I somehow survived! I got to Terminal 3 in time… which was not that important as the flight was later delayed by half-an-hour.
Anyway, my Cebu Pacific flight landed in Cebu safely, but getting to my hostel took more than an hour due to the line for taxis, first, then the city traffic. As irritated I was arriving past lunch time, it was nice to be back in Cebu since 2011.
I was staying here, Tr3ats Guesthouse. (Just read it as ‘treats’). The hostel was a short jeepney ride away from Fuente Osmeña circle which has a Robinsons mall and many other eateriesThis is the room I was given. They would later shift me to another room a day later but this is how little space there is to walk around once you leave bags on the floorThey have 3 bathrooms, but the shower heads needed some cleaning up. You had streams of water shooting in every other direction besides your head.Beside the bathrooms
I stepped out soon after to first, get some drinking water, hand over my laundry, and then to have lunch. Fortunately, just across the road from Tr3ats Guesthouse were many laundry shops (₱25/kg). I then took a jeepney, paid minimum fare (₱8) to get to Fuente Osmeña circle. It was already well past 3pm and I was late for lunch as it is. I went downstairs where the supermarket and food court is.
₱170 for some garlic chicken, stuffed crab, and fried rice
After lunch, I went around to find travel agencies offering trips to Oslob for the whale shark sighting tours. A few of the travel agencies I visited said they need a minimum of 3 people for them to organize a tour and even if I managed to group together 3-4 people, they told me it would still cost me ₱3k or more, per person, which was way too much. Back at the hostel, the staff told me how to get to Oslob by bus (which I also read online). I convinced myself to wake up really early — like 3am early — and so I went to bed early.
April 30th, 2014 – Cebu to Oslob by Bus
I woke up at 3:30am and took a taxi to the Cebu bus station, which only took 10 minutes to get to due to the lack of traffic.
Even though there were air-conditioned buses to Oslob, I hopped into the first regular bus leaving the bus station — mostly because I didn’t want to wait, or freeze. The one-way ticket to Oslob cost ₱150.I slept through much of the journey, but by the time I woke up, the bus had reached Oslob provinceLook at how amazingly calm the sea is. It was beautiful.The bus dropped me at Tan-awan, which is where you need to disembark and right where the Oslob Butanding (whale shark) Briefing Center isIt was just past 7am, which is when the center opensI walked straight to the briefing centerI assumed at 7:30am in the morning, things would be just starting upBut there was a trail of boats already out in sea!
I arrived at Legazpi city around 7:45am. I then crossed the road over to the jeepney terminal and boarded a jeepney going towards Albay Cathedral. I was in Legazpi for two things: to see Mt. Mayon and to get to Donsol from here.
I didn’t expect to see Mt. Mayon this soon! It’s got amazing presence doesn’t it?I got down at Albay Cathedral and followed the instructions the hostel had put up onlineBut when I stood at a junction looking confused, a kind man through his house window called out to me and just told me right away “Mayon backpackers hostel is that way”. He knew just looking at me where I was headed Like many hostels, Mayon Backpackers Hostel is another home-turned-hostelIt wasn’t a hard choice. This was pretty much the only hostel listed on hostels.com for Legazpi.The mixed dorm room was clean and the air-conditioner worked well. Not that I needed it right now. A single bed here cost me ₱900 (Rs. 1300/$20/€15) for three nights.
I hadn’t slept well the night before because of how freezing it was inside in the bus. Add to that the slight cold I already had got a little worse because of the lack of the sleep. So I freshened up, switched off the aircon and went to bed after taking some medicines Janet had bought for me.
I woke up in the afternoon and decided to step out for lunch.
Albay Cathedral is the big landmark near the hostelI had seen enough churches on my last trip to Philippines so I avoided them this time aroundPopularly called Albay Cathedral, but it’s really St. Gregory the Great CathedralSaw quite a few Bajaj motorcycles
I took a jeepney going to Legazpi City as I didn’t feel like having lunch nearby. Plus I wanted to see the main town area. Legazpi City is barely 20 minutes by jeepney.
It was pretty sunny, so I entered a nearby mall and had a burger meal at JollibeeI just walked around aimlessly as it’s something I like to usually do in new placesLegazpi city felt more like a town; picked up some Dunkin’ Donuts for tomorrow’s breakfastFor saleThis seemed to be the most popular mall in Legazpi CityThere she is againThe most perfectly coned active volcano in the worldPlanned to get much closer to Mt. Mayon day after tomorrow
After a while, I got bored as there was little else to see or do in Legazpi City. So I took a jeepney back to Albay.
There were a bunch of boys skateboarding and trying to pull off all sorts of tricks
I went to City Hall and found the local tourism office. I asked them about how to get to Donsol.More Bajaj bikes. This model, Rouser, is considered quite hip in Philippines. I think it’s a re-badged Pulsar.
I had dinner with a hostel mate from India who was in Legazpi on business. We sat down at a Japanese restaurant near Albay Cathedral.
Fairly inexpensive, so don’t expect much in terms of authenticity. Whole set meal cost ₱200.An art shop I saw on the way backI went back to the hostel, and went to bed early after taking the medicines
Date: 28th May, 2013
Today morning I woke up early and took a jeepney to the bus terminal, from where I would get in a van taxi going to Donsol.
Legazpi city’s main transport terminalI boarded the ‘express’ van going to Donsol; one way ticket costs ₱75
The van left the terminal only after they could fill it with as many passengers that could fit inside. Thankfully they had functioning A/C.
This journey was going to remind of my home state of Kerala a LOTPilar port was one of the stopsAn hour and half later, I was in DonsolButanding, it’s what the Filipinos call whale sharks
I hired a tricycle taxi to take me to the whale shark center (cost ₱40).
It was a 15 minute ride to the ‘butanding’ center
It’s humiliating to admit the roads in the villages of Philippines are better than most roads in India’s citiesThis would look like any village in Kerala……except for the concreted roads and footpath!This is where tourists need to come to begin the whale shark sighting tourThis was yet another very remote destination for meI went inside and it was raining in the distance… which was disappointing to seeBut even more disappointing was the fact there were barely any tourists there — just me
Granted, I chose to come early because I read they only have 2-3 tours in a day and some bloggers said going for the early morning tour has the best chance of seeing the whale shark. But the fact there were only cleaning staff there and one tourist — me — I took that as a worrying sign.
They had monthly charts declaring when the whale sharks were spottedThe season when whale sharks sightings are usually high is between February to MayBut looking at this, looks like even during peak season there’s no guarantee of seeing the whale sharksAnd this is the month I’m in. No sighting yesterdays or the day before.I sat there hoping there would be other tourists. After not getting a chance to do the Mt. Pinatubo trek in Angeles City, the last thing I wanted to hear was that same shit about paying a huge sum and renting a whole boat for myself if other tourists fail to show up.I passed some time by reading up on whale sharksFor those who are worried about swimming with sharks, don’t worry…whale sharks don’t have sharp jaws, and largely feed on planktonWhale sharks are the largest fish on the planet, and their mouths look like thatGood thing was the clouds cleared up and the sun was out againI wonder what hills were in the distanceThe beaches here at Donsol have black sandA result of volcanic activity?
After an hour or so of waiting, and just as my hopes were getting dashed, an American family walks in saying they were here for the whale shark tour. Phew! My day was saved — for now.
The office staff finally showed up and told us since it was going to be a total of 5 people in one boat, the cost per person would come to ₱1000 person — which is what I was hoping to pay. But I also had to pay ₱300 extra for I had no snorkel mask or flippers with me.
The staff were insistent on reminding us there is no guarantee we would spot whale sharks. I paid up knowing the risk — as this is common place anywhere you go to see wildlife in their natural habitat. This isn’t a zoo, no animal was going to pose for our cameras.
At least the tour was happeningAs soon as we set off, the skies turned grey againIt didn’t seem to stop these fishermen. In fact our guide asked them if they had spotted any butandings today. They said ‘no’
The water did get a bit bumpy under the grey clouds. I looked down at the waves and wondered how would I even see the whale shark in such grey waters. I wasn’t going to get in the rough waters without a life jacket of course.
They had a spotter up on a pole like thisMt. Mayon from sea
The seas eventually calmed down a bit, and the sun even came back out again. We went deep into the sea, more than 2kms from the coast. An hour of going left to right, going around in circles, speeding up, speeding down… nothing.
Sunshine didn’t put a smile on my face
Some of the Americans dozed off as this was turning into one boring boat ride. I know I agreed to take the risk… but this sucked.
Our guide too was bored, and I sensed he knew there wouldn’t be any whale shark sightings todayThere was a spotter up on the roof of the boat as wellI’m guessing this guy was bored as wellAfter more than 1.5 hours of cruising, eventually the guide gave up and told us all that there wouldn’t be any whale sharks today.It was time now to go back
Back on the shores, I returned the snorkel and flippers I paid for but didn’t use and just left the tourist center disappointed. For those who are wondering what it must be like to spot the whale sharks in Donsol, watch this:
I was pretty hungry as I left Legazpi pretty early in the morning.
I went to a restaurant next door and had a Filipino prawn curry and rice mealThere weren’t many tourists today. Another sign I was “late” to visit Philippines.
I hired the same tricycle taxi to take me back to Donsol. I told the driver I needed to get a jeepney going back to Legazpi.
The tricycle dropped me hereAfter a bit of a wait, I boarded a jeepney leaving for Daraga — which is the jeepney they told me I had to board to get back to Legazpi cityThis journey reminded me of what it’s like driving through Kerala’s narrow highways more than everCoconut trees, banana plantations, and rice paddy fields — reminded me of homeThe only difference was the concreted roads and the fact most drivers were slightly better than the Indians at maintaining lane discipline
One odd observation along the way was that the jeepney would be stopped at different towns by people who would collect some money from the driver. Now I assumed the jeepney would drop and pick up new passengers along the way. But the men who would stop these jeepneys would make the guy wait for quite some time before the jeepney could set off again, and the guys who stopped the jeepney looked a bit, well, menacing.
I knew I was nearing Legazpi when I saw the incredible sight of Mount MayonThe driver saw me taking photos and told me there was another spot that would give me a better view of Mt. Mayon. So he stopped here and I took a photo using my DSLR. I didn’t take long because I was NOT going to hold up the other passengers just so this one tourist could take a photo!I finally reached Daraga after nearly 2 hours on the road.I got down and boarded another jeepney going to Albay CathedralPassed by the famed Bicol UniversityI finally reached Albay Cathedral at around 5pm. Delica is the Japanese restaurant I dined at yesterday night.I walked back to the hostelHow fish was sold at the villages. I inquired about the prices (out of curiosity) and found the prices to be way higher than what the same breeds cost back in Kerala.This reminded of walking through Chala, my parents’ villageBack at the hostel, I went upstairs to the open terrace to take some photosI could show you a similar hill-scape back in my village. Funny to think I came this far for ‘home’
Even though I had wasted nearly ₱1500 for practically a bunch of joyrides, when I could saved it and slept in… oh well. What’s done is done. Next time, I decided I would rather go to Oslob in Cebu where it’s easier to swim with whale sharks.
I went out at night for dinner alone as the other Indian who was staying at the hostel had to return to Manila. And there was no new guest in my room.
A local basketball match being played at nightI ended up eating at Mang Inasal. I was still feeling slightly under the weather and I drank quite a lot of the hot clear soup (sinigang?) they served with every meal. It really helped warm up my body.After that, it was back to the hostel for some work before catching some sleep
So far my visit to Legazpi was turning out to be a dud. So I had my hopes up high for tomorrow, when I finally get to go up close to Mount Mayon.
