Calaguas, Camarines Norte: The Virgin Island

Calaguas Island is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to.  What makes it special is itsvirginal shorelines, free from commercialized stores and resorts, providing the perfect escape from the stress of city-living.

Its pristine white beach is almost as good as Boracay’s, without the flocks of tourists, giving the island a serene and calm feel.

Our trip to this remote island was organized by Byahe AdvenTours, and everything from the transportation, food, accommodation, and entertainment was provided by them.

The travel time from Manila to Calaguas is approximately 10 hours (8 by land, and 2 by boat).  We left Manila on board a DLTB Co. bus at around 9pm Thursday, and arrived at Daet by 5am Friday.  We took a quick breakfast at Jollibee Daet old branch, and proceeded to Vinzon’s port to board our boats.

The port is relatively new, and is resort-inspired.  According to Mitch, our tour guide, there is an older port at the Daet Market but only smaller boats depart from that area.  The more roomy and comfy boats are found in the private new port.

The sea was calm when we took off, and the boat ride took around 2 ½ hours (may be longer depending on the tides).

We arrived at the island at around 10 am, unpacked, and had the most delicious lunch prepared by Lakwatserong Kusinero.

Accommodation

Don’t expect fancy resorts in Calaguas.  The island practically screams outdoor adventure!  Camping is the way to go there, and our tour guides provided the tents for us to sleep in.  Each tent houses only two people, and it can be quite uncomfortable if you have a lot of stuff inside.  Best to pack light to have more space inside your tent.

Apart from the tents, there are also small resting huts in the area, where you canhave your meals or rest after a good swim.

For calls of nature, there are small makeshift restrooms around each campsite.  You can request a local to fetch you a pail of water for P10. Alternatively, you may use the poso at the back area of the campsite ifyou have no qualms bathing outside.

Beach

The water was crystal clear, and I got sunburned because I enjoyed my swim and stayed out too long. My partner, on the other hand, brought along his goggles and swam to the deeper areas, engrossed at following schools of fish.

I'd often just stand there, wading my hands in my poor attempt to float, thinking how perfect it felt to be there.

I cannot get over the beauty of Calaguas' immaculate waters.  The scenery seemed like it was literally taken out of a magazine.  It really felt surreal, being soaked in its unspoiled greatness.

The sand was very white and fine, and from afar I could say it was glowing with beauty.  I spent my sweet time sunbathing, soaking up the warmth of the sun’s rays in this hidden paradise.

During lull hours, we’d sleep in the shade of some shrubs in the area, or walk around the beach enjoying halo-halo or popsicle from the local tindero.

Another thing we enjoyed there was the affordable henna tattoos from Weeman, the coolest (and smallest) tattoo artist brought by Byahe AdvenTours.

Small henna tattoos (2” x 3”) are free for guests of Byahe AdvenTours, but we opted to ask for abigger one para sulit.  I had a huge dragon made, for only P100!

There is also a makeshift sari-sari store that sells snacks, cold drinks, beer, and a few pasalubong items at the area.  I bought a nice shirt for P300.

Food

I did not expect to eat decent meals in Calaguas, after all, it is a remote island with no electricity, no stores, and no nothing.  I was prepared to eat normal and easy-to-cook meals like adobo, inihaw, and the likes. I was so wrong!

All meals were prepared by Chef Janjie, otherwise knownas the Lakwatserong Kusinero.

Each meal was buffet-style, and served on nice dinner plates, all prepared by LK.  Imagine eating gourmet meals in a remote island! That was the peg!

The food was beautifully served, and the taste was exquisite!  The meats were tender and flavorful, and itfelt like so much effort was given in preparing them.  LK’s meals is one of the main reasons why I immensely enjoyed my stay in Calaguas.

Apart from the hot and tasty meals, there is also free flowing water, juice, and coffee in the campsite.

  

Nightlife

Our tour organizers had a generator that they’d open from 6pm to 12mn.  The group uses it for gadget charging, lighting, and music.  Thankfully,Byahe AdvenTours prepared several different nightlife activities that got all of us—well, to be frank—dead drunk.

There’s a different type of party every night!  Firedancing performances with Star and Chef Janjie would kickstart the evening, and the performances were so much fun!  We even had our photo taken with them!  During our first night there, they prepared a mobile bar party with cool reggae beats and overflowing alcohol.  The second night was even more exciting.  They had a Cocktail 101 wine mixing session, and we were left to mix our own drinks ‘til we dropped.  Had my fair share of Piña Colada before retiring to the comforts of my sleeping bag.

Experience

All-in-all, my Calaguas trip was one of the most fun and relaxing beach trips I’ve had.  Apart from some minor mishaps on our way home (our boat got stranded for 2 hours because the waters were too shallow for our boat to reach the shore), the trip was fantastic and the experience was so unique.  We even made a few friends on the way.  I’m definitely planning to join another Byahe AdvenTours trip in the future!

Good food, good company, and good weather made my Calaguas island experience a truly memorable one.

'Til our next adventure!


xoxo,
BVG

Taipei 101

We had two different attempts to see Taipei 101.  The first one was from a small mountain south of Taipei called the Tiger Mountain (虎山), while the next was up close in the city of Taipei.

There are four different peaks that gives one a nice view of Taipei City.  They are named after four different animals -- Elephant, Leopard, Lion, and Tiger (象山、豹山、獅山、虎山).  Each of the peaks in the Four Beasts Mountain (四獸山) has it's own hike trail, which can be accessed via MRT.

To get a shot of Taipei City and Taipei 101, we chose to go to the Tiger Peak, because from what we've read online, it is the easiest peak to reach.

 
Lost in Space

As the heading says, YES we got lost.  Horribly lost.  We got down on the wrong side of the MRT, and could not find the bus stop for bus 207 or 263.  When we checked the map, we saw that the trail is only a few blocks away from the MRT, so we decided to walk.

After 30 minutes of walking, we finally realized that the few blocks we saw in the map weren't so near.  We tried hailing a cab, but nobody seemed to understand where we wanted to go, even though we showed them the Chinese translation of Tiger Peak.  I'm guessing they have a different local name for it, that's why they couldn't understand what we were looking for. (note: my friend says it's Jiuwufeng, but I'd have to double check)


The Long Walk

We were already exhausted when we finally reached the trail.  The trail didn't seem as easy as we've read.  The sun was already setting and there were barely any street lights.  There were no "groups of tourists" going up as we've imagined.  There were a few senior citizens walking downhill, but we didn't seem to have any other company climbing.

The steps up the Tiger Peak was long and steep.  It was close to dark, and well, the steps looked too creepy.  With no lights, no people, and no clear directions on how to get there, we decided to abandon our journey uphill.  Safety should always be the priority.

Downhill

The trail was so long that I literally wanted to just roll downhill.  However, on our way down, we decided to stop by this beautiful Chinese temple, which incidentally, had a fantastic view of the Taipei 101.

We decided to stop by and take some snaps.

The temple was huge and majestic.  It had no sign at the entrance, so we weren't really sure if it was open for tourists  When we saw some people enter, we merely followed them inside.

The temple was still under renovation, so there were some tables and wood scattered in the area, making it difficult to capture a full shot of it.  We did, however, manage to capture intricate details inside the temple.


We spent our sunset in the temple, and took some unique photos of the Taipei 101.






Entering Taipei 101

My partner and I aren't really city fans, but a trip to Taiwan isn't complete without at least seeing the Taipei 101 up close.

Taipei 101 is a huge high-end mall.  It is formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, and was once heralded as the world's tallest building until Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

We didn't expect to see much, it being at the heart of the city.  We did, however have some fun shooting around the area.

A number of buses pass by the Taipei 101, and it is also only a few meters away from the MRT, which makes visiting it more convenient.  There are also a lot of food establishments in the area offering a wide array of dishes.  We noticed a huge number of tourists near the building, all wanting to capture a shot of this skyscraper.

We spent around ten minutes inside the mall, and decided to head on back to the hotel afterwards to get our good night's rest after our Taipei 101 adventure.