Day 1 : Tito's Roadtrip Travel Guide To Bicol

Its hard to admit, but we're maturing.  Not just in terms of age but also on the way we travel.

At this point we have reached the Tito's level.

How do you know when your a Tito Traveller?

1. When you have enough clothes to last you a month for a 5 day adventure!
2. When you bring a trolly to the beach.
3. When your baon includes a loaf of bread and coffee for morning emergency!
4. When your sunscreen SPF is enough to match the ozone layer.
5. When you won't take bullshit from anyone.
6. When you will get your money's worth no matter what.

These are my realisation during our 5 day road trip to Bicol.

We planned ahead to reserve our Holy Week for this adventure.

As agreed, we left Manila, Tuesday night to avoid the crowd headed south.

Day 1

Legaspi

Just before midnight of Tuesday, we hopped on a friends car for a 12 hour drive to Legaspi.

Thinking that most of our days will be spent in Donsol, we made sure to stop at Small Talk Cafe to sample the best Bicol favourites.

1st Stop (Starbucks SLEX)

We made a few stops along the route, changed drivers in Gumaca, and arrived just in time for lunch.

Our Lunch Feast at Small Talk Cafe

Our lunch included boneless crispy pata with bicol express, shrimp sinigang, pinangat and chicken adobo sa gata.  A welcomed reward after the long drive.

It was a bit cloudy when we reached Legaspi and the Mayon Volcano was hidden from sight.

After lunch, we proceeded to our resort in Donsol, which is more than an hour away from the city.

Donsol

Upon confirming our reservation at Woodland Beach Resort, we went directly to the Tourism office to book our Whale Shark Encounter Tour and Fire Fly Watching Cruise.  These are operated by different groups, and has different offices.   The Firefly Tour does not need to be booked advance because sightings is available whole year.

Woodland Resort in Donsol

Beach at Woodland Resort in Donsol

We finally checked in around 4PM, got settled, rested a bit before going back to Pilar, the adjacent town for the Firefly Cruise.

Firefly River Cruise in Pilar

We were among the first group taking the river cruise.  The sun is just setting, and were rewarded with amber skies as the night approaches.  It was hard to capture the fireflies in action but we were taken to a mangrove that looked like christmas trees filled with these flickering creatures.  

After more than an hour, we were back at the dock and drove back to Donsol for dinner.

Our guide recommended Barracuda for their seafood, which is just beside our resort.

At the entrance of the restaurant, we were greeted by a frantic lady, we now call Madam Barracuda.

Their Menu is literally a chalk board being passed from table to table.  The restaurant is full, and were running out of food options.  Madam Barracuda, seems to be manning both the kitchen and front of the house and forces you to order whatever she has prepared.  Since, our drink order is still being prepared, we decided to just leave and try the restaurant at our resort.

Dinner turned out great at Woodland Resort.  We ordered our breakfast the next day in time for our early departure for the Whale Encounter.  After a quick massage, we finally settled on our beds for our Day 2 adventure.