Mayon ATV Adventure and Matnog trip: My 2012 Year-ender.

It has been more than two months since my last post. Grabe, ang tagal ko na palang nawala at mukhang tinubuan na ng mga lumot ang blog ko.hahaha! Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of things for the last few months and kunwari busy busyhan din ako so I wasn’t able to post anything here, and also I’ve encountered a few depressing moments sa buhay ko kaya ayun, tinamad magkwento at magsulat ng kung ano ano.hehehe!

So how are you guys? How’s the weather there? Is there anything else I can help you with? Pang call center na mga tanong lang.hahaha! So heto na nga, magkukwento na ko ng adventure ko. I want to share this adventure story in Mayon and Matnog.

 

the river trail

Last December, me and my friends did a very awesome adventure (opo, ganyan na katagal na nangyari ang adventure na ‘to, December pa. hahaha!) Our adventure was an ATV adventure at Mayon’s lava trail in Legazpi City. A friend of mine invited me to try this ATV ride and then I also invited some of my friends in Manila. We met at Legazpi Grand Central Terminal. Me, our tour guide and one of my friend was at the terminal as early as 8am, and we waited for 3 of our friends to arrive and we ended up waiting for them for almost 3 hours. Our initial plan was to start our ATV ride early in the morning so that we will not be very much exposed to the heat of the sun, however, due to the late arrivals of some of my friends that were coming from Manila, we ended up starting our ATV ride at around 11am. Luckily, it was somewhat a cloudy day kaya hindi naman kami masyadong nasunog sa araw at nagmukhang roasted beef.hahaha!

After my 3 friends arrived from Manila, we ate our brunch at an eatery in Grand Central Terminal. After our brunch, we then proceeded to the ATV ride drop off point, which is also where the ATV tour operator site is located. The rate for the ATV ride is 1,500 pesos per person which is good for almost 3 hour ride. It also includes the transfer from the Legazpi Grand Central Terminal to the drop off point or the ATV site. The tour operator can also pick you up at any location within Legazpi City and  then bring you to the ATV site.

you'll end up wet, muddy and sandy and happy

At the ATV briefing area, our guides informed us about the basics of ATV ride. They also informed us about the rules and what to expect in the adventure. After we paid the fee of 1,500 pesos per head, we then waited for a few minutes and then we finally rode the ATV. The Mayon's ATV adventure is different compared to the ATV ride in other location in the Philippines. The ATV ride in Mayon is actually somewhat a little bit extreme or let me say really off-road-ish. The trail is a river trail and a lava trail so most of the time you’ll end up wet, muddy and dusty.  You’ll cross a river, some large stones, a dusty road, a bumpy trail, a mud pool, a sandy trail, a coconut grove, a pine tree-lined trail, a community, et cetera. There are a lot of different sceneries that you’ll pass by while doing the ATV ride. It is really an adventure. It is an adrenaline ride. The ride ends up at the 2006 lava wall, and you can hike the rocky wall and you’ll be rewarded with the magnificent view of Mayon Volcano, downtown Legazpi and the Albay Gulf. Unluckily, we weren’t able to view the magnificent beauty of Mayon since it was a cloudy day and Mayon was hiding behind the clouds. There is also a zipline at the lava wall so if you don’t want to walk again back to the end point of the ATV trail, you can just ride the zipline, and of course there’s a fee for that zipline, I think it was 300 pesos for the zipline ride.

time out muna. nakakapagod magdrive

We just spend around 1 hour at the lava wall because it was already late in the afternoon and we were already hungry after riding the ATV for almost 2 hours. We then decided to go back to the drop off point and we then rode the ATV for another one hour. We use a different trail to go back to the drop off point and it was a short trail and part of the trail was already a paved road. Pagdating namin sa drop off point, nagbihis na kami at nagpahatid na kami sa tour operator papunta sa First Colonial Grill in Daraga City para makakain na kami at matry ng ibang kaibigan ko ang sili ice cream. At Colonial Grill, we ordered our meal and several flavour of ice creams but the sili ice cream wasn’t available at that time because the waiter informed us na tunaw pa daw yung ice cream. Masyado kaming mapilit kaya kahit tunaw pa yung ice cream sinabi namin na magoorder pa rin kami kahit one scoop lang in order for us to taste the sili ice cream but it was a bad move, hindi pala masarap ang sili ice cream kapag tunaw dahil masyado mong malalasahan ang anghang ng sili. Ayun, hindi nga namin naubos yung one scoop kahit 5 pa kaming tumikim.hehehe!

lava wall

view of Legazpi City and the Albay Gulf

After having our early dinner at First Colonial Grill, we then hurriedly travelled to Grand Central Teminal in Legazpi to catch a bus going to Sorsogon City. We were going to spend the night at Rizal Beach located in Gubat, Sorsogon, which is about 3 hours travel by bus from Legazpi City. We arrived at around 8pm at Sorsogon City and we rode a jeepney bound for Gubat town. From Gubat town proper, we then rented a tricycle to bring us to Rizal Beach Resort. We were so tired from the long travel and from the ATV ride that we just decided to drink a few bottles of beer and then off we went to sleep.

Bailey's ice cream, malunggay, tinutong na bigas and lemon flavor

On the second day of our adventure, we were greeted by a cloudy sky and I was somewhat saddened by the sight of the Rizal Beach. Sobrang iba na ang itsura ng Rizal Beach compared to ten years ago. Kinain na ng dagat ang beach. Wala na yung dating ganda ng Rizal Beach. So hindi na kami nagtagal sa resort kaya we just decided na pumunta na lang sa ibang lugar. We were discussing amongst ourselves on where to go next. We really don’t have a fixed itinerary and that’s why we have a flexible schedule. We can go to any place that we want to go. Pinagpipilian namin ang magwaterfalls hopping, cold spring hopping and going to a beach. And after a careful and thorough reviews and some intellectual debate (parang mga judges lang sa contest.hahaha!) we then decided na pumunta na lang sa Subic Beach na located sa Calintaan Island.

subic beach at Calintaan Island, Matnog

After checking out from the hotel, we then rode a jeepney bound for Sorsogon City and then from Sorsogon City, we then rode a jeepney bound for Matnog. It took us about 1.5 hours before we reach the town of Matnog. After eating our lunch, we then searched for a boat that we could rent going to Calintaan Island. However, the rate was too expensive kaya ang ginawa namin, we just look for a tricycle going to Barangay Poropandan, which is the nearest barangay to Calintaan Island. We rented a tricycle for 150 pesos for a one way trip and the travel time from the town proper to Barangay Poropandan was 30 minutes. From Poropandan, the Calintaan Island is just a 15 minutes boat trip. We rented a boat for 350 pesos for a round trip boat ride. We just stayed in Subic beach at Calintaan Island for 2 hours and after exhausting ourselves from swimming, we then decided to call it a day. Bumalik na kami sa Poropandan and while in the boat, my friend texted the tricycle driver to wait for us at Poropandan. From Poropandan, we then travelled back to Matnog town proper and then we rode a bus to Daraga City. From Daraga City, we rode another bus bound for Naga City. Our travel adventure ended there. Nakauwi na kami sa kanya kanyang bahay at magsisimula na naman na magipon para sa sunod na gala.hehehe!

All in all, it was really an awesome adventure, especially the ATV adventure at Mayon’s lava trail in Legazpi City. Even though it was expensive (I consider 1,500 ATV rental fee as expensive lalo na kuripot ako.hehe!) the ATV ride was really worth it. Sobrang worth it kahit mahal kasi nagenjoy talaga kami. Gusto ko nga ulit ulitin ang pag ATV ride sa Legazpi kung sakaling may manlilibre saken.hehehe! Eh ang kaso, wala naman ata gustong manlibre. But anyway, you guys should try visiting Legazpi City and try the Mayon’s ATV adventure, and then after the ATV ride, visit the pink sand beach of Subic located at Calintaan Island in Matnog town, Sorsogon Province. Masasabi ko na in the Bicol Region, you will never run out of adventure. By the way, here’s the link to the ATV operator in Legazpi City.. http://mayonatvtour.com/  Sya nga pala, hindi po nila ako binayaran para ipromote sila. Kusang loob po ang pagpromote ko sa kanila dahil okay naman ang service nila. Yun lang po. Hehehe! That’s it pansit! Byes!