Naga City, Camarines Sur. The Heart of Bicol.

The Heart of Bicol, this is what Naga City is. It is a vibrant city located in Camarines Sur, Bicol Region. I lived in this city for several years and Naga City was my home during my college years. I enjoy staying at this city and this is sort of my second home. This is where most of my friends live and this where I always go when I feel a little bit bored. You know, in Naga City there’s a lot of things to do. You’ll never run out of things to do while you’re in the city. I love this city because it’s a lively city. Most of the things that I want and need are available in this city. There are a lot of shops, malls, restaurants and other business establishments in the city.

Malabsay Falls, Brgy. Panicuason

Malabsay Falls, Brgy. Panicuason

Naga City is one of the oldest cities in the Philippines. In fact, it is one of the earliest Spanish settlements in the Philippines just like Cebu and Manila. Naga City is the third Spanish royal city in the Philippine islands, after Cebu and Manila. There are 3 Naga in the Philippines. One is in Cebu Province and the other one is in Zamboanga Sibugay province. Naga City in Camarines Sur province is considered as the Heart of the Bicolandia since it is strategically located in the center of the Bicol Region. Naga City is also the economic center of the Bicol Region. There are a lot of businesses and economic activities in Naga.

Naga City Public Market

Naga City PNR Station

Naga City is also the educational center of Bicol due to fact that there are a lot of universities and colleges located in Naga. Some of these schools are Ateneo De Naga University, University of Nueva Caceres and Universidad de Sta. Isabel. As a trivia, Universidad de Sta. Isabel is the first normal school for girls in the Philippines. This school was established in 1867.

The city has a lot of tourist destination and one them is the majestic Mt. Isarog, which is also shared amongst several other municipalities in Camarines Sur. One of the destinations in the city is the Malabsay Falls located in Barangay Panicuason, Naga City. A waterfall tucked in the lush forest of Mt. Isarog. An hour hike from Malabsay Falls is another waterfalls called Nabontolan Falls. There’s also a beautiful resort near Malabsay Falls, the Stonehouse Resort. If you don’t want the cold waters of the waterfalls, then you have that option to go to the nearby hotspring called Panicuason Hot Spring Resort. The last time that I got there, the entrance fee was 200 pesos per person and that was a year ago. Barangay Panicuason can be reached from the city proper by riding a jeepney bound for Panicuason. The travel time is about 30 minutes. And then in order to reach Malabsay falls, you’ll need to hike for at least 30 minutes.

Panicuason Hot Spring

There are also several resorts in Naga City. And if you go to the mountain barangays of Naga City, you’ll have several resorts to choose from. A new adventure park in Naga City is now operational. It is the Haciendas de Naga Adventure Park located in Barangay Carolina, Naga City. It is just a 20 minutes jeepney ride from downtown Naga City. The adventure has its pili tree plantation, a zipline, and a 9-hole golf course.

Peñafrancia Shrine

In downtown Naga City, you’ll have plenty of sites to visit and most of them are historical sites. Visit the Naga City Metropolitan Cathedral, the Basilica Minore, the San Francisco Church and the Penafrancia Shrine. Every third week of September, Naga City celebrates the Feast of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, popularly known as the Peñafrancia Festival in honor of Our Lady of Lady of Peñafrancia. This is one of largest religious festival in the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of devotees and tourists flocks to the city from different parts of the world to witness and experience the fiesta. Most of the devotees flock to Naga City to visit Our Lady of Lady of Peñafrancia.

  

Plaza de Nueva Caceres

Basilica Minore

Basilica Minore

There are also a lot of restaurants and malls in the city. You can hop from one restaurant to another to satisfy your food cravings. The Magsaysay Avenue is one of the places where you can indulge on a food trip. There are a lot of restaurant to choose from. There are bicol cuisine, Filipino and international cuisine.  There are also lot of hotels in this city, and the hotel boom started when Camarines Sur, the CWC and Caramoan started gaining popularity in the tourism sector. And since Naga City is the nearest city from the airport, most tourists will drop by and stay at Naga City upon arrival at CamSur or before going out of Camarines Sur.

Surely, this city won’t disappoint you. And I can say that this city is also the busiest city in the Bicol Region. This is my second home and I love Naga City. So guys, if you’re planning for your next vacation, how about considering Naga City as your next destination.  You’ll surely love Naga City. As what Nagueños always say, “Dagos po kamo sa Maogmang Lugar.” Oh, by the way, dagos means welcome and maogma means happy.hehehehe!

Naga Metropolitan Cathedral

Plaza Quince Martires

Porta Mariae, Naga Metropolitan Cathedral

How to get to Naga City:

By Plane:

Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines have several daily flights to Naga Airport. From Naga Airport, located in the town of Pili, you can ride a bus, jeepney or a taxi bound for Naga City. The airport is about 15 to 30 minutes ride to Naga City. If you’ll be commuting to Naga City from the airport, then ride a pedicab going to the national highway, that’s about 5 to 10 minutes ride, the fare is 10 pesos. From the highway, there are a lot of jeepneys and buses bound for Naga City and you can choose what mode of transportation you want. For buses, the travel time is 20 to 30 minutes and the fare is 10 pesos.

By Bus:

From Manila, there are several buses bound to Bicol region. Ride a bus going to Naga City. There are a number of bus terminals in Cubao, Quezon City, that have buses bound for Naga City. There are also bus terminals in Pasay City, near Pasay Rotonda. The usual travel time from Metro Manila to Naga City is 8 to 10 hours. The fare ranges from 500 to 1200 pesos for air-conditioned buses and 350 to 500 pesos for non-airconditioned buses.

By Train:

The PNR has a daily train schedule for the Manila-Naga City route. The train departs at Tutuban Station in Manila every 6pm and 8:30pm and arrives at Naga City at around 4am the next day. The usual travel time is 10 to 12 hours. In Naga City, the train departs for Manila at around 6pm and 8:30pm also. 

Claveria, Masbate. The beautiful town in Burias Island.

The province of Masbate is one of the least known tourist destination in Bicol. Usually, the name Bicol is synonymous to Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon. To many people, Masbate is just a cattle land or a cattle-producing province. They also feared Masbate because of the news regarding the political killings and other crimes that happens in Masbate.  But this province has a lot to offer when it comes to tourism at sana mapalitan ang mga negative views ng province into something positive. One of the least known tourist destination in Masbate province is in the town of Claveria, located at Burias Island. The Burias Island is one of the big islands that comprise the Masbate province. The other island is Ticao Island. Burias Island is composed of two towns. This island is just an hour boat ride from Pio Duran Port.

The semi-white sand beach of Brgy San Isidro, Claveria, Burias island, Masbate

A few weeks ago, me and my friends were planning for a getaway and our original plan was to go to Caramoan, Camarines Sur. But a few days before the day that we were supposed to go to Caramoan, a lot of my friends backed out from the said travel and since it would be expensive to go to Caramoan and island hop, some of us just then decided to travel to other destination that is much cheaper for a small group. Me, my cousin and one of my friend decided that we will just go to Claveria, Burias Island. I’ve been to Caramoan twice already and I’ve never been to Claveria in Burias Island, so going to Claveria makes me feel more excited since this would be my first time and also for my friend and my cousin, this would also be their first time to travel to Burias. I had also been to Masbate province but only at the main island.

So our plan was to spend in Burias for 2 days and 1 night. My cousin and I travelled from our house to Ligao City. That was about an hour bus travel. At Ligao City, we waited for my friend who was coming from Tabaco City, which is also about an hour jeepney ride to Ligao City. We met at around 7 in the morning and then from Ligao City, we rode a jeepney bound for Pio Duran. The town of Pio Duran is the nearest jumpoff point to Burias Island. The jeepney ride from Ligao City to Pio Duran is 1 hour and the fare is 55 pesos per person. Punuan ang jeep going to Pio Duran and my cousin insisted na sa bubong ng jeep na lang kami sumakay. So since it was her request at game naman ako at ng kaibigan ko sa idea nya, sa bubong ng jeep na lang kami umupo. She said she wants to enjoy the view, kya kahit alam kong masusunog kami sa sikat ng araw, game pa din ako kasi mas enjoy nga naman talaga sumakay sa bubong ng jeep, maliban na lang kung sa jeep na Cubao-Quiapo na route ang sasakyan mo, hindi masaya ang nasa bubong, lalo na bawal yan sa Metro Manila.hehehe!

Anyway, we arrived at Pio Duran at around 9am and we weren’t able to make it to the last boat trip going to Claveria. There are daily trips going to Claveria. Two boats leave Pio Duran at around 7:30am and 8 am. There are also other boats that goes to the other barangays of Claveria but these boats doesn’t have a fixed schedule. They will leave Pio Duran only if there are a good number of passengers. These boats are bound for Barangay Buyo, Sampinitan and Taguilid, all in the town of Claveria.

The Pio Duran port for Burias-bound boats

Since it was already 9 in the morning and the last boat bound for Claveria already left, we have no choice but to take our chances sa ibang bangka papunta ng ibang barangay. When we arrive in Pio Duran, there was another boat bound for Buyo but the boat crew said that they can’t guarantee what time they will be leaving. They said that their original schedule is to leave in the afternoon but if there are a good number of passengers, they will leave earlier. While chitchatting with the boat crew, they asked me where in Claveria are we heading and I replied that we are heading to Barangay San Isidro. The crew said that it was good that we didn’t took the boat that is bound for Claveria port since it is way too far from San Isidro, they said it is about more than 2 hours of motorcycle ride. They said that we are in the right boat since their boat is bound for Barangay Buyo, which is just a 30 minutes to an hour motorcycle ride to Barangay San Isidro. Nagtanong pa ako ng ibang information tungkol sa Claveria and Burias and they gave me a lot of information. And they offered their motorcycle in Buyo at sila na lang din daw maghahatid sa amin papuntang San Isidro.

Well, since it was a weekend, there are only few passengers arriving at the port. The pump boat can accommodate at least 40 to 50 passengers and we were only 10 in the boat. We waited for almost 3 hours and we thought that the boat will actually leave at their original schedule. By around 12 noon, after the crew ate their lunch, they informed us that we will now leave for Claveria town but we will not go straight to Buyo but we will also be dropping by at Claveria port. Our travel time from Pio Duran to Buyo took about 4hours since there was a lot of stopover at some other barangay in Claveria. The usual travel time from Pio Duran to Buyo is only about an hour. The fare from Pio Duran to Buyo is 120 pesos. For Pio Duran to Claveria port, the fare is 100 pesos.

Claveria Port, Masbate Province

There is no port in Buyo. The boat will just docked at the beach and during low tide you’ll have to wade on knee-deep water. From Buyo, we rented 3 motorcycle para ihatid kami sa San Isidro Beach. The road to San Isidro to Buyo are not 100% paved. I think only a few portions are cemented. Most are potholed roads, some are not even considered as road but rather as a trail. Sobrang rough road talaga na hindi kakayanin kung 3 kayo sa isang motor. Dapat isang pasahero lang. May part pa ng kalsada na kailangan mo bumaba kasi baka matumba ang motor sa sobrang tarik ng daan. After 30 minutes, we arrived at Barangay San Isidro beach, and there is only one resort in San Isidro. The resort has no name and the caretaker informed us that it is a resthouse owned by a French guy. When we arrived at the resort, there were 4 French who were having a vacation. Sabi nga nung caretaker hindi daw kami pwede dun since andun yung anak ng resort owner pero nakiusap na lang kami na magtetent lang naman kami. Buti na lang pumayag yung caretaker and he also informed us that the 4 French will also be leaving on Sunday and if we want pwede na kami sumabay sa bangka. Our plan was to spend just 2 days in Burias but when our boatmen from Buyo informed us that there is only one trip going back to Pio Duran from Buyo, which is at 6 am only, nagdecide kami na Monday morning na lang bumalik ng Pio Duran pero nung sinabi ng caretaker ng resort sa San Isidro na pwede kami sumabay sa bangka ng mga French guests nya, we then informed the driver of the motorcycle na sabihan na lang yung boatmen na huwag na kami antayin sa Buyo kasi hindi na kami sasakay sa Buyo. We paid the motorcycle driver 175 pesos for the one-way trip.

crab at the beach

San Isidro beach, Claveria, Masbate Province

semi-white sand beach of San Isidro Beach, Claveria

Our lighting effect

Sobrang mabait din yung caretaker, they even offered us na magstay sa isang room nila but we insisted na magtetent na lang kami at gagamit ng isang open cottage na malayo sa mga French guests nya. At dahil wala din kaming lutuan, the caretaker gave us sinangag for our dinner. Hindi na kami nagluto kasi may mga ulam din kaming dala. The beach in San Isidro is cream sand, not really a white sand but on a sunny day, it appears as a white sand. Maganda ang beach nila. Masyadong mababaw but marami din mga sea urchin sa ibang part ng beach. It reminds me of Dumaluan beach in Panglao, Bohol na sobrang madami din ang sea urchin. Naligo at naligo kami sa dagat but we didn’t bother na magnight swimming kasi baka makaapak pa kami ng sea urchin. On a Sunday morning, lumangoy at lumangoy pa din kami. The caretaker informed us that they will be leaving at around 1pm and we should be ready by that time. The boat will docked at Pilar port instead of Pio Duran but it really doesn’t matter since we can also travel from Pilar to Daraga, Albay and then from Daraga we can then ride another bus to Nabua town.  And besides, it is only about an hour jeepney ride from Pilar to Daraga City. At around 2pm we then left San Isidro and started our boat ride to Pilar. It is a much longer route but it gave us the opportunity to view the other part of Burias coastline. The travel time was around 2.5 hours and we just gave the boatmen 700 pesos as a fare para sa aming tatlo.

Claveria, Masbate

Our route

Our route. 

We arrived at Pilar port at around past 4pm and we boarded the jeepney bound for Daraga. The travel time is 1 hour and the fare is 50 pesos. My cousin and I were supposed to drop by at Guinobatan to buy a rice puto with macapuno fillings but since it was already dark when we arrived at Daraga, we just then rode another bus bound for Manila, but we just got off at the town of Nabua and then rode a multicab bound for Iriga City. Our adventure in Burias was awesome. We were all first-timer. It was our first time to go to that island and to Claveria town. The island of Burias has a lot to offer. The Claveria town has a long coastline of cream sand beach na pwedeng ipagmalaki at maging tourist destination. But in order for that to happen, kailangan muna na ayusin ang kalsada kasi napakadelikado ng kalsada papunta ng San Isidro. It is much safer to ride a boat to San Isidro than riding a motorcycle but it would also mean na mas mahabang byahe ang kailangan kasi iikot pa ang bangka sa isla. If you’re a traveller looking for an exciting and adventurous travel, then I would recommend that you visit the town of Claveria or San Pascual in Burias Island, Masbate Province. Oh, byahe na!

Consocep Mountain Resort, Tigaon town, Camarines Sur

It has been a busy month of May for me. Lately, I’ve been travelling to some of Bicol Region’s tourist destination, and this time I’m travelling as a tour guide. I have a cousin from the US who took a surprise vacation for this summer and kinukulit nya ako lagi na samahan ko sya sa mga lakwatsa at i-tour ko daw sya sa Bicol. My cousin grew up in Camarines Sur but after high school she migrated to the US of A.  She’s on a 10 day vacation in the Philippines and even though she grew up here in the Philippines, she haven’t been to a lot of different places in the Philippines, especially in the Bicol Region. At dahil biglaan ang pagdating ng cousin ko dito sa Philippines, naging biglaan din ang mga gala. Our list of destination includes Camarines Sur, a road trip to Albay, and a camping trip to Burias Island in Masbate Province.

Consocep

So a day after she arrives in Bicol, we immediately went off to a travelling spree. We started off with the nearest destination, which is Consocep Mountain Resort, a 1.5 hour travel from our house. Consocep is located in Tigaon town, Camarines Sur, but it can be accessed via Hanawan, Ocampo. It was May 1 and since it was a holiday, it was a good day para maglakwatsa.  A night before our gala, I texted some of my friends if they want to join me and my cousin for a waterfalls hopping in Camarines Sur, but only 1 of my friend is available for May 1. But it doesn’t matter since 3 is considered a crowd na din.hehehe!

So ayun na, May 1 na. Me and my cousin woke up early in the morning to travel to Anayan, Pili town, Camarines Sur to meet up with my friend. The travel time from our house to Anayan is roughly about 30 minutes by bus. We were supposed to meet my friend before 10am but as usual, my friend always arrives late. While my cousin and I were waiting for my friend, it rained so hard, and according to some old tradition, the rain during May 1 is said to heal different diseases and sickness. They call it Agua de Mayo. Ayon sa mga matatanda, dapat daw maligo ka sa ulan on the first day of May. Well, since we were going for a waterfalls hopping, we were already enticed na maligo na sa ulan but we are still 1 bus ride away to our destination. As soon as my friend arrived, nagpaulan na kami ng konti ng pinsan ko so we were a little bit rain-soaked when we boarded the bus. Umasa na lang kami na sana walang tumabi sa amin kasi malamang mababasa din sila.hehehe!

After 30 minutes of bus ride from Anayan, Pili to Hanawan, Ocampo town, we then got off at the Hanawan junction and negotiated for a motorcycle ride to Consocep Mountain Resort. The Consocep is still 8 kilometers away from Hanawan junction and the motorcycle is the only mode of transportation. We negotiated for 2 motorcycles and it cost us 270 pesos, that’s for the three of us and that’s for a roundtrip ride. The motorcycle travel time is about 20 minutes and you’ll be greeted with a magnificent view of the Partido area, the 4^th district of Camarines Sur. You’ll also be able to see the Lagonoy Gulf and the Atulayan Island in Sagnay town.

Tumagiti Falls

It was raining when we were travelling on a motorcycle and that makes our travel more exciting. When we arrived at the entrance gate to Consocep Mountain Resort, we paid an entrance fee of 15 pesos and we then gleefully started our trek to the waterfalls. It wasn’t really a hard trek since most of the trail leading to the waterfalls has already been paved. There were a lot of stairs and lots of paliko-liko at paakyat-baba na mga hagdan. After walking for 10 minutes, we reached the first waterfalls which is the Kawa-kawa falls. It’s a small falls, I don’t even consider it a waterfalls since it’s only a few feet in height. I guess it was only 10 to 15 feet in height. But nevertheless, it has several pools where you can swim. They call it a Kawa-kawa since it resembles a Kawa, yun ang malaking lutuan.

Tumagiti Falls

After swimming for a few minutes, we then hiked to the next waterfalls, just a 5 minutes hike from Kawa-Kawa falls. I forgot about the name of the falls, but it was there where we spent more time swimming since we were the only people in that falls. Most of the people are just staying near Kawa-Kawa falls. After more than an hour of swimming, we then hiked to some other small waterfalls, and then we then head off sa may mataas na waterfalls. The waterfalls is called Tumagiti Falls. It’s called Tumagiti, from a Bicol word which means rain, since it resembles a rain falling down from the sky. The Tumagiti Falls is just a 10 minutes hike from Kawa-Kawa falls. You won’t get lost looking for the falls since, as I said, most of the pathways are already paved. We only enjoyed a few minutes taking a bath below the waterfalls, since we have to go home early para makifiesta pa sa mga kapamilya ko sa isang barangay sa lugar namin. Matakaw kasi kami kaya mahilig makifiesta.hehehe!

Tumagiti Falls

We then hiked back to the main gate and then ride the motorcycle going back to Hanawan. We weren’t able to change our wet clothes since it was raining while we were travelling on a motorcycle and there isn’t any public restroom near Hanawan junction. So we just boarded the bus with water dripping from our clothes, pero buti na lang there’s not much passenger inside the bus so wala naman mababasa na katabi.hehehe! After we got off at Anayan, my friend then rode a bus bound for Naga City and nagfoodtrip muna kami ng pinsan ko. We bought and ate lumpia, okoy, maruya, and kwek-kwek. And then after eating we then boarded the bus bound for Iriga City para makauwi na. We enjoyed our trip to Consocep, it was fun, we played in the rain, we played in the waterfalls. We were like kids again. That Agua de Mayo can really make you feel so good.

How to get to Consocep Mountain Resort:

By Plane:

Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines have several daily flights to Naga Airport. From Naga Airport, located in the town of Pili, you can ride a bus bound for Lagonoy. Tell the bus conductor or driver to drop you off at Hanawan junction in Ocampo town. This is about 30 to 45 minutes ride from the airport. The bus fare to Anayan, Pili is 35 pesos. And then from Hanawan, ride a motorcycle going to Consocep Mountain Resort. The tricycle fare is 50 pesos per person, one way trip, or 100 for a round trip. The travel time is 15 to 20 minutes.

By Bus:

From Manila, there are several buses bound to Bicol region. Ride a bus that is bound for Legazpi City and then get off at Anayan, Pili town. The usual travel time from Metro Manila to Anayan, Pili is 8 to 10 hours. There are a number of bus terminals in Cubao, Quezon City, that have buses bound for Legazpi or Tabaco City. There are also bus terminals in Pasay City, near Pasay Rotonda.  And then from Anayan, Pili, ride another bus bound for Lagonoy. Then tell the bus conductor or driver to drop you off at Hanawan junction in Ocampo town. This is about 30 minutes ride. The bus fare from Anayan, Pili to Hanawan junction is 23 pesos. And then from Hanawan, ride a motorcycle going to Consocep Mountain Resort. The tricycle fare is 50 pesos per person, one way trip, or 100 for a round trip. The travel time is 15 to 20 minutes. You can also ride a bus in Manila that is bound for Lagonoy or Sabang. Just tell the driver to drop you off at Hanawan junction.

By Train:

The PNR has a regular train schedule for the Manila-Ligao City route. The train departs at Tutuban Station in Manila every 6pm and arrives at Ligao City at around 6am the next day. Ride the train and get off at PNR Naga City Station. The last station is Ligao City station which is 1.5 hours away from Naga City so be sure to get off at Naga City. The usual travel time is 10 to 12 hours. From Naga City, you can ride a bus bound for Lagonoy. Tell the bus conductor or driver to drop you off at Hanawan junction in Ocampo town. The travel time is 45 minutes to 1 hour and the fare for the bus is 40 to 50 pesos. And then from Hanawan, ride a motorcycle going to Consocep Mountain Resort. The tricycle fare is 50 pesos per person, one way trip, or 100 for a round trip. The travel time is 15 to 20 minutes.

PNR's Mayon Limited and Bicol Express

It’s summer time and I know a lot of people are now planning their vacation. How about having your vacation down south of Luzon? Do you want an inexpensive mode of transportation? Then try riding the PNR train. It may not be the most comfortable and most scenic mode of transportation but it is one of the cheapest way to travel to Southern Luzon. PNR has a daily trip to Naga City from Manila and several trips to Ligao City in the province of Albay. The PNR has just revived its train operation from Manila to Bicol Region just a few months ago. PNR also has a plan to extend its route from Manila to Legazpi City and they are now fast tracking their rail tracks repair in order to operate the Manila to Legazpi City before the end of 2012.

PNR train

PNR have several train services. The Mayon Limited De Luxe, Mayon Limited Ordinary, the Bicol Express, the Metro Commuter and the Naga-Sipocot and Naga-Ligao City route.

Last year I had shared some information regarding the Bicol Express and now I’m gonna share the updated information about the PNR train schedule and fare.

The Mayon Limited De Luxe train leaves the Manila Tutuban station for Ligao City at around 8:30pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then it leaves Ligao City station at around 7:15pm every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. The Mayon Limited Ordinary leaves Manila Tutuban station at around 8:30pm every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and then leaves Ligao City station at around 7:15pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Mayon Limited train route is Manila to Ligao City in the province of Albay. The travel time from Manila to Ligao City is 10 hours to 12 hours. The Mayon Limited De Luxe have 3 air-conditioned coaches, all of which are fitted with executive reclining seats, while the Mayon Ordinary have 3 coaches fitted with electric fan-ventilated coaches and fixed (non-reclining) seats.  You can check this link for more detailed information about the Mayon Limited train. http://www.pnr.gov.ph/mayon_limited.htm

Ordinary/non-airconditioned or Economy Coach

Airconditioned or Reclining Seat Coach

Fare for Mayon Limited

The train plying the Manila to Naga City route is called as the Bicol Express. They have 3 coaches composed of 2 sleeper coaches and 1 reclining seat coach. There are two trains that leave daily at Manila Tutuban station, one at around 6:30pm and the other one at around 8:30pm. The travel time from Manila to Naga City is 10 hours. The train leaves Naga City for Manila also on the same daily schedule, 6:30pm and 8:30pm. For more information about the Bicol Express, kindly visit this link. http://www.pnr.gov.ph/bicol_express.htm

Sleeper Coach

Sleeper Coach

Bicol Express Comfort Room

PNR also has a daily train schedule for Manila Tutuban-Binan route. The train leaves Binan for Tutuban at around 5:20 in the morning and another train leaves Tutuban going to Binan at 6:45am. There is also a train that ply the Tutuban to Alabang route. It leaves Tutuban for Alabang at around 5:05am while the train in Alabang that is bound for Tutuban leaves at around 6:05am. You can also check this link. http://www.pnr.gov.ph/metro_commuter.htm

PNR also has a train that ply the Naga City to Sipocot, Camarines Sur route and the Naga City to Ligao City, Albay route. The Naga City to Sipocot train schedule is during weekdays only, while the Naga City to Ligao City is during weekends only. For Naga to Ligao, there is only 1 trip for Saturday and Sunday. The train departs at Naga City station at 8am and arrives at Ligao City at around 9:45am, and then the train will leave Ligao City for Naga City at 10am. The fare is 45 pesos. For Naga to Sipocot, the first train bound for Sipocot leaves Naga City station at 5:15am and then arrives at Sipocot at around 6:25am. The train will then leave Sipocot for Naga City at 6:35am and arrives at Naga at 7:45am. The next train schedule for train bound for Sipocot from Naga City is at 3:10pm and then the train will leave Sipocot for Naga City at around 4:40pm. The fare is 30 pesos.

For more information about PNR, visit their website at www.pnr.gov.ph

PNR's Bicol Express

I was supposed to travel from Manila to Naga City by train, but since I don't have any information about the PNR's train schedule, I then decided to take the bus bound to Naga City. Two days after my arrival in Naga City, I decided to check personally the PNR Naga City office for the train schedule.

Naga City PNR Station

Good thing for me, upon arrival at Naga City train station, the train bound to Manila was at the station. The security guard allowed me to take photos of the train, and check out the different coaches of the Bicol Express train.

The Bicol Express

The Bicol Express train

The PNR calls the Manila to Naga and Naga to Manila train as Bicol Express train. The train plying this route has 3 coaches. One coach for reclining seats, and 2 coaches as the sleeper coach. The sleeper coach has a small room which can accomodate 4 person. The fare for reclining seat is 543 pesos and for the sleeper coach, it's 950 pesos.

Reclining seat coach

The Sleeper Coach

The Sleeper Coach

The Sleeper Coach

Both the reclining seat coach and sleeper coach are air-conditioned coach. The train also has several lavatories within each coach. Checking their lavatories, it is still clean and well-maintained and I hope the PNR management can maintain their train clean and well-maintained.

The Bicol Express train departs daily from their Manila Tutuban station at around 6:30pm and the estimated time of arrival in Naga City is 4:30am.  Also from Naga City station, a train also departs daily to Manila Tutuban at around 6:30pm and the estimated time of arrival in Tutuban is around 4:30am also. The Bicol Express train also have 1 to 5 minute stopover at these following PNR station. España, Pasay road, Alabang, Calamba, Biñan, San Pablo, Lucena, Gumaca, Tagkawayan, Ragay, Sipocot and Libmanan station.

Train schedule

Train schedule and fare

The PNR personnel also informed me that by the end of October, they might extend the route from Manila to Legazpi City, but as of now they are still rehabilitating the railroad track section from Ligao to Legazpi City. Aside from the Bicol Express train, there is also a train plying the route Sipocot, Camarines Sur to Ligao City, Albay, and vice versa.

Here are the contact information for PNR. Naga City station - (054) 319-0044
Tutuban Station - (02) 487-8778