Checking the town of Pio Duran, Albay

A few months ago, I was planning on a trip to Masbate, and Pio Duran port was one of my options as my jump-off point to Masbate. However, I was having difficulty searching for the RORO schedule and that’s when I decided na pumunta na lang sa Pilar port in Sorsogon, sya ang pinakacommon port na madalas maging jumpoff point ng mga passengers who are bound for Masbate City.

Ligao City jeepney terminal

the crossing in Ligao City going to Pio Duran

Few months had passed after my Masbate trip and I am still curious on what Pio Duran port looks like, or what the town of Pio Duran has to offer. So I ventured for another adventure and travelled all the way to Pio Duran. My original plan was to travel to Pio Duran via Libon town and then passing the Pantao road. However, since it was a weekend, there are only few jeepneys and passengers going to Libon. I arrived at Libon crossing in Barangay Matacon, Polangui town at around 11am and the tricycle going to the town of Libon doesn’t leave the terminal unless it is on its full capacity, and renting the tricycle would cost me extra amount of cash. I was the first passenger of the tricycle and kailangan pang maghintay ng ibang pasahero.  After 15 minutes na wala pa din dumadating na ibang pasahero, I then decided na sumakay na lang ng bus bound for Legazpi City.

My plan B was to go to Ligao City and take the jeepneys bound for Pio Duran. Ligao City to Pio Duran is the fastest route going to the town of Pio Duran. So I proceeded to the Pio Duran-bound jeepney terminal in Ligao City and lucky for me, the jeepney is already full of passengers and is about to leave the terminal. At dahil lahat babae ang nasa loob ng jeepney, nahiya naman ako na pumasok sa loob kaya sumabit na lang ako sa jeep even though it was high noon and the sun is shining so brightly. Nakakahiya naman na yung ibang babae nga nasa bubong na ng jeep tapos ako uupo sa loob ng jeep.hehehe!

Pio Duran-bound jeepneys

Anyway, the travel time from Ligao City to Pio Duran is almost an hour and a half and the fare is 55 pesos. Pio Duran is only 38 kilometers away from Ligao City but it is a long and winding road and there are a lot of stops because the jeepney is picking up and dropping off passengers. I arrived at around past lunch time and I immediately proceeded to its port to start asking for RORO schedule. I do managed to get the information that I needed but I wasn’t been able to get the shipping companies contact number.

Pio Duran Port

Pio Duran is also the nearest point going to Burias Island, Masbate.  There are daily trips from Pio Duran going to Claveria town of Burias Island, Masbate. The travel time is only 1 hour and most of the trips depart at Pio Duran every morning.  The boat MB Aleth 3 leaves Pio Duran for Claveria at around 7:30am, and the other boat, MB Maribel 3, leaves at around 8:30am. These boats have a capacity of 50 to 70 passengers only. The fare for Pio Duran to Claveria is 100 pesos. The port for the motorized boats going to Burias Island is just beside the port for RORO vessel going to Masbate City. There are also several motorized boats bound for the other barangays in Claveria. These boats are docked at Barangay 2. This is also near the RORO port. There are boats bound for Bukingganyo, Tagilid and Buyo. These are all located at Claveria town, however, these 3 routes doesn’t have a fix schedule. They depart depending on the number of passengers on the boat. Most of the time, these boats are docked and waiting for passengers early in the morning.

Pio Duran port for Burias bound boats

Barangay 2, pio duran

For the RORO or ferry, there are only two shipping companies plying the Pio Duran-Masbate City route. One is Sta.Clara Shipping Line and the other one is Medallion Shipping Line. The RORO operation in Pio Duran started last June 2011 and there is not much passenger in Pio Duran port compared to Pilar port in Sorsogon.  Pilar port is still considered as the most used port for passengers going to Masbate province. Medallion Shipping Line ferry leaves Pio Duran port for Masbate at around 3 am and then it leaves Masbate City port for Pio Duran at around 12noon. For Sta. Clara Shipping ferry, two ferries leave Pio Duran port at around 2am and 5am. And then it leaves Masbate City port at 11am and 2pm. The fare for Sta. Clara ferry and Medallion is 250 for air-conditioned cabin, and 200 for economy. The travel time is 4 hours.

Sta. Clara Shipping Line schedule

Pio Duran port ticketing office

PPA Pio Duran

So after checking the schedule and doing some research and also eating a late lunch, I then walked around the town. Pio Duran downtown is small that you can walk the entire downtown in an hour. I took some photos around the downtown of Pio Duran and proceeded to their municipal hall. Their municipal hall is kinda bit far from downtown, it’s about 15 minutes tricycle ride and the fare is 8 pesos. After taking some pictures, I then decided to go back to the jeepney terminal to catch the last trip for jeepney bound for Ligao City. The last trip for jeepney bound for Ligao City is 3pm. However, I wasn’t able to catch the last ride for Ligao because the jeepney left the terminal only a few minutes before I arrived.

Marine sanctuary in Pio Duran

Municipal Hall of Pio Duran

Pio Duran Church

Pio Duran Public Park

Republic Colleges Pio Duran

I didn’t panic because I still have an option to go to Ligao City. There are buses in Pio Duran bound for Pasay and Cubao and they leave the town late in the afternoon or early evening depending on the number of passengers. There is also another option to go out of Pio Duran town. The ferry from Masbate City arrives at Pio Duran port at around 5 or 6pm, and this ferry also has buses bound for Pasay and Cubao. These are the buses that are waiting for passengers at the Masbate Port and they ride the RORO for Pio Duran to pick up more passengers.  So even though the last trip for jeepney bound for Ligao City is 3pm, you can still be able to go to Ligao City because of those buses bound for Pasay and Cubao. From Ligao City, marami ka ng option ng sasakyan, so you can either go to Legazpi City or to Naga City.

So I boarded the bus bound for Pasay and Cubao because the bus leaves the terminal a little bit early on that weekend. The bus left the terminal at around 4pm on that day even though it only has 4 passengers. Since I am bound for the town of Nabua, which is about 2.5 hours away from Pio Duran, naging mas mabuti pa tuloy na hindi na ko sumakay ng jeep kasi naging direderetso na yung byahe ko. Hindi ko na kailangan bumaba pa ng Ligao City para magabang ulet ng bus na dadaan ng Nabua town.

After 2.5hours, nakarating na din ako ng Nabua and from that town, I then boarded a multicab bound for Iriga City. It was a tiring day, lalo na dahil sa sobrang init ng panahon but still it was a day full of excitement because it was my first time to go to that town and it satisfies my curiosity for Pio Duran. So iiwan ko kayo ng makabagong quotes. Curiosity is the best policy. Haha!



How to get to Pio Duran:

By Plane:

Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines and Zest Airways have several daily flights to Legazpi Airport. From Legazpi Airport, you can ride a taxi or a tricycle to the central terminal. From the central terminal, you can ride a jeepney or a bus bound for Ligao City. The travel time from Legazpi City to Ligao City is about 45 minutes to 1 hour. And then at Ligao City, ride a tricycle or a pedicab and tell them to drop you off at Pio Duran-bound jeepney terminal. The regular fare for tricycle and pedicab is 8 pesos. The jeepney travel time from Ligao City to Pio Duran is 1.5 hours. The fare is 55 pesos.

By Bus:

From Manila, there are several buses bound for Bicol region. Ride a bus that is bound for Legazpi City and tell the driver to drop you off at Ligao City. There are a number of bus terminals in Cubao, Quezon City, that have buses bound for Legazpi City. There are also bus terminals in Pasay City, near Pasay Rotonda. The usual travel time from Metro Manila to Ligao City is 10 to 11 hours. And then at Ligao City, ride a tricycle or a pedicab and tell them to drop you off at Pio Duran-bound jeepney terminal. The regular fare for tricycle and pedicab is 8 pesos. The jeepney travel time from Ligao City to Pio Duran is 1.5 hours. The fare is 55 pesos. You can also ride a bus from Manila going directly to Pio Duran. One of the bus company plying the Manila-Pio Duran route is A.Arandia Bus Line.

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. The usual travel time is 10 to 12 hours. And then at Ligao City, ride a tricycle or a pedicab and tell them to drop you off at Pio Duran-bound jeepney terminal. The regular fare for tricycle and pedicab is 8 pesos. The jeepney travel time from Ligao City to Pio Duran is 1.5 hours. The fare is 55 pesos.

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

Waterfalls hopping in Albay

2 cities, 2 municipalities, and 2 waterfalls for the amount of less than 400 pesos. It has been raining for two weeks now at my hometown and this summer season has a rainy start. A day before our waterfalls hopping trip, I asked my sister if she wants to go with me to Legazpi City to try the go-cart at Embarcadero and she said yes, so that means this is one of those “biglaang lakad moments”. Me and my sister haven’t traveled together on any major lakwatsa so this would be our first time to travel together for an adventure.

PNR train fare table

My initial plan was to go to Legazpi City and visit Embarcadero, however, a more adventurous plan popped through my head. So I texted my friend who is based in Tabaco City and asked her if she’s available for a weekend getaway. And just my luck, it’s her day off from work. Me and my sister now have a free beautiful tour guide.hehehe! So my friend texted me the information that I needed to know on how to get to Tabaco City and I also informed her about our estimated time of arrival at Tabaco City.

Since I will be travelling with my sister and I don’t want to pay all the travel expenses, I told her that we will be travelling the cheapest way possible. (kuripot na kuya.haha!) I told her that we will only be spending 300 pesos each for this waterfalls hopping. I named it the 300 pesos challenge.heheh!

The next morning, the adventure day, we headed out to PNR Iriga City Station to catch the train going to Ligao City. By the way, PNR has a trip from Naga City to Ligao City but this is every Saturday and Sunday only. For weekdays, the train route is Naga City to Sipocot. PNR also has a daily trip from Manila to Naga City and PNR also have a 3x a week trip from Manila Tutuban Station to Ligao City. The travel time is 10 hours for Manila to Naga route and 12 hours for Manila to Ligao route. They have a sleeper coach, reclining seat coach and an ordinary or economy coach.

Anyway, back to my story. So we took the 8:30am train bound for Ligao City. The fare from Iriga City to Ligao City is 27 pesos and the travel time is 45 minutes only. Riding on a train is much cheaper and faster than riding a bus from Iriga to Ligao City. The train plying the Naga-Ligao route are non-airconditioned train. Oh, by the way, another tip, if you will be riding the Naga-Ligao PNR train, make sure you ride the 2^nd coach or the middle coach. Why? Because the 1^st and the 3^rd coach has a bumpy ride. Masyadong matagtag at baka mauntog ka pa sa dingding ng train at magkabukol.hehehe!

PNR Iriga City Train Station

PNR Iriga City Train Station

PNR train

PNR non-airconditioned coach

After arriving at Ligao City, me and my sister did a quick city tour, taking pictures of some of the landmarks in the city. After that, we then boarded a jeepney bound for Tabaco City via Sabloyon road. The jeepney terminal is located across the Novo Store.  The travel time from Ligao to Tabaco is about an hour and the fare is 42 pesos. It was raining when we arrived in Tabaco and we were hoping for a good weather pero masyadong nagpakitang gilas si ginoong ulan kya naging maulan ang lakad namin.

Ligao City Hall

Jeepney bound for Tabaco City

After meeting my friend in Tabaco, we immediately proceeded to Vera Falls. We rented a tricycle going to Vera for 150 pesos but the driver said that the tricycles can only go up to Barangay Soa because the night before our trip, the bridge was washed out by heavy rains. So we agreed and upon arriving at Barangay Soa, we then transferred to a motorcycle. The travel time from Tabaco City to Brgy. Soa is 15 minutes only while the travel time from Brgy. Soa to Vera Falls is another 15 minutes ride. The motorcycle rate is 50 pesos per person and for one-way trip only. There’s also an alternative means of transportation, near the city hall of Tabaco, there are motorcycles bound for Vera falls for only 70 pesos. Hindi kasi namin nahanap agad kya sumakay na lang kami ng tricycle at nagcutting trip. By the way, make sure na sabihan nyo ang driver na balikan kayo sa Vera falls para sa paguwi nyo or else you’ll end up walking several kilometers. The trek to Vera is an easy 10 minutes down the staircase from the parking area. There is no entrance fee at Vera and there are no cottages near Vera Falls. Pagdating namin sa Vera, masyado akong namangha sa ganda nya kasi there are a lot of minifalls that popped out from the side of the main falls. And since it rained hard the night before our trip to Vera, there was a huge volume of water. Naglunch lang kami sa Vera at nagswimming for an hour and then umalis na kami pabalik ng Tabaco City para mapuntahan pa namin yung Busay Falls.

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

From Barangay Comun, Malinao, this is the neighboring barangay of Brgy. Soa, we rented a tricycle for Busay Falls in Malilipot town. We paid the driver 200 pesos to bring us to Busay Falls and then Busay to Tabaco City. If you don’t want to pay that much, you can catch a tricycle bound for Tabaco City at Barangay Comun. The fare is only 12 pesos and then from Tabaco you can ride a tricycle to Busay Falls. So we travelled to Busay from Brgy Comun, and the travel time is roughly about 30 minutes. Upon arriving at Busay falls, we took some pictures and decided to explore the other waterfalls above the main falls. Busay falls is a multi-tiered waterfalls, and the locals told us that Busay is a 7-tiered waterfalls, that means there are 6 more waterfalls to see. We asked around for a guide and a local from the area offered to guide us to the 3 other falls. We want to see all the 7 waterfalls but he said it would take a whole day to explore the 7 falls but since it was already late afternoon when we arrived at Busay, we agreed to just visit the other 3 falls above the main waterfalls. So off we go to the other 3 falls. The 2^nd falls is just a mere 15 minute hike from the main falls. The 3^rd and 4^th falls are just another 15 to 20 minute hike. The 3^rd and 4^th falls are just near to each other but the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th falls would take hours or hike. So after swimming at the other 3 falls, we then trekked back to the parking area. We were rain-soaked since it has been raining the entire afternoon.

Busay Falls, Malilipot, Albay

Busay Falls, 4th falls

Busay Falls, the 3rd falls

Busay Falls, the 2nd falls

We travelled back to Tabaco City and my friend offered her place para makapagpalit na kami ng dry clothes before going home. Nagpaalam na kami at nagpasalamat sa friend ko and then me and my sister did a short city tour around Tabaco City and then after that, we then boarded a bus to Nabua town and then after an hour and a half we arrived at Nabua and rode a multicab bound for Iriga City, and then 15 minutes later, we were at our hometown now and rode again a tricycle at the city center to our house.

Pedicab at Tabaco City

Tabaco Church

Tabaco City Hall

It was a tiring but an awesome day. From the initial plan of just go-karting at Legazpi City, we ended up doing a waterfalls hopping in Albay. We failed on the 300 pesos challenge since we spend more than 300 but less than 400 pesos for the trip. For the amount of less than 400 pesos, we were able to visit 2 cities, 2 municipalities, and 2 waterfalls. Now, isn’t that  a cheap and “sulit adventure”, right?

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

Vera falls is located in Malinao, Albay. This is a beautiful falls with cascading mini waterfalls coming out from the rocks on the side of the main falls. 

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

How to go to Vera Falls:

If you’re coming from Manila, you can fly from Manila to Legaspi City or Manila to Naga Airport.  You can also ride a bus from Manila to Tabaco City.

From Naga City, ride a bus bound for Legaspi and tell the driver to drop you off at the Tuburan crossing at Ligao City. It’s that junction going to Tabaco City via the Sabloyon road. Then at the junction, ride a jeepney bound for Tabaco City. Tell the jeepney driver to drop you off at the junction going to Vera Falls. The junction is located at Barangay Comun. The travel time from Tuburan to Barangay Comun is about an hour. Barangay Comun is about 15 minutes travel away from Tabaco City. From Barangay Comun, ride a motorcycle or habal habal going to Vera Falls. The travel time is 15 to 25 minutes. The fare is 50 pesos per person.

There are times when the bridge going to Vera Falls is damaged or has been washed out especially during heavy rains, so if this happens and you have a big vehicle, you’ll end up travelling only from Barangay Comun to Barangay Soa, and then transfer to a motorcycle at Barangay Soa and continue your travel to Vera Falls.

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

There’s also another option if you’re coming from Naga City. This is what I did. During weekends, PNR train has a trip from Naga City to Ligao City. It’s about 1 hour and 45 minutes train ride for only 45 pesos. This is the cheapest way to travel because it is much cheaper and faster than riding a bus. However, the train coach are non-aircondtioned. And then from Ligao City PNR station, ride a pedicab and tell the driver to bring you to the jeepney terminal for Tabaco-bound jeepneys. This is near the Novo store. Or if you want to have some exercise, you can also walk from Ligao PNR station to the jeepney terminal. It’s just a 5 to 10 minutes’ walk. The fare for the jeepney from Ligao City to Tabaco City is 42 pesos and the travel time is about an hour. Tell the jeepney driver to drop you off at Barangay Comun, that’s before the Tabaco City proper. And then from Barangay Comun you can ride a habal habal or motorcycle to Vera Falls. Make sure that you make an arrangement with the motorcycle driver to fetch you for your return trip to Barangay Comun since there are no other public transportation passing in the area.

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

If you’re coming from Legaspi City, you can ride a jeepney, van, or bus plying the Legaspi City-Tabaco City route. The travel time is 30 to 45 minutes and the fare is 30 to 50 pesos depending on the transportation mode that you will be riding. Then at the plaza near the Tabaco City Hall, there are motorcycles or habal habal bound for Vera falls. The travel time from Tabaco City Hall to Vera is roughly about 20 to 30 minutes.  You can also ride a tricycle bound for Barangay Soa and then from Barangay Soa, ride a motorcycle to Vera. The fare for tricycle from Tabaco City proper to Barangay Soa is 17 pesos and the travel time is 10 to 15 minutes.  The fare for the motorcycle from Barangay Soa to Vera is 50 pesos. A tricycle has a 6-person seating capacity so if you’re a solo traveler, you’ll need to wait for the other passengers or the tricycle needs to be at its full capacity before it leaves. The tricycle terminal for tricycles bound for Barangay Soa is near the Tabaco church.

Vera Falls, Malinao, Albay

There is a parking area near the entrance going to Vera Falls. There’s no fee being paid at Vera falls since there’s no entrance fee and there’s no cottages at Vera. Bathroom or comfort room are also non-existent although there’s a small sari sari store near the waterfalls. The trek from the parking area to the falls is just 10 to 15 minutes. The trail going to Vera is a concrete stairs. If you don’t have your own car and you just rode a motorcycle going to Vera, make sure to make an arrangement for the return trip going to Barangay Comun or Tabaco City, or else you’ll end up walking for several kilometers.