My Top 10 Philippine Roman Catholic Churches

I am a great admirer of different beautiful architecture, and the Philippine churches are one of the few architecture that I admire. Whenever I go to different municipalities and cities around the country, I find ways to visit its town church and make some photo shoot. Aside from the different tourist destination on a certain municipality or city, I also visit its city/town hall, park and its town church.

So here are my top 10 favorites:

1. Calbayog Cathedral, Calbayog City, Samar Province
2. Holy Cross Church, Nabua, Camarines Sur
3. Naga City Metropolitan Cathedral. Naga City, Camarines Sur
4. St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Tabaco City, Albay
5. Taal Cathedral de San Sebastian, Taal, Batangas
6. Basilica Minore. Naga City, Camarines Sur
7. Caleruega Church, Nasugbu, Batangas
8. Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte
9. St. Williams Cathedral, Laoag, Ilocos Norte
10. Vigan Cathedral, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

Calbayog Cathedral, Calbayog City, Samar Province

Holy Cross Church, Nabua, Camarines Sur

Naga City Metropolitan Cathedral. Naga City, Camarines Sur

St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Tabaco City, Albay

Taal Cathedral de San Sebastian, Taal, Batangas

Basilica Minore. Naga City, Camarines Sur

Caleruega Church, Nasugbu, Batangas

Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte

St. Williams Cathedral, Laoag, Ilocos Norte

Vigan Cathedral, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

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.