Half-day Date with Mt. Mayon

March 10, 2012

arrival at the airport

It all started when Cebu Pacific launched its P1 fare. I scheduled my mom a trip to Manila from our province in Mindanao. I booked her a flight from Thursday to Sunday. She had an appointment on Friday and making her Saturday available. Since we already roamed almost all attractions in Manila, I checked for an airfare going to Legazpi, Albay and there were available slots.

I booked the earliest flight leaving Manila at 6am and arriving Legazpi City after an hour, with a return flight leaving Legazpi City at 2pm and arriving Manila at 3pm.  It was a same day flight since it’s the only vacant day for my mom.

my mom at the airport

Early morning, we went to NAIA Terminal 3. Have the normal check-in procedures without any baggage and then went inside the departure area. Good thing the flight departed on time so we can have ample time to roam around Legazpi even for just a day only. 

Minutes before 7am, the plane glided towards Legazpi Airport. On the left side of the plane you can see the majestic beauty of Mt. Mayon and on the other side was the aerial view of the city. It was a sunny morning in Legazpi when we arrived at the airport. What surprised us the most was the view of Mt. Mayon showcasing the perfect cone shape without any clouds distracting it.

We didn’t have any checked-in luggage so we went directly to the taxi stand. My initial plan was just to hail a cab going to Cagsaua Ruins and after that, we’ll just kill our time roaming around the city. So I negotiated one taxi cab for the plan. At first, we agreed at a price of Php 500 just a round trip to Cagsaua Ruins.

at Cagsaua Ruins

Without further delays, we drove straight to Cagsaua. It was a 15-30 minutes ride from the airport. Just near the place, there was a portion that the vehicles cannot pass thru since the bridge was destroyed, repair was on-going. So we had to stop there and just take a walk towards the ruins. It was not that far. I love the place, it’s a typical scene in the province, just like in our place.

Near the gate you may find the souvenir shops around. Several displays can really capture your attention and made you think exactly what you want to buy when you come out.  We paid entrance fees and other fees before feasting our eyes on the ruins. I also read a blog that there were tourist assistants around the area offering quick tour guide. They also know how to take the best photos with the ruins and Mt. Mayon with some stunts. So when a guy came near to us and offered to take some photos, I actually asked him his price. He just told us that it is up to us how much we can spare.

With his knowledge on the photo stunts, I and mom now have an instant photographer. I entrusted my camera to him and he began directing our poses. We were told to stand, lean over and even raise our hands. The outcome was nice. It’s like we’re giants leaning on the bell tower. He also took us to the inner ruins of the church itself. I was busy enjoying the beauty of the place. I was stunned on the rocks forming the church and a bit saddened on what happened to the church. We took several pictures in the church and then decided to go out the field where we can have a very nice view of Mt. Mayon.

pose at the ruins

On the outside of the church, we can see the huge volcanic rocks still present. It formed part of the landscape around the area. You can really imagine how these rocks destroy the church. On the other hand, since it’s just morning, Mayon was not yet covered with clouds so you can really see its majestic beauty featuring its perfect cone shape. The sunny morning bring so much beauty on the volcano. We did the ever famous jump shot on the place making Mayon as our background. We really enjoyed our visit to the place.

ever famous jump shot

I gave some tips to our photographer since we were satisfied with what he did. The shots made it remarkable. We went to the souvenir shops to look for some keepsake on the place. I bought a small item, a miniature Mt. Mayon carved on the lava rock. 

We met with our driver just near the shops. Our driver asked us where to go next and I said I don’t know, maybe we’ll just kill our time at the Embarkadero. But the driver offered me a half day service that instead of paying him Php 500, I can add Php 2,000 for the half day service. He will take us to the planetarium, embarkadero, to the boulevard, to Lignon Hill and back to the airport for departure. So I agreed with the plan since we don’t have other destinations after Cagsaua Ruins.

We walked back to our cab and off we drove to Planetarium. It was quite far, we went our way along the Legazpi – Tabaco Rd then we turned left towards the back of Mt. Mayon. It was a road going up the mountain; the location of the planetarium is like halfway up the summit of the volcano. The place was amazing and refreshing. When we reached the place, we were the only visitor that time. It was overlooking the bay. We can see Tabaco City from afar. It was colder since we’re on a higher altitude. I and mom just feasted our eyes on the views around that we decided not to go inside the Planetarium itself. We bought Pili nuts and some snacks since we’re a bit hungry; we only had a light breakfast.

After a while of roaming around, we were surprised that several tour buses came to visit the place. It’s a wow that even it was far from the city, several educational tours were also making planetarium their destination. We decided to leave the place since there were lots of students coming out and also we are making most of our time for our half-day visit. 

lunch at Sibid-Sibid

From the planetarium, we decided to have our early lunch first before going to embarkadero and boulevard. We had a stop at Sibid-Sibid Restaurant. On the Tripadvisor, this restaurant was highly recommended diner in Legazpi. So to have a taste of it, we didn’t miss the opportunity for our lunch. It was a nice, cozy place. With hardwood table and native decors, the ambiance was really great. We arrived early enough for us to choose which place are we going to eat, we also enjoyed the beauty of their displays. We immediately ordered our food. I never missed to order my ever favorite kinilaw na tangigue. It was so delicious that we really enjoyed our food. We were satisfied with their serving size that we need to take out the leftovers, I let the driver bring to his family anyway he knew it was clean and safe since we ate together.

tissue holder at Sibid-sibid

So we proceed to Embarkadero then to the boulevard. We were hoping to get a good sight of Mt. Mayon at the boulevard but was shy that there were clouds all over the tip. If it was early in the morning, I bet Mayon would be very attractive at the boulevard. The boulevard was great; it was newly paved right along the coast. Fresh sea breeze with the gushing waves really greeted us as we came out of the cab.

at the Boulevard

We didn’t waste our time since we need to visit Lignon Hills first and it’s already mid-day. So we rushed to the Hill to catch the beauty of Legazpi. It was overlooking the airport and the city itself. There were nice facilities and activities up the hill. They have the famous Zip Line adventure going to the other part of the hill. It was sunny and it’s so hot so we decided to go back and be dropped at the airport directly since our flight will be at 2pm. For sure, since it’s already 1pm, the check-in counter is already open.

Overall, our Legazpi trip was spectacular. The half-day we spent was worth it but I am looking forward to spend more time and explore the beautiful city of Legazpi. Maybe that time, I’m going to take the train from Manila to Bicol.