Calvin’s Hub

FROM RIZAL BEACH BACK TO LEGASPI

This is the continuation of our Sorsogon adventure. To read the previous section, please click here.

Going to see Mayon again

We woke up early to have a quick breakfast and left at around 9 AM. It was difficult to wait for a jeep to take us to Gubat so we just rode a tricycle with another passenger going there.

From Gubat, we boarded a jeep that took us to the city of Sorsogon which is about 30 minutes away. From Sorsogon, we went to the van terminal and rode a GT Express van going to Legaspi. The trip took about 2 hours before we got off at Daraga and hopped on another jeep to take us straight to Sampaguita Inn where we stayed overnight.

SAMPAGUITA INN

Ahhh this nondescript place is as cheap as it can get and is located along Rizal St. which is very convenient for all travelers as all Legaspi jeeps pass by this road. That’s the only good part.

The staff aren’t that friendly and the room is uhh… not that inviting. The toilet is so small and not well-maintained. The sheets are rough, the pillows are tough and it feels stuffy inside. I guess that’s what you get for Php 550 a night.

At least there’s cable

We really didn’t enjoy staying in that room but it’s ok as we spent most of our time outside. The place is something a visiting assassin would probably want to stay in while he’s casing his target. Hehehe.

We arrived at Sampaguita Inn at around 12 noon and ordered lunch from their canteen. Food’s not so great for the price we paid by the way. We took a short nap to get ready for our trip to Cagsawa Ruins in the afternoon.

VISITING CAGSAWA RUINS

In front of Sampaguita Inn, take any of the jeepneys going to Guinobatan, Malabog or Polangui and asked to be dropped at the road going to Cagsawa Ruins. It took us around 20-30 minutes to get there. When we boarded off the jeep, we took a 5-minute tricycle ride to the ruins itself.

The ruins with Mayon as the backdrop partially obscured by clouds

Cagsawa Ruins is a very picturesque place with the Mayon Volcano as its backdrop. It’s one of the must-see sights in Bicol.

We arrived at around 4 PM which is partially good since it’s not too hot anymore but there’s still enough light. But the problem was the clouds as it floats in front of Mayon Volcano obstructing our view of its perfect cone.

The locals said that the best time to visit is early in the morning around 8 or 9 when the clouds won’t obscure the tip of Mayon Volcano.

Anyway, we were still lucky because the place was not crowded at that time so we had the chance to take some pictures without waiting for people to clear the scene. There’s this kid (actually there’s lots of them there) who approached us and gave us tips on how to do trick shots with the Cagsaua Church’s bell tower.

Tia trying to topple the bell tower

I felt proud with our Nikon Coolpix S10 as we can easily swivel its lens to perform trick shots at difficult angles while some people are having a hard time composing their own shots with their conventional digital cam.

Let me put this down for a bit

The boy accompanied us while we took pictures of the place and he also offered to take some pictures of us. He also gave us a history lesson of the place, the disasters that happened there since the 1800′s, and the ongoing projects in the area. He also gave us info on the different parts of the ruins and their stories as we wander around the place. He’s one very helpful kid so we gave him some snack money afterwards.

The Cagsaua Ruins also has a lot of souvenir shops where you can buy stuff including samurai swords to bring home.

If you don’t have a car, better not stay too late at the ruins or else you’ll have a hard time getting a tricycle back.

So after buying some shirt, pili nuts and other handcrafted items, we headed back to Sampaguita Inn.
From the main road, we took a 25-minute jeepney ride straight to Legaspi. We freshen up for a bit and got ready to have dinner at Smalltalk which was highly recommended by a friend.

SMALLTALK

When we got to Smalltalk, the place was full of customers and we had to wait for a few minutes to be seated. But wait was well worth it and the food was quite delicious. It might be a bit pricey but it was the best dinner I had on this vacation. Too bad we forgot to take pictures of the place or our food.

Smalltalk, like many other restaurants, is located a few steps away from Rizal St. so getting there is no problem. Just take any jeep plying Rizal St. like the ones going to Daraga.

The following morning, we had breakfast at Jollibee then went to Daraga Market to buy some more pili nuts to bring home. We had lunch at Colonial Grill along Rizal St. then went back to the Inn to prepare. We took a tricyle going to the airport where we waited for a few hours because unsurprisingly, Cebu Pacific was again delayed.

This concludes our vacation tour/adventure of Sorsogon. Hope you find this guide helpful in planning your own trip. Travel safe everyone!

FARE BREAKDOWN

• Tricycle from Rizal Beach to Gubat – Php10 per head
• Jeep from Gubat to Sorsogon – Php10 per head
• Van from Sorsogon to Daraga – Php60 per head
• Jeep from Daraga to Legaspi – Php9 per head
• Jeep going to Cagsawa – Php10 per head
• Tricycle to Cagsawa Ruins – Php15
• Tricycle going to airport – Php60

Note: Fare price will have most likely increase due to the constant increase of fuel cost.

If you have any questions/suggestions/corrections, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!

You might also be interested in:

• Touring Sorsogon Without a Car Part 2: From Legaspi to Donsol and the Fireflies
• Touring Sorsogon Without a Car Part 5: Destinations in Sorsogon
• Touring Sorsogon Without a Car Part 1: Our Plan
• Touring Sorsogon Without a Car Part 4: From Donsol to Rizal Beach Resort in Gubat

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