Albay: Home is where the heart is!

Making my own blog, one where I could show and tell where and what I’ve been up to was in my bucket list for quite a while now until one of my friends inspired me to do so (Thanks Camille! 🙂 ). I hope this one officially crosses it out on my list.

Well to start off, I would like to show you where I grew up. I never knew how beautiful my hometown was until I moved out of the province to work in the city. I live in the province of Albay, famous for its Mount Mayon, “sili” ice cream (spicy ice cream with pepper on top) and crazy sweet pili nuts. Albay is also known for its delicacies such as the spicy bicol express, pinangat and laing as well.

To get to Albay,  you can either book a flight from Manila and the approximate travel time is only 45 minutes or you can ride an aircon bus for about 900 pesos (12 or 10 hour travel time, it depends) or ordinary bus which is a bit cheaper (600 pesos) but will definitely take you longer (and probably more exhausting) to get to Bicol.

There are a lot of hotels in Legazpi City but I advise you to book/make a reservation before going since many tourists visit the place especially in the months of July and August where the Ibalong Festival is celebrated. Once you arrive in Albay, be sure to visit places such as the Cagsawa (Kagsawa or Cagsaua) Ruins, the church which was buried and destroyed by the eruption of Mayon volcano in year 1814. Moreover, be sure to visit the Hoyop Hoyopan Cave in Camalig Albay where you can enjoy the fresh air and the cool breeze after a long walk in the sun. “Hoyop” is a bicol word which means “blowing of air/wind”.

Cagsawa Ruins

Hoyop Hoyopan Cave

If you feel like taking a walk, or go for a jog, Embarcadero de Legazpi is the right place for you. There are also a lot of food establishments there that you can try.

Embarcadero de Legazpi 

Bicolanos are very kind and are pretty good in giving directions, so no worries about getting lost. The means of transportation here are Jeepneys (basic fare is 8 pesos) or tricycle (fare ranges from 30-50pesos). Don’t expect to find any taxi here, if you ever find one, they charge like crazy.

And oh, be sure to bring a camera with you. Also, don’t forget a lot of cam whore friends. 😀

A list of translated words that might come in handy:

1. Beautiful/maganda= Magayon

2. How much= Mang-gurano

3. Where is (name of place)= Sain tabi ang (name of place)

4. Good morning/ Good afternoon= Maray na aga/ Maray na Hapon

5. God bless= Dios Mabalos

See you in Bicol guys 🙂