Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

Travel by land to Bicol is really a long journey. The first time I went to Bicol was more than 10 years ago with my bestfriend and her family in Camalig, Albay. We termed the journey, a long and winding road, from the title of a Beatles song. The second time I went was last May 2007 with good friends and former officemates. We went to Camarines Sur and the journey was around 11 hours. Our destination was the Camarines Sur Watersport Complex. My friend Judc wanted to try wakeboarding. But before we proceeded to CWC, we dropped by the home of a former officemate, who relocated back to her hometown in Bicol. She fed us what was supposed to be breakfast, but became our lunch already because we arrived very late. After eating, she took us to see a waterfalls in their area. If we had arrived early, we could also have visited a nearby island.

The trek to the waterfalls took us around 30 to 45 minutes. Good thing the sky was a little bit overcast and the area was densely forested. When we reached the falls, we were so sweaty that we really had to take a dip in the cool water, that is after a lot of picture taking. The only people there were the local children and a caretaker. It was amazing seeing the children swinging like monkeys in a long rope hanging across the width of the falls. The children made it look so easy but when we tried it, we could not make it work.

We stood right underneath the area where the water met the earth. It was glorious to feel the heavy water as it struck us. The feeling made the long, sweaty trek worthwhile. Almost all waterfalls I’ve been to required quite long treks. I guess it must be so that we can work up more sweat and feel more refreshed when we take a dip in the cool to sometimes very cold water. After a few more minutes frolicking in the waters, we walked back to our the van where two of our companions waited for us. Then we proceeded to the beach for lunch and a little rest.

It was already late when we reached the CWC. We checked in at the EcoVillage. Our accommodations were small cabins made out of materials from container vans. It had an air condition and two beds. Very cozy and the walls were gaily painted.

Restrooms were in a separate building. I remembered waking up at around 4am to go to the bathroom. There were lampposts strategically located outside making the area look surreal.

EcoVillage is quite a long walk from CWC. It’s best to have your own transportation. When we got to CWC after freshening up, it was already dusk. The competition was already winding down. We just looked around the place and the watched some of the wake boarders doing final runs. After that we went back to EcoVillage to eat dinner then we proceeded to the open field where the awarding ceremony for the winners of the competition was done. This was followed by performances of some of the best bands in the country today. There was also a night market on the outskirts of the field. We went home at around midnight.

The next day after a late breakfast, we went back to CWC. My friends really wanted to try wake boarding even though we were told that there would be exhibitions that morning that’s why the wake boarding area was not open to the public. However, when we got there, we found out that the exhibitions will start after lunch so the area was open to the public. My friends got very excited and since they were dressed for a “just in case” scenario, they quickly fell in line. I had to go back to our cabin to change to a pair of shorts. When I got back they had already tried knee boarding twice but weren’t successful so far in completing the big rectangular-shaped pond. The first time I tried, I fell off when I tried to make the first turn. On the second try I was able to make the turn but I fell off half way thru the third side. After that, I felt too tired to try again. Only Judc was able to complete the circuit, twice. She crowed about it all the way back to Pasig.

There were some celebrities hanging out at CWC while we were there. Some of the guests had their pictures taken with the celebrities. This is a picture of my friend with Marc Nelson. I was dithering on whether to also have a turn posing with him that when I was finally able to conquer my inhibitions, it was already too late. He was walking away swiftly to have a turn at wake boarding.

We started home at around 2:30pm. It was another long journey. We stopped in Quezon for dinner. I got home at around 12am. It was a long and tiring trip but the places we visited made it all worthwhile.