The sky was a picture of indecision when we boarded the bus from Legazpi to Sorsogon. It looked as if it was totally unsure of dumping rain or simply sheltering the Earth from the blistering sun—which was keenly intent on making an appearance that day. The weather was shaping out fine, and the blessed absence of rain made it far more ideal for travel, but there were still a few stubborn patches of dark clouds hovering heavily above us.
It was the exact same heavy sky curtain that made our earlier attempt to see the famous Mayon Volcano up close a completely futile one. As the bus revved up its diesel engine and gathered speed on the open highway, the wind aggressively brushing against my face increased its sheer tenacity. Trying to safely avoid a direct hit, I looked quietly out the window and was enthusiastically greeted by a majestic, sweeping countryside.
Weaving Through Scenic Sorsogon
The Long Bus Ride from Legazpi
Even with a set of eyes severely lacking sleep, I was fully awake for the entire duration of the trip. I wouldn't want to miss these highly scenic hills, bright green fields, roadside lawns, and century-old trees with thick branches aggressively extending to the opposite side of the road—all in exchange for the boring darkness that sleeping brings.
We took the ordinary provincial bus from Legazpi straight to Sorsogon for another two-and-a-half-hour trip, which served as the second grueling leg of our long weekend journey. My travel buddy Tin would lazily lean her head on my shoulder once in a while as she bravely battled the strong occurrence of sleep. I would gently nudge her here and there whenever we would pass by something highly peculiar and interesting.
This happened a lot of times—like when we randomly passed by a loud motocross race right by the rural roadside, with the dirt obstacles located just a few meters from the highway and the local townsfolk lining up enthusiastically as cheering spectators. Small tranquil lakes and sleepy coastal towns in between, with faces of people beaming with friendly, honest smiles, happily greeted us as we rolled steadily at a slow speed of about 45 to 50 kph.
The Aesthetics of Rural Living
There was absolutely nothing boring about the trip. It was a perfectly quiet moment to deeply think a lot about certain things. The highly simple settings of the surroundings give a humbling idea that not everything in life should be made of grandeur. The small towns we passed by en route to Sorsogon presented me with those stark images. Folks walking the dusty side of the road carrying heavy sacks of the day's harvest, and young kids playing joyously in front of tiny wooden homes.
It truly looks like a hard life from the skewed perspective of someone who has unfortunately gotten so used to the enormous dictates and toxic norms of the big city. But from their own native eyes, it is an ideal and highly respectable way of living. Showing up every single day and heavily contributing to their community in their own little ways. There is always a strong sense of "Bayanihan" (communal unity) still actively alive in these forgotten places.
The vast green agricultural fields separating small houses and little towns, and a seemingly endless paved highway, completely create an infinite vision of the sheer largeness of the world. You constantly wonder how massive cities become suffocatingly overpopulated, while places such as this in the open countryside beautifully thrive with life, open space, and a much greener and cleaner environment suitable for highly sustainable living. If there's any real consolation to living a physically hard life in the country, it would undeniably be the fact that they wander in a place far better in terms of pure aesthetics than the false, engineered comforts a modern-day big city provides.
An Amazing Race Pace
We finally arrived in Sorsogon City after two and a half hours, and we were immediately bound for another exhausting two-hour trip to the coastal town of Matnog, which is securely located at the extreme southern tip of Luzon and serves as the primary maritime gateway to Samar Island. A little bit battered from the almost two solid days of non-stop traveling—and with our butts seriously nearing numbness—Tin and I still deeply savored the rare opportunity to travel, see more, and cover more grounds.
Massive kudos to my new travel buddy, Tin, who never—even for a single minute—became grumpy with all the hardcore traveling we took at an almost "Amazing Race"-like pace.
Our crazy trip originally started early Friday morning in Cubao, reaching our very first leg in Naga City at around 5:00 PM. We quickly took another bus heading to Legazpi City, Albay, arriving there at around 7:00 PM. We immediately found a cheap inn after going on a dark tricycle ride on a pitch-black street (due to a frustrating area brownout), had dinner at the famous "Small Talk" cafe, and then went directly to Embarcadero for a relaxing nightcap before finally calling it a day.
The very next day, we happily visited the iconic Daraga Church, then went off to the historical Cagsawa Ruins—but lo and behold, the Mayon Volcano completely hid under a massive blanket of clouds! So, we instead hiked up Lignon Hill and thoroughly enjoyed some fresh air. We went back down, had lunch, and then aggressively proceeded to Sorsogon by late Saturday afternoon. It was a highly fun trip filled with constantly hustling and busting our asses to move, and the only thing missing was host Phil Keoghan proudly telling us, "Congratulations, you're the first team to arrive."
Matnog to Barcelona: Building Connections
From Sorsogon City, we immediately took another jeepney ride directly to Matnog for another grueling 63-kilometer trip (which essentially equals a little bit more than two full hours). We arrived safely at Matnog, Sorsogon at around 5:00 PM and went directly to the local tourism office to ask for cheap places to rent for the night. We were pointed directly to a nearby beach resort that highly offers a ₱500-a-night nipa hut as accommodation. The friendly trike driver who took us there, Kuya Charlie, was kind enough to recommend his friend's boat for our island hopping the very next day, which we heavily planned on taking to strictly visit the Juag Fishing Sanctuary, Subic Beach, and Tikling Island.
I will write extensively about that separate trip in my upcoming blog entries about Sorsogon since this specific post is entirely about the deeply scenic countryside of Sorsogon. Our wild road trip definitely never ended after our boat trip to the nearby islands in Matnog.
After lunchtime on Sunday, we took another long trip, this time heading to Abucay, so we could safely catch another jeepney going straight to Gubat, Sorsogon. From there, we took yet another jeepney ride to Barcelona town, which is where the historic St. Joseph's Church is beautifully located.
Traveling closely together is absolutely a perfect way to deeply know a person. I've come to genuinely know Tin as easily as if we've completely known each other for years, even though we just officially met a week earlier and spontaneously planned this trip after a casual coffee meeting over past travels. In our long, exhausting ride together, we further talked extensively about our deep desire to travel more, and in the ensuing conversation, I've learned to warmly look at her in a fond way—someone who'd bravely be there with me and other kindred souls on future long road trips somewhere.
Everything went completely well during the trip, totally outnumbering the slight displeasure of what a very long traveling stint naturally brings. I was able to see completely through the great experience, suck up the few minor obstacles of being constantly on the road, and was heavily rewarded in the process with a fantastic new travel friend who is as equally willing as myself to fully savor every single second of traveling.
After successfully visiting the Barcelona church and the nearby Spanish-era stone ruins, we patiently waited for yet another jeepney bound for Sorsogon City so we could finally have our early dinner and catch the night bus going back to Manila.
It was a rapid, highly paced movement of seeing a brand-new place. The profoundly scenic countryside of Sorsogon added immensely up to the wonderful experience—definitely something to look back fondly on and try to enthusiastically accomplish again in the near future, whether in this place again or somewhere totally new.
