Life's Journey of Lakwatserang Makikay

Last January 2012, after celebrating my birthday in Iloilo (for the 2nd time around), we visited the nearby province of Antique. It was indeed an enchanting and adventurous trip. It was my first time to visit the province though I am a frequent traveler in Panay Island.

Antique is part of the Panay Island which comprises other provinces such as Capiz, Aklan and Iloilo. Its capital is in San Jose and two hours away from the city of Iloilo. People in Antique do have same dialect with Ilonggos and do share same traits of hospitality to visitors. You'll get amazed on vast rice plantations, lush forest and sparkling seas. If you are the type of traveler who likes nature trips, Antique can be best suited for you!

How to get there:
There are lots of ways to visit the Antique province:
1. Via Iloilo - From Iloilo Airport, go to Molo town proper for Ceres bus and vans plying to Antique province. Fares may range from 150-200 pesos depending on the location you are going to visit in the province. Travel time is around 3-4 hours on bus and 2 hours on van.

2. Via Kalibo, Aklan -  From Kalibo Airport, there are vans and buses plying to nearby Antique town. Fares may also range from 100-150 pesos depending on the nearby Antique towns that you are going to visit. Travel time is around 2-3 hours from Kalibo.

3. Via Caticlan, Aklan - From RoRo vessel, there are buses going to Antique to Iloilo. Fare rates may depend on the places you are going to visit. Travel time is around 2-3 hours. If you are coming from Boracay you can also do the sidetrip of visiting Antique province.


Places of Interest:
1. Trekking at Bugtong Bato falls - famous for its seven-tiered falls and the rice terraces along the trek

Our wacky pose!

Rice Terraces

Mountains and Rice Terraces

2. Tibiao Fish Spa - a different natural alternate on having a foot and body spa

It tickles :)

3. Beach - Antique province has a vast shoreline so you can feast of basking outside while the sun is on. You might also try boating activities and island hopping on nearby islands in Culasi town. You can also try the Lambaklad fishing which shows the teamwork / bayanihan spirit of townsfolk on catching fish and sharing it with everyone.

The beach

Lambaklad Fishing

Sunset

4. Kayaking and Kawa Hot Bath near Bugtong Bato falls - try to immerse yourself in a simmering "kawa" after a long trek in the falls

The Kawa!

The Kayaking trail

The Rapids

5. Visit the church in San Jose Antique

6. Have fun on Hanging Bridge in Tibiao Antique

7. Seafood feast

8. Cruise the Malumpati River - one of the cleanest river in the Philippines

9. Stargazing at night by the beach

10. Visit old towns - I noticed that most towns in Panay still bores strong influence during Spanish times. Churches, municipal halls and town plazas are usually adjacent to each other and every town we visited in Iloilo, Antique and Capiz do have common denominators in their towns including the old architectures and town's plazas.


Additional Notes:
It is always best to have friends or relatives in the area that can show you around good places to visit in the province. One of my considerations on visiting new places is to ensure we knew someone around the place who can show us around and also guide us on our travel. Our advantage is that my significant other has relatives in Antique and took great care of us. Our travel is fun and unforgettable. We also met new friends.

I went to Bicol region last December 2010. It was a quick getaway and in a span of two days, me and my officemates were able to visit Naga, Camarines Sur and Legaspi Albay. The quick getaway was due to the fact that during that time, we don't have any vacation leaves since we are all new to our company. We decided to visit and experiment if we can go to Bicol area within the weekend.

Our Itinerary:
Note: Pictures are compilations taken from my officemates cameras and mine :) 
Day 1 - Legaspi, Albay
1. Go to Legaspi via plane by catching the earliest possible flight at 5:15am, Saturday (we slept in the airport)

2. Arrived at Legaspi airport around 6am. We even took our breakfast and started our gala trip by 7am
3. By 8am we arrived at Lignon Hill, considered as one of the tourist attraction in Legaspi and a sight seeing place for Mayon Volcano

Overlooking Mayon Volcano

Overlooking the airport below

 Additional things to see in Lignon Hill:
Enter the Japanese tunnel found near the entrance of the park. A guide will provide information on the history that Lignon Hill used to be a Japanese hideout during the World War 2.

Inside the cave

Going out

Flag used by the Kamikaze pilots during WW2

Going inside the cave

4. By 11am we went to Embarcadero de Legaspi, one of the newest hangout near the Legaspi port. Outlet stores and restaurants line up the place. There is also a ziplining activity and sightseeing at the lighthouse.













5. At around 2pm we went to Cagsawa ruins. Famous scenic spot usually found in Philippines post cards. It was really nice seeing the actual ruins and history behind the ruins. Here you can also see the beautiful Mayon volcano







6. At around 3pm, we started on traveling to Naga, so that we can spend the night at our officemate's house in Naga for free accommodation.We tried riding the coaster bus from Legaspi to Naga. The fare is around P250.00 pesos. Legaspi to Naga trip would be 2-3 hours depending on the speed and traffic along the road. This is where we catch our sleep since we are too tired from the day's tour.

Day 2: Naga, Camarines Sur
1. Visit the Camsur Watersports Complex - famous venue for wakeboarding activity
2. Took a lunch at CWC and tried their Laing pizza


3. Since CWC is closed for wakeboarding competition, we tried the Lago del Rey water park. Entrance here is around 200 which is good for 4 hours










4. Extra time left is used for our quick stroll around Naga City
5. After our dinner at our officemate's house, we went to the bus terminal to catch our reserved slot at Isarog bus. This bus is different from the usual buses plying to Naga and Legaspi because it has bunk beds and I highly recommend to try this while traveling at night. It has seat belts and quite comfortable to sleep compared to the usual ordinary and air conditioned buses. 

Additional tips:

• Try to get best deals on airline tickets. We took Cebu Pacific and it was on sale when we purchase the one-way ticket. I recommend to take a plane for quick / faster travel time
• For the sleeper buses, make sure to reserve a slot in the buses since it tends to fill up fast due to high demand. Each bus contains at least 40 bunk beds. Make sure to bring a blanket or jacket since it can be too cold.
• We haven't tried on checking into a hotel since we have an officemate who lives in Naga and humbly provided her house to us. This helped us save money on hotel and let us splurge on food and pasalubongs

Next time if I will be back in Bicol region, I want to try visiting these places:

• Caramoan
• Hot springs near Mt. Isarog in Camsur (wasn't able to do this since we are into time-constraint)
• ATV in Mayon Volcano (kinda expensive for us that time)
• Misibis Bay in Albay (this is a first class resort, and I need to come up with funds to visit this)
• Donsol, Sorsogon - sight seeing whale sharks
• Lake Buhi in Sorsogon