The Bicol region has always been intriguing to me. Despite its close proximity to Manila, the only thing I knew about the place was that it is huge, has lots of cities, located in Luzon, and can be travelled by land (for approximately 10 hours). Aside from that, nada.

As fate would have it, I do not know how I came about deciding to book a ticket to Legazpi. It was one of the major seat sales (click here for some booking tips) then (I got my ticket for Php 150, roundtrip, last year when the fuel surcharge was not so expensive). I just recognized that Legazpi was a place I’ve always heard about and that I wanted to see the Mayon Volcano.

I won’t lie. I was secretly hoping I will get to stay at Misibis Bay. It was then being slowly known by avid travelers as a small luxury hotel. I have exhausted all resources to get the cheapest rate possible but even at a discount, I still found it impractical. Especially that a night stay would already cost my entire trip. Next time maybe.

Getting There

As I’ve mentioned, I was able to avail of the flight for Php 150 through Cebu Pacific’s seat sale (read about my experience here). For other options, you may opt to fly through Philippine Airlines or Airphil Express.

Legazpi is reachable by land as well. Many opt to ride the bus and endure the 10-hour drive. I am not sure how much is the usual fare though. And just recently, there is a train that goes to the Bicol region from the city although you may want to research on that as I’m not sure how it works. If the travel time will be around less than 5 hours, I’m willing to give it a go just for the sake of experience.

Staying Where

There are a couple of places that are worth staying in the city. Venezia Hotel is also managed by the Genesis Group, the same group that runs Misibis Bay. The rates more or less are a little below US$100 per room per night with breakfast. The location however is right outside the Legazpi’s airport which is nearer to Lignon Hills site than where we stayed at. It is however quite far to everything else (grocery stores and food places I think).

We stayed at Hotel St. Ellis. This is another hotel being managed by the Genesis Group (maybe they should have this sort of point-system already or discount card because we have been staying to a lot of Genesis run hotels). I find the location better than Venezia as Hotel St. Ellis is located near Embarcadero and other food places that are said to be a must try. What’s even good about it is that the hotel provides free shuttle (electricity operated vehicle) to and from Embarcadero which houses a couple of restaurants and shops.

Things To Do

We rented a van for a day to take us around. I remember getting his contact details from one of our Girl Talkers (to which I always hang around for advices and insights on travel, thanks girls!).

The van took us around Legazpi and even a little further outside beginning with Mayon Rest House. Then we were off to Tiwi, Albay to witness pottery making and back to Legazpi visiting Lignon Hill, Cagsawa Ruins and then off we were to this pili store we requested which sold a lot of premium pili products.

For those who want to make the most out of their trip, I strongly suggest visiting Donsol (which is around an hour and a half away from Legazpi), especially if it is February-May, to go swimming with the whale sharks (also known as butanding) and firefly watching at night. Three reasons to go back then. First being staying at Misibis Bay, yes, I refuse to give up on that. Second would be riding an ATV to Mayon and third would be heading to Donsol for some butanding action.

Food

Bicol food is known to be spicy and often mixed with coconut milk. I have actually tasted some during my travel but I’m not fond of eating food with coconut milk. Anyway, during this trip, we got to try out several local establishments including Biggs Diner, Colonial Grill and Waway’s. We also got to hang out at their version of Starbucks, La Mia Tazza Coffee which serves sprinkled pili on drinks.

I will try to provide detailed information in the coming posts so come back once in a while, okay?

Tags: albay, bicol, food, genesis, holiday, mayon, pili, spicy, st. ellis, vacation, volcano