I had the next great adventure of my life last Holy Week 2017.
2 AM of Maundy Thursday, A group of bloggers and me was en route to
Sta. Ana Cagayan Valley for the Partakan Festival where residents and motorists alike are set to celebrate Brotherhood, Passion and Moto Tourism. With 14 people on a Grandia up and raring to go, we set forth our (slightly bumpy) course to the North.
Travel time via land transpo is usually 13-16 hours as per google maps, but then we had a some pitstops to do because we are entered in
Ropali's fun "Amazing Race" game where we got a taste of what some motorists are doing. This challenge is set to give the winner 20,00 Php and there are 10 pitstops along the way according to our itinerary. The ending is that we had gone on for a 21 hour journey instead.
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| Team EAT #EATgetaway and Team EARTH Ready for Travel and Adventure! Groufie captured with OPPO F3 Plus |
Unfortunately when we get to the first, which is in Shell Malolos Bulacan, there was no one to greet us. I think there might have been a misunderstanding of sorts, but we just moved on and went to the next.
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| Captured with OPPO F1s |
Once we get to the next, which is in Ropali, Cabanatuan (3rd pitstop of the game) at around 6 am, the people there were amazing and very accommodating. We were finally given our passports for the game alongside some water and crackers to help us get through the day, race kit with team number and the clue for the upcoming task. Now it's feeling like a real game. Alongside that though, is my motion sickness acting up. It felt like every pitstop after Ropali Cabanatuan I wanted to throw up, and in here and on the next, I most definitely did. XD
But first, BREAKFAST!
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| Yema Cake for 98 Php! Captured with OPPO F1s |
This restaurant was Five Mama's and it's one of the few which was open that day. I tried to fill myself up with some good ole Tosilog (Tocino Sinangag Itlog) which was okay, and the Yema Cake which was SO GOOD, for less than 100 Php. We can't go to the place of the challenge, because it was another 2 hours out of way travel, so we just went on to the next stop, Shell San Jose, which was also closed. :(
After a few more hours of travel, (
probably around 9 or 10 am), our trusted driver Kuya Lito pulled over to the side of the winding mountains for a CR Break. Which was very convenient cause I was already feeling carsick and I wasn't sure if I can still keep it in. Once I got out of the car, it was open season again for vomiting so bye bye Tocilog.
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| The CR by the way was made with patche patche na yero and you will
totally feel exposed on the other side cause your butt is exposed to the
mountainside. Hahahaha #ProvincialLife |
A couple more hours of driving and Earth saw this mini Paseo where there's an Eat All You Can restaurant for 100 Php. Azrael and Ted went the other way of Laziza's menu though and got some Arabian/Indonesian food like Chicken Masala with the pita things. I got a cup noodle because by that time I knew that my stomach cannot handle the long ride and it's better to eat light and throw nothing up.
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| EAT ALL YOU CAN and Araabic Food at Laziza's. |
Thankfully, my teammates noticed my condition and made a little room for me up front so as not to endure the motion sickness too much. This was also where we had an idea hanggang saan aabot ang 10 pesos mo. ;)
After this we got to Ropali, Solano, and again they were very accommodating. The next part was to go to Lower Magat Eco Park in Solano, Isabela, and bring some tupig as well as take a photo on the site. Thanks to OPPO F3 plus, there was no need for any selfie sticks cause this baby is built for groupies! <3
Once we are back on the road, I tried to sleep off my motion sickness again, and when I woke up we stopped by this carinderya for an early dinner/ late mirienda.
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| What is up with "Isabela Thy Will Be Done" ??? :) |
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| Pancit Cabagan |
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| Pancit Batil Patung |
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| Reached Ilagan by around 6pm |
We were finally at our destination! We had a late dinner at Country Inn Hotel and Resort, as we arrived at around 11 PM. grabe lang. We were on the road from 2 AM of thursday and got there by 11 PM. 21 Hours of travel made my Mamon of a butt as flat as a Piyaya. :D :D :D #Legit.
Is the 21 Hour Roadtrip WORTH IT? YES.
Especially if this is what will welcome you:
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| Turtle Island |
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| Earth of Earthlinggorgeous, Ruth of ruthdelacruz.com, yours truly for Chic Mix and Rhea for Rheabue.com :D |
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| Oh how clear and blue the waters are. <3 |
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| Cagayan Hotel and Leisure Resort |
We stayed at this lovely neighborhood, in Sun City Cagayan Valley but is now known to be Cagayan Hotel and Leisure Resort.
The only thing that I noticed could use some improvement with the whole Sta. Ana Cagayan is the point that food service in restaurants is slower than Spongebob's pet snail Gary. Most of the time food would take 2-3 hours to get to the table. I wish that the Department of Tourism can do something about it, like maybe give a seminar or something cause it is very bad for the tourism of the place. Too bad cause Anguib and Pozo Rubo has so much potential.
So the next day we got to cover some main events of the Partakan Festival and here are some of the festivities :
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| Trail Rides and Flat track racing |
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| Beach Volleyball Tournament and Sand Castle Comeptions |
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| Party at the beach! |
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| Customized motorcycles |
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| Bailout Area for kiddos and adults :D |
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| (c) Ted Claudio, Fujifilm |
Traveling From Manila to Sta. Ana Cagayan Valley, Anguib Beach, Tips and tricks for surviving long roadtrips
On The Road:
You can take a
Bus Bound for Tugegarao and travel for 10-12 hours depending on the traffic and trucks around the winding road and mountains (Victory Liner costs for 600 from Sampaloc or Caloocan) and
get a van (UV Express) or bus there for around 180 pesos and 3-4 hours worth of travel.
Or you can go straight and look for
Florida Bus in Sampaloc City. They have buses that go straight to Aparri and Sta. Ana. :D
- Once there and you have a hotel, but you want to go to anguib beach, you can go to the port (at the end of the main road. You can't miss it.) and haggle for the price of boats going there.
- Less hassle would be to ask your hotel about service going there to Anguib. Or you can just go glamping in the beach itself, and let Jie Jie Flores of Anguib Beach Club do all the work and haggling for you. Personally,the peace of mind you get with doing this makes your vacation that much better. Especially if it's your first time and you're not sure of things. :D Island hopping aside from the glamping will cost you 4500 Php for 8 persons going to Palaui Island :D You can contact her through jiejieflores@gmail.com
- I would recommend that you download your Google Map before traveling the long and winding road to the north of Luzon. I found that there are some spots with not much signal, but at least there's GPS so you have a rough idea of where you are while en route.
- Locals told us that there's not much signal for Smart, and 0 signal for sun. So if you want decent internet signal, go for globe. :D
On The Air:
You can get flights from PAL or Cebu Pacific to Tugegarao, which is the capital of Cagayan Valley. From there, you can take a UV Express/bus to Sta. Ana Cagayan Valley :D
Survivor's Diary: For Long Roadtrips
- Get comfortable. Wear comfy clothes, make sure you have a neck pillow and a jacket, even if it is hot in the van. You never know when you'll need it.
- If you have motion sickness, make sure to drink Bonamine an hour before your travel. And bring a plastick bag for "just in case"
- Be sure that you have at least 2 drivers in your group. 16-21 hours of travel is NO JOKE.
- Or at least have a navigator and someone who will stay awake with the driver. ;D
- Have a water bottle with you. Keeping hydrated is very important.
- It's great to have awesome movies, better to have awesome music. Ready your spotify playlists and assign the one in front to be the DJ for the ride
- Companions are a big deal as well in making or braking a ride. Try to compromise and not be KJ when on the road. And take care of each other as well <3
Thanks for reading! <3 <3 <3
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I love road trips and even if I also suffer from motion sickness I make sure to bring my trusty pills with me so that I can enjoy the ride without any symptoms. There are remedies for it luckily, and you don't need to suffer every time you get into a car. The final destination looks so dreamy, I would spend the entire day just suntanning on that beautiful beach and take dips in the crystal clear water.
ReplyDeletesuch a long ride, but a worth view after a long day on the road. This will be good getaway trip for a days with friends. <3
ReplyDeleteWoop Woop! That was really a heck of an adventure! Plus, you get to share it with friends. That really is something! I also love the beach and it blue waters. I am sure it's a tiring, yet a fun-filled experience.
ReplyDeleteIve been to Anguib Beach three years ago and I would say that the long trip was all worth it. Especially if you spent the days with real good friends. The travel may be real butt numbing experience. The people of Cagayan are warm and amiable. The scorching heat of the sun can be both overwhelming and energiZing at the same time. But the beauty of the place is just gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good road trip. Loads of food, excitement and adventure! The resort is so ideally located. I am sure to enjoy those play stuffs.
ReplyDeleteThis 21 hour of road trip is truly worth it. I haven't done this, but I had quite a similar experience like this one, only what makes it different is, I wasn't riding a car during that time, but transferring from one bus to another. It took me 6 times of riding a bus before I finally reached my destination. What I like this road trip that you guys had was the several food station that you get to drop by and enjoy the food. I'll surely try this next time. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat was quite a ride! I haven't been to Cagayan yet and this may be a tiring trip. But, if you are with the right company, this may be an enjoyable trip. Ever since I experienced traveling via plane, it's quite hard for me to travel via land especially for long hours. But, I think airfares to this place may get quite expensive as well.
ReplyDeleteThat was long yet exciting ride. I would also want to experience that same adventure someday. Anguib is another destination tourists would love this summer. It might be really far from the metro but yes, it's worth everything.
ReplyDelete21 hours of land travel is no joke. The longest land travel I did was a 6-hour bus ride and I was nearly bored to tears, Kindle and music notwithstanding. But I suppose you have it better since you're with a fun group of people anyway. :) I just feel too bad about you being carsick most of the way though.
ReplyDelete21 hours of travel would be really a pain in the butt. Literally. haha.. I went to Leyte before riding a bus which went board for RORO for more than 30 hrs. I don't want to repeat the experience anymore. BUt if you have some beach getaway like that, you would think twice.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very long trip! But I must agree, it was well worth it, especially that beautiful beach view. This looks like a very interesting place to visit this summer. I sure hope I can go there one of these days. Never heard of Partakan Festival before but it sure looks very interesting, too.
ReplyDeleteMissing the road trips I used to be able to go on! Last time was a quick trip to Subic during the Xmas vacay. I loved reading through your trip, and I recall following updates by you guys on Instagram. How fun!!!
ReplyDelete