We’re glad that before the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) implemented mid-March, we were able to set a travel going up North again and this time is in Baler, Aurora. I personally took the chance as well to enjoy my remaining days before going to new work, new office, new colleagues, and new desk. You’re right! I resigned from my previous job for five years and two months to take on another horizons and face new challenges in the industry I’m belong, improving my craft and hoping to contribute enough in the new organization I’m with. So it’s a brand new year, brand new job, brand new travel experience!

Baler is among the well-known destination up North and this is just 5-6 hours travel from Metro Manila. Not too far compared to Ilocos, Baguio or Sagada that will took about 8-9 hours travel time. My friends asked me to do our itinerary including looking and booking of hotel and some sort of other stuffs. This is a Baler DIY Travel Itinerary good for 3 days and 2 nights. We used our own car (sedan), a Kia Soluto for the transportation. We hit Skyway, down to EDSA, NLEX and SCTEX from Las Piñas at around 4:00AM and arrived earlier than expected at 8:30AM.

Baler is the capital of Aurora province, home of the first President of Commonwealth of the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon. Baler founded in early 1600’s and despite its proclamation in 1951 as the province capital, Baler remains as a municipality up to this date. Even with its growing tourism industry, Baler still has the simple vibes of being in a province that is truly worth to feel. No huge malls, no skycrapers, and not so crowded and busy streets filled with people and vehicles.

Baler and other pueblo (towns) in Aurora offers numerous attractions from its rich history and cultural foundation up to scenic view of nature’s wonders. Baler faces the segment of the Philippine Sea that also meets the mother of all oceans, the great Pacific Ocean. Baler has been one of the subject of Spanish, American and Japanese occupation in the Philippines back in the days but now emerge as one of the surfing hub in the country.

Without further ado, I am sharing below details that might be helpful if you thinking to visit Baler one of these days or maybe right after the ECQ. 

How Much Did We Spent 

Since most of the travelers like me are very conservative when it comes to expenses and some are on a tight budget, let’s check first how much did we spent.

Our budget is Php 10,000.00. That would cover the accommodation, gas and toll fees, food, some environmental and entrance fees. But hey! Don’t react yet, that will be divided into five because I’m traveling with my friends and we are using our own car for the transportation. That means that we only have a Php 2,000.00 damaged per head. Economical isn’t it? We also allotted a budget for the groceries to lessen our food expenses and since we can actually cook our own food right there at the lodge, why not run for some groceries right? For your appreciation, see below summary of our expenses to help justifying what I have mentioned.  

Place to Stay

You can't go wrong finding good places to stay in Baler because plenty of options are up which would always depends on your taste, preference, location and of course budget. But, for our budget friendly trip to Baler, we secured a family room, with basic needs we need like the toilet and the hot shower, free WI-FI, TV set for entertainment, air-conditioning system, a soft and comfy bunk-beds, and free use of kitchen (utensils, water, etc.) if you wanted to boast that sexy talent of yours in cooking but you need to pay for the gas at a minimal fee.

Thanks to Booking.com, I secured an accommodation at Ver Amare Place by Zen Room for Php 3,000.00 good for 3 days and 2 nights. Located in Buton Street Barangay Sabang, Baler, and just 20-30meters away from the Sabang Beach, a famous location for surfers. It’s also 5 minutes’ drive going to the downtown.  This place is quite generous in terms of space and the owner and their staffs are so accommodating. It’s a three story building and some rooms has its own patio and or balcony. In addition, it has a swimming pool, not too huge but good enough for those who doesn’t enjoy wavy and volcanic sandy beach.  

Private parking is available at Php 100.00 overnight. Cheap but safe and secured. You can check all other accommodation apps online or thru your mobile and you can compare prices. By the way, we paid it right away using a credit card. Convenience as it finest indeed.

Places to Visit

To be honest, we haven’t really followed our itinerary due to time constraint as usual but we still managed to explore some of the best attractions in Baler.

In our first day, we had our historical tour all around the downtown before heading out to check-in by 2:00PM at Ver Amare Place to laidback from that long hour of travel and after having a glimpse of Baler with their historical landmarks.

Things to Note

Batanes perhaps is one of the top dream destinations in the country. Travel bucket lists may not be completed without writing there the name of this infamous island in the far northern part of the Philippines. For some, this has always been their dreams to step their foot in this archipelagic island. Likewise, my dreams do came true when we set forth last year.

Flight tickets are quite expensive if you don’t book a promo, but if you’re not conservative enough and you’ve got that unlimited pockets, well then, it would be easy as A,B,C. However, in our case, we secured a promo round fare back in July 2018 and flight will be March of 2019. That is almost 8 months of waiting but a perfect timing since its summer and we’re kind of persistent and determined. Travelers said it is better to be there during summer and so be it. We can enjoy more of the perfect view of the mountains, cliffs and the sea. We stayed for 5 days and explore the island(s) together.

Basco Welcome Arch, Basco, Batanes

Batanes capital is Basco located in the island of Batan, the gateway and hub of commerce and transport for the whole island. From its 230 sq. km. land area, Batanes considered as the northernmost and smallest province. It has a total of 6 municipalities, Basco, Mahatao, Ivana (Ivana Alawi if from here. Just kidding), Uyugan, Sabtang and Itbayat. It has 29 barangays with a population of not less than 20,000. Having said that, it is among the most sought after tourism frontier located at the confluence of the West Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Ivatan are what the people called themselves the same name of their language. The archipelagic province has been declared by the Philippine government as “Protected Landscape and Seascape” because of its rare flora and fauna, diverse marine life, limestone cliffs, and panoramic sceneries. Batanes is composed of 11 islands, but only three are inhabited. These are the Sabtang, Batan and Itbayat. Other islets are uninhabited but some crops and livestock also came from these areas. I think so. As per our tour guide.

The Team Goes to Batanes

My good friend Jon, is the one in-charge (the punong abala) in keeping up the travel itinerary, accommodation, finance, and all, even the restau or local pub where we will settle for lunch and dinner. She’s kinda used to it since she’s a frequent traveler. IMAO! While me, I was just enjoying the whole thing and savor every moment.  

I will share more of what we did in Batanes, places we visited, and some sort of local trivia and travel photos in the next posts. Meantime, see below sample itinerary that we have, courtesy of my friend, Jonalyn Jamon. Note that we only used a tricycle during the whole exploration in the island and thus, the time is ours, no constraint. The tricycle is actually part of the over-all package of the hostel that we had stayed.

The good thing about this three-wheeled vehicle is that, you can have a 360 view passing thru from one place to another compared to closed vans or mini coaster, which is also rare in the island. In addition, it is a huge help for locals as well as their supplementary income.

Chamantad View Point Deck

We just explored Sabtang and Batan Island for we are running out of time if we will proceed to Itbayat and even if summer, the weather is unpredictable in this region maybe because its rests within the Pacific Ocean were most typhoons started.

To date, three airlines has now open their routes going to Batanes such as Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEBGO) and the Skyjet. I don’t think there’s a regular flights in Batanes on a weekly basis so better to secure your tickets months before your scheduled trip to avoid inconvenience. Also, make sure to bring money since there are limited banks and ATM in the island. Bring your sunblock if you wish to come by summer. It’s typically hot during this season. And make sure to register at the LGU office, settle certain fees (your local tour guide will bring you there) and always be guided on policies and guidelines which can be read on the leaflets or flyers. Most of all, be nice to locals, always pay respect, and do not leave your trash.

Batanes is a peaceful and simplest place, also one of the most disciplined places I have visited so far with 0% crime rates. So before doing one, always think of it.
TRAVEL ITINERARIES

When God made natural wonders, He didn’t forget to create the most precious one which now rests ahead at the Visayan region. Mararison Island is a small paradise which is now being called “The Batanes of Visayas” located in the Municipality of Culasi, Antique, still in the region VI of Western Visayas. The legend has it that Mararison is one of the three offspring of goddess Madya-as (now known to be the tallest mountain in Panay Island) and god Kanlaon. Aside from Mararison (the first born), Batbatan (second son) and Maningning (only daughter) are his two siblings which is actually an island as well but quite far from each other which is actually a result of violating rules of the gods. Now, the island becomes a popular destination for travelers, hikers, divers and even for those looking for a peaceful serenity with a picture-perfect view that will truly melt your heart and appreciate the beauty of God’s work.

So far, according to my tour guide (Kuya Marlon) in which I’ve got the chance to talked with, there are almost one thousand (1000) people settled in the island with limited access in the electricity which is normally up from 6:00PM to 10:00PM using the Genset which was bought using the donations of each families in the island with a help of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Culasi. 

The island was highly devastated back in 2013 during the Super Typhoon Yolanda which resulted to relocations of some families to a safer area within the island. They have local source of water which they called “bukal” which comes from the mountains and supplies homes across Mararison Island.  

ANTIQUE TERMINAL, MOLO, ILOILO CITY – CULASI, ANTIQUE

Well, I went straight from Ortiz Wharf Port fresh from Guimaras to Antique Terminal, located in Molo, Iloilo City with a cab for P100+ for about 20 minutes travel (depending on the traffic). Or just in case you came from the airport or other parts of Iloilo, just take the cab and you can reach your destination in few minutes. Taxi drivers are kind and gentle they are using metro, hindi kagaya sa lugar na alam mo, mga manloloko at balasubas.

Then, once you arrived at the area, you can asked from the drivers the L3 van or UV Express going to Culasi, Antique, fare is P200 (as of Oct 2017). You have to be patient at waiting especially when you are about to travel late in the afternoon. You can also try to ride with a Ceres bus if there is available seats and if the route is going to Culasi because normally, they only served San Jose (capital of Antique). Average time of travel is 4-5 hours (Depart: 3:30PM – Arrived: 8:30PM). Masakit sa wetpaks pero ayos lang yan, minsan lang naman. Try mo din makipag kwentuhan sa katabi mo bes for sure kakausapin ka naman nila.

OVERNIGHT AT CULASI, ANTIQUE

I had to stay for one (1) night at the hotel which can be found just around the corner, near the plaza since it’s already late and there’s no boat available to cross the deep blue sea under the gloomy rainy evening. You can ask the local for hotels or lodging house and they will surely tell you to stay at LS Suites which is a few meters only from 7/Eleven. The place is cozy and a safe haven for a very cheap prize of P800 per night (Standard Room) with own bathroom + heater, cable TV, WIFI and a queen sized bed. As usual mag-isa nanaman ako, #solotravel and peg.

There, I had a good night sleep.

CULASI PORT – MARARISON ISLAND

Go straight at the tourism office, few meters from the hotel to pay for the terminal fee of P30 (as of Oct 2017). Then if you want to rent a boat, it will be P750 (round trip) or try to showcase your negotiation skills you can have it lower than that of standard rate. But in my case since I’m a solo traveler, I just paid for P150 (STD rate per person - oneway) and get along with other passengers. The trip takes 15 minutes only and the boat was able to have a 360 degree tour around the small paradise. Oh diba? Para talaga sa mga kuripot na kagaya ko to! Same strategy applies when you get back from the Island, you can ride on with other passengers for the same rate or in my case I just paid P100 as advised by Kuya Don-don (bangkero).

There, you’ll be able to see the emerald green sea water with its precious coral stones of different shapes and also witness different sea creatures playing and rooming around like they were welcoming you. Get the chance as well to catch up with the back view of the virgin island and appreciate its bizarre shapes and formations. How was that? It’s really perfect! Again, I will not left any contact details just to give fare chances to bangka drivers to take passengers since there are plenty of them and they are nice.

TREKKING AT THE HILLS

You cannot leave the island without going on top of the hills of Mararison. This is a must for all tourists and it will definitely end your day with a smile as you perceived the spectacular and splendid 360 view of the island. Along the way, you can see pitcher plants and other flora. Just a piece of advice, please don’t pick them up as they only grow in this island maybe because of the climate and the soil. So wag mo nang subukan please, masasaktan ka lang. Pitcher plant are also good to the environment as they regulate the population of mosquitoes. So along the way, you will notice that even after the sun down, there is no sign of mosquitoes along the way.

The peak of the hills is also perfect for the sunrise and sunset viewing. In my case, I was able to witness the sunset since I asked the tour guide to trekked around 4:30PM and we’d get back by 6:15PM. There, you will be able to witness the Batanes liked view of the whole island. A picturesque view of grassy mountains blends with the rich colour of emerald and blue sea. Trekking is easy, just wear shoes to be more comfortable. Wag takong bes ha, hindi yan runway. You can also see the cliffs perfect for photo-ops. Wag mo susubukang talunin lalo na kung walang sasalo sayo.

Please be advised that you cannot go on hiking alone, you have to be guided by a tour guide. Minimum fee is at P200 per person unless you are generous enough, then you can give as much as you want as a form of help for these locals. There are plenty of tour guides that’s why some of them were having one (1) customer per day only and they also gave P20 pesos to the association. Just approach the information both to hire your very own tour guide. 

OVERNIGHT AT MARARISON ISLAND (VILLA VICTORIANO BEACH RESORT)

There are plenty of households’ offerings homestay as there is no hotel yet in the area. In my case, I got a chance to stay in Villa Victoriano Beach Resort, a couple of bahay kubo or nipa hut lying across the beach front for P300 per night. Food is available for P100+ per head (depending on the menu of your choice). There is no fine dining or fastfood around the island so, appreciate what’s available and be thankful for it.

We’ll I’ve got the chance to taste the rich flavor that brought by the nature to the island in one of the menus for dinner. I ordered sea shells (I don’t know what the name is) and it was of the best shell menu I ever had in my whole life. I swear the taste is good, the aroma and the soup, ahhh, I won’t forget that. It was cooked in a traditional way which is “ginisa” with ginger and a lot of garlic. When you get around the island, try to request for the same thing and tell me if that’s worth it.

Travel Tips: (1) Bring more cash as there is no ATM around the island, (2) Bring your own toiletries, medicines and drinking water especially when hiking, (3) Do not pick the pitcher plant and other flora, (4) Bring power bank as there is no abundant supplies of electricity, (5) Be kind to the locals and please do not leave your trash, love mother nature

Enjoy other water fun activities such as swimming, snorkelling, kayaking and fishing or just enjoy the view outside of your Kubo.

Get more views here at my Instagram posts.