After a mountain biking trip on the slope of Mount Mayon, and before attempting to trek up to the volcano’s crater, we decided to go for a motorbike trip. Destination: Cagraray Island.
Renting a Motorbike in Legazpi
Just like in Donsol, we found it rather hard to rent a motorbike in Legazpi. That wasn’t so due to a shortage of scooters in the city but because of the exorbitant prices their owners were inclined to give. People asked us for as much as 3.500 pesos per day! Come on, guys, seriously! Are you completely mad?
The best deal we found was given to us by our hotel: Parm View Inn. A very decent place to stay if you are on a budget. Their initial price for the scooter was 600 per day and they were willing to lower that to 500. After all, we agreed to rent their scooter for 250 pesos for 8 hours or so. Now we’re talking sense. 8 hours: that’s what we needed the bike for. We weren’t planning to sleep on it, after all.
So, a sunny and hot early afternoon, we mounted the scooter and headed out from bustling Legazpi.
Calayucay (Big) Waterfall
We followed the northbound motorway to Tabaco up to the bridge over Basud River where we took a right to Santo Domingo. We drove past this little town and past a village called Calayucay. Some two km after the village, there lay our first destination: the so-called on the map Big Waterfall.
The trail to the waterfall begins on a spot (coordinates: 13.2392, 123.8007) off a sharp right curve. That’s a trail only in a strictly conventional sense. There isn’t anything like a real trail, as far as truth goes. Anyhow, the distance to the waterfall is very short (some 200m), so we made it there pretty quickly following the stream; just a bit of scrabbling and jumping but no wading involved.
The waterfall wasn’t that very big but certainly beautiful and quiet. I very much doubt whether it receives more than a handful of visitors on a yearly basis. It was definitely worth the visit. We stayed a bit listening to its gurgling while smoking a fag and headed back to the bike.
Driving to Cagraray Island
There are three ways to reach Cagraray Island from Luzon mainland: a short boat crossing, a cable car, and a bridge; all located nearby. We, of course, took the bridge.
Upon crossing to the other side we found ourselves in a completely different world. Cagraray is a fairly large island, some 15km across, with hardly any settlements. Just pristine, lush forests and a long coastline hosting numerous secluded little bays. The views from the higher parts of the little roads that span the island were outright astounding.
Misibis Beach Resort
There were only two settlements on the island that we could see on the map: Tambilagao on the north, and Misibis Beach on the south. We made for the latter.
Having ridden across the island with hardly seeing a soul, I was rather surprised to find out that Misibis Beach wasn’t a village but a luxury resort. Seeing the green-water beach from above, we decided to give it a go and see if we could have a dip there anyway.
A guard stopped us at the entrance and inquired about our business. We let him know of it. He said that we may be able to have a swim if we pass by the reception first. He called the reception first and let us drive in.
We only ran into some cleaning staff and construction workers on our way down through the resort’s premises. All of them gave us their wide smiles. Other than them, the resort seemed utterly desolate. No sign of fat American and French tourists anywhere. No discrimination against these nationalities meant – I just surmised that they are their target tourists by the big flags of those countries that were heaved in front of the reception. No discrimination against people’s weight either – but, you know, quite realistically, denizens of such resorts ought to be obese.
We walked into the reception hall where a girl in a funny costume regarded us cold-facedly from behind the counter as we advanced towards her. She let us know that, yes, we may stay at their beach for up to two hours; only 500 pesos per person (lucky us!). No thanks. Goodbye. What idiots. I don’t even want to guess what they ask for a night. And it’s nothing special. Very poor facilities overall. I wish that whatever guests they may be receiving now and then wake up and make better use of their money. We drove out.
Misibis Free Beach
Just beside the Misibis Beach Resort, in walking distance, lies a cute little village on a pretty picturesque beach. That’s exactly where we headed.
You get on the road leading west to the ferry terminal. Some 200m after the resort’s entrance, right before the first turn of the road where the Cagraray Eco Park is, another small road leaves to the left. You follow it down the hill for about half a km, and there you are.
We parked the bike and got to stroll down the beach till we settled on a calm spot between the two portions of the village. Straight into the sea we jumped for a refreshing dip. The village’s kids were quick to take notice of us and approach us in an assembly. They were shy at first but soon they were all around us filling the air with their mirthful giggles. A little girl came and offered us some delicious cakes.
The sun plunged behind the horizon. It was time for us to be leaving. We drove back across the island, accompanied by the twilight and some amazing, clear views of the gently fuming Mount Mayon. There, on the jungly slopes of this mighty volcano would our next adventure take place.
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