Bicol in Five Days: Homeschooling Outdoors
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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| Mayon Volcano, Albay |
I thought June would be the perfect time to go on a trip to
Bicol (or anywhere in the country for that matter) since the peak season for
local and foreign tourists ended in May. And I was right. There were a lot of
empty seats on the plane when we flew to Legazpi City (or was it because I got
us the six a.m. flight?) I did not want to waste any time and had wanted to
embark on an early morning journey as soon as we got to Albay.
My son and I did a lot of research
weeks before our flight, but since Bicol is a huge region divided into four
provinces plus two other island provinces, it was a demanding task just to try
to decide which places in Bicolandia to visit.
Much has been written about Bicol and all the beautiful
places dispersed in all of its six provinces, so we made other travellers’
experiences and a few articles on the historical places in Region 5 a
significant part of our planning.
Did our trip plans roll out well? Pretty much. I’m
geographically challenged, but I am overjoyed to say that travelling alone with
our 12-year-old son yanked the independent traveller out of me.
Educational Trip
The trip was part of a series of educational trips that
we’ve planned for the year. We’re a homeschooling family and one of the
advantages of homeschooling is not being tied up to a schoolyear calendar that
makes students suffer from studenthood. So when everyone’s boarding the school
vans, homeschooling families like us could be on our way to places where we
learn from experience and not from pictures from the books.
I have a vivid memory of how Mayon Volcano looked like in
our Social Studies book in grade school. I remember it so well I can still smell
the ink from the 200-page or so book printed in newsprint. What we aim to do in
our homeschooling years is to not only look at books but try to go to the places
they talk about as well.
Travelling Across Bicol
We traversed the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte and
Camarines Sur. We’re saving Catanduanes, Sorsogon and Masbate for future trips.
Albay
The Bicol region has myriad places for all kinds of travellers.
For those who like undemanding uphill climbs, there are beautiful places in
Albay with magnificent views of Mayon and the cityscape such as Lignon and Kawa-Kawa
Hills. For a historical caving tour, Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave in Cotmon, Camalig is
an enlightening experience for people of all ages. The Cagsawa Ruins in Daraga
is probably the most-visited place in Albay, judging from the number of people with
photos online going overboard with jump shots between the bell tower and Mayon.
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| Cagsawa Ruins, Legazpi, Albay |
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| A view from Kawa-kawa Nature Park, Guinobatan, Albay |
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| Lignon Hill, Legazpi, Albay |
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| Hoyop-hoyopan Cave |
Albay is also the home of the Church of
Nuestra Señora de la Porteria located in Daraga. It is a picturesque church on top
of the hill with Mayon Volcano for a view.
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| Church in Daraga |
Camarines Sur
Naga, an independent component city in the
Bicol region, is roughly 94 kilometers from Legazpi City.
Degustation is Naga’s twin word and taking a nice, long walk along Magsaysay
Avenue should help set your gastronomic adventure. One thing Naga is known for
is the Camsur Watersports Complex (just say CWC so people will know what you
mean), but we skipped this one (for now) since my son decided that he wanted to
take surfing lessons in Bagasbas, Daet.
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| Naga City |
A city walk tour in Naga City is enriching and is
also the best way to reach architectural beauties such as the Naga
Metropolitan Cathedral, Penafrancia Basilica Minore, and the Archdiocese of
Caceres.
Camarines Norte
Bagasbas Beach in Daet is one of Bicol’s
havens for beginner-surfers. Waves roll in from the Pacific Ocean and the
horizon behind it offers an awe-inspiring view to the two-kilometer stretch of the
rustic beach. The boulevard is lined with no-frills restaurants and mini-hotels.
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| Bagasbas Beach, Daet, Camarines Norte |
Daet is the provincial capital of Camarines
Norte where the very first monument for Jose Rizal was built. It is a quiet town
that transforms into a colorful, lively place during the Pinyasan Festival held
in the month of June. The sweetest pineapples in the Philippines, they say,
come from
Daet, thus the festival is named after the fruit.
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| Very first monument for Rizal in Daet, Camarines Norte |
I should not forget to mention that in 1919 Daet
became an independent province on March 3, incidentally the same day as my birthday.
More about Bicol in my next
posts. Thank you for coming over and feel free to share this article! For other homeschooling related stories, click here.
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