Lawrence Castro: June 2012

The day has finally arrived! Molly, Fel and I were bound for our Summer 2012 - CamSur Experience!

It was an exciting one because it was planned in just a matter of days and we were all up going

to try PNR. We thought, we have tried almost all and since it was Bicol that we were going to experience,

why not experience it the way it should be starting by boarding a train.

We boarded PNR train from its nearest station to us which is Pasay. The ticket, one way going to Naga City was around P650.00 and you must buy your ticket going back to Manila from Naga City Station. We took

the sleepers type of accommodation. The sleepers were really comfortable and a great choice except that it does not have any electric outlet near by, you have to walk to the wash areas near the CR at the end of the coaches for you to get access to it and charge your gadgets. Inside the train, you can really feel its shaking effect which I eventually get used to but the part that I hate most is some people who live alongside the railways throw rocks (anything) to the coaches which was a really scary. The train ride was a 10-hour ride to Naga City and it can get longer than that depending on the situation. It can get really freezing cold in the train, I really mean freezing cold so you must bring something heavy duty to keep you really warm. You may also want to bring a disinfectant spray especially if you're sensitive to dirt like me and my friends.LOL We also bought a few food items since there is no stop over for meal during the whole trip. The ride was okay, I did not feel bored in the train because the time schedule was really for the passengers to sleep during the trip. We boarded the train at around 6pm in Pasay and reached Naga City at around 6 am.

WE ARRIVED IN NAGA CITY at around past 6 am and the first thing that we did was to get tickets back to Manila, unfortunately, according to the one in the office, it was too early and that we just come back at 8am. OMG! We can't waste time! So we just risked it and just went on to continue with our scheduled itinerary. We rode a tricycle which brought us to the van terminal bound to Sabang Port. A P10.00 terminal fee will be collected from Sabang Port before you can board a 2-hour boat ride to Guijalo Port then another P30.00 Environmental fee from Guijalo Port. If you have no prearranged service to pick you, its no worries since many tricycles available around to bring you to your lodging. Tricycle ride cost us P50.00 per head because we had the ride exclusive to us only and in fair it was a bit far so I felt it was okay. After a little while of preparing for our next schedule and getting something for lunch we headed for another tricycle ride that brought us to the boat for our Island touring!

The Islands were seriously breath-taking! They were all amazing. We were able to visit many but I can only remember Lahus, Matukad, Hunongan and my favorite Gota. The water was splendid! haha I actually asked the bangkero to stop in the middle of two islands, one was Gotta, because the green water was really inviting me to swim in, and boy, I had so much fulfillment swimming and made a couple of video greetings for some friends in Manila!

On our way back, we crossed paths with the Survivor International Crew but we were not allowed to take pics with them. They were shooting somewhere they did not tell us where.

As soon as we reached the land again, we had halo-halo for mirienda while taking a quick rest then rode a tricycle again heading back to our lodging place.