The Travelling Feet

Can you resist a beauty like this?

I am still not done with my Bangok to Siem Reap trip series and here I am again, starting on another one but this time it is about the awesome coves in the Philippines. Only a few tourists go here but I have a feeling these coves are going to be huge attractions in the future.

Now what am I talking about?

It’s actually my trip to Zambales – that trip I took a couple of days after our Bangok to Siem Reap trip. And again, thanks to Cebu Pacific’s reliable promo fares back then, we were able to book this trip for only P114.00/head for a round trip fare from Cebu to Clark. I hope Cebu Pacific goes back to selling those cheap roundtrip airfares for less than P500!

Almost 26 days after our Bangkok-Siem Reap trip, funds not yet replenished, I still doubted whether I should push through with this trip since I haven’t recovered from the previous one – financially, that is. In fact, 10 days after my Zambales trip, I was scheduled to go on another adventurous trip again, this time to Sagada…but this one’s for another series of travel stories I can’t wait to share with you guys

Looking back, I wonder what came into our minds when we booked those consecutive trips. I guess no matter what, I am still grateful for being given the chance to visit two of the most popular travel destinations in the Philippines: Zambales and Sagada.

So let’s talk about Zambales first. Honestly, there’s so little information I know about Zambales. Mt. Pinatubo and the Aetas. Who could ever forget Mt. Pinatubo when this sleeping volcano suddenly decided to throw up tons and tons of magma back in 1991? Then there’s also the Aetas, the indigenous people who live in Zambales. Other than that, I have absolutely no clue what to expect in this side of the Philippines.

sweet serenity at Nagsasa Cove in Zambales

Then I saw this blog post about the serene Nagsasa Cove from fellow blogger Winston Almendras last 2010. The photos I saw from his site were really stunning! And then I forgot all about it until the day we had to decide where we need to go for the Clark trip. You see, we only had two options: visit the coves of Zambales or go surfing in La Union. Upon further research, we discovered that it was cheaper to check out Zambales than to go to La Union. And with the limited budget we have for the trip, Zambales was the winner by TKO. LOL.

This trip was originally booked for 3 heads but since 1 head is now enjoying a new life found in Singapore, Ed and I decided to ask fellow travellers who were interested to travel with us to cut on the costs of the entire trip. Luckily, Anton and his wife were game to join us. There were also other travel buddies who promised to go with us but backed out the last minute.

So on the 18th day of February, we flew from Cebu to Clark, travelled from Clark to Olongapo, Olongapo to Zambales and started our cove exploration from San Miguel to Anawangin Cove and Nagsasa Cove on a very beautiful Saturday morning

Next…check out the video of the scary boat trip going to Nagsasa Cove first and stay tuned for more updates!

——————————————————————–

This is a series of travel stories on my trip to Zambales last February of 2011 to explore Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island. If you haven’t read on the first posts, please check on the links below and please wait for the rest of the series….;-)

• The Scary Boat Trip Going to Nagsasa Cove
• How to Get to Zambales from Cebu or other destinations

Last year, I vowed to myself that I should stop travelling to international destinations in the next coming months as I need to save up considering the fact that I just “retired” from my 5-year job in a BPO company. But when opportunity presented last October, the vows were completely forgotten and I gave in to the travel itch.

This was all Cebu Pacific Air’s fault!

Kidding aside, I’m really grateful for the promo fares that Cebu Pacific offer its passengers. If not for them, I wouldn’t be able to travel to both local and international destinations with those exhorbitant fares other airline companies charge.

My friend wanted to go to Bangkok to shop for clothing to sell back home and when I told them of the promo fare I saw online for Clark to Bangkok, she said they’d avail of the promo. She also convinced me and pleaded me to join them too and I was sold *sigh*. I told a travel buddy of mine about the trip and he agreed to join us too. The plan was for all of us to fly to Bangkok together. But after my buddy made me realize that I’m no longer restricted to the normal 2-days off work schedule since I now own my work time, what used to be a 4-day trip became a week-long trip instead. Fireworks were popping up my mind as I immediately formulated a plan to do a side trip to Siem Reap. (light bulb!)

So when I announced to my parents that I will be travelling to Bangkok last January 2011 my mom immediately blurted out “Na naman? Anong gagawin mo dun?” (Again? What are you going to do there?)

(Being Bicolanos, our parents required us to speak Tagalog inside the house so that we won’t forget that dialect. That’s why my other Cebuano friends find my way of speaking the Cebuano dialect weird. That’s because it’s a mixture of Bisaya, Tagalog and Bicolano.)

My reply was simple. “Mo-laag!” (will roam)

And when I also told them I’ll go back to Cambodia, my dad blurted out “Di ba delikado doon?” (Is it not dangerous to go there?). I guess he was referring to the landmines and the war and conflict that he had heard from years before.

I immediately reassured them that there’s nothing to be afraid of when going to Cambodia. Especially that I’m still around and nothing bad has happened to me when I last went there. I used Cambodia and not specifically Siem Reap since I know he doesn’t know where that one is

Parents. They’re always like that. Over-protective. But after explaining, they consented since they really can’t do anything to stop me from travelling. hehehe

exposed pictures of our balloon ride in Siem Reap in 2008, one of the reasons why I had to go back

Actually, this was my 3rd travel to Bangkok and my 2nd to Siem Reap. My first trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap happened last 2008. I love Siem Reap so much that I promised to go back to that quaint “not-so-little” town one day. And I never imagined that that one day would be this year. I was so excited. Finally I can take photos again of how wonderful that place is.

For my next blog posts, I’ll be documenting our detailed trip to Siem Reap and Bangkok, including the cheap places we stayed, the great food trips we devoured, the beautiful places we’ve seen and the exact money we spent for the entire trip. To give you an idea, I spent a total of Php 8,750.25 (~$197) for my trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap last January 18-25, 2011. That’s Php 4,296.00 (~$97) in Bangkok and Php 4,454.25 (~$100) in Siem Reap. This only includes food, transportation, accomodation and sight seeing in Bangkok and Siem Reap, not including the plane fares and bus fares from Cebu-Manila-Clark-Bangkok-Clark-Cebu and the travel tax and terminal fees in the Philippines

So do visit thetravellingfeet regularly as I’ll give you a blow-by-blow account of my 1st trip for the year 2011.

————————-

This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – You are reading this now
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport