5 Days Around Sorsogon, Albay and Camarines Sur: Itinerary, Bicol Travel Guide, and Expenses

I have always been curious about Bicol. I have only been to Masbate, which is my mother’s hometown, but have yet to explore its sister provinces. During gradeschool, we were always taught of how beautiful Bicol is, with my teachers boasting of Mt. Mayon. I have no idea if they have even seen it up close or only in pictures, but when I had some free time before I start with a new company, I decided it was finally my turn to see it for myself.  My sister was also about to commence with her university studies, so as a gift for her for passing the entrance exams and also an initiation (college is hard!), I decided that she also tag along on this trip. Off to new beginnings and new adventures!

Modern Eats Around Albay

I don’t normally look up good restaurants or must-eat delicacies when I go on trips to new places, something I think I must do on my next travels because I miss a lot of opportunities to try out good food. Most of the time, I usually just eat at places nearby places tourists spots, and this is what we did when we went to Albay. I later found out after the trip that some of the places that we went to were quite popular. This would be sort of a mini review of some of the places we dined at and interesting grubs we sampled.

Playing Hide and Seek with Albay's Mayon Volcano

Seeing Mayon Volcano is probably one of the highlights for tourists visiting Albay, it would be a lie to say that we did not put this on our top agenda for this trip. All throughout Grade School, we’ve been told that Mayon is one of the country’s most beautiful landscapes, known for its “perfect cone”, so we wanted to see it with our own eyes. Unfortunately, some things just don’t go as planned.

"Mayon, where na u? Dito na us!"

Lost No More at Ligao City's Kawa-Kawa Hill and Natural Park

We thought Albay was only all about Mayon Volcano. Turns out, there was so much more to see.
First, there was Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave that kept us occupied for half a day with its amusing history. Our next destination the following day was a breath of fresh air, figuratively and literally, since we got to travel away from the city center.

Cooling Off at Hoyop Hoyopan Cave, Albay

It has been amazingly hot at Bicol, most especially in Albay, and we realized that we cannot endure this weather with our bodies that were probably designed to enjoy strong blows of wind. I hoped for that refreshing summer breeze, that’s why we went here during first week of June, but it seemed like we will never achieve that. We only planned to see attractions that concentrated around Mt. Mayon, Bicol’s pride and glory, but one friendly local suggested that if we were looking for a place to cool off, we probably should head to Hoyop Hoyopan Cave.

at Hoyop Hoyopan Cave with a birdie photobomber.