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| Trying to ride the waves |
Baler is one of the famous places in Aurora Province, known for its waves and its attraction to tourist for surfing. This small town is a located at the Central Luzon facing the Pacific Ocean. Based on experience this is so far one of the farthest places I have been to in the country. I was not really a fan of local tourism until recently.
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| A view of the Amphere Beach |
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| Just before Twilight in Sabang Beach |
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| Twilight Zone |
Thanks to blogs like Lakwatsero, The Travelling Dork and a few more blogs. They have definitely helped me familiarize the place and get there in a flyby. I was able to maximize and enjoy my overnight stay in Baler and was able to do lots of fun stuff.
It was the first evening of May when we hopped on the bus along with my sister to New York Cubao to catch a six hour long bus ride to Baler. Lucky for us, there are still four seats available for JoyBus for their second trips. For a long ride, I would definitely prefer paying more just to have the convenience. Anyhow, I already made up my mind that I'd sleep my way to Baler. Based on other blogs there are 2 trips going to Baler, 12:30am and 1:00am *not sure. But when I got there, I inquired with their daily trips. There are 5 JoyBus trips; first trip is 12:30am and the last trip is 5:30am. Though, one shouldn't be complacent since these buses are easily filled. Tip, you buy tickets ahead of time. It is either you purchase it online or walk-in Strictly no reservations. The bus leaves on time as well, so you shouldn't be too complacent even you have purchased the tickets too. The JoyBus tickets costs P635 for (2x2) and P700 (deluxe-lazyboy type). No stop over and there is a urinal inside the bus. If its to pricey, you can opt for Genesis bus. They are from the same company and costs less; around P450-ish (I havent asked the exact fare). If you want a cheaper fare then a you may wanna ride any bus from Cubao to Cabanatuan and transfer another bus from Cabanatuan to Baler. Though this travel will buy you more time, 7-8hrs due to bus stop.
During the travel, I would highly suggest you sleep. That is to make sure you have stamina throughout the day. But if you have the adrenaline and has high stamina on rigid activities like mine, you'll definitely survive. ;)
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It was a long weekend, thus making it so hard to look for accommodations. Thanks to Senyor Lakwatsero's long list of places to stay, i was lucky that there was an available room for my sister and I. We managed to reserved a room at Sea Breeze. It is a lodging house situated right next to Yellow fin and at the back of Bayler's Inn. It is very affordable and close to the beachfront. A fan room good for two is P800. It also has its own comfort room. Check in and out is 12nn. We arrived in Baler around 6:30am, hopped on to a tricycle asked to be dropped at Sea Breeze. In ten minutes, we were already there. We just literally left or clothes there and started the town tour. The tricycle driver we had from the terminal also was our driver/tourist guide the whole day. FYI, all of their tricycle drivers are tourism licensed tourist guides and all their prices are P700 flat rate (may change prior notice). Some may charge P800 but who cares, its all worth it. You may even want to give more by the end of the day. There are lots of great places in Baler and its nearby town which is already part of the tour. We started the ball running at 7:00am and decided to end the day by 4:00pm. Details on the tour, here.
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We took a breather and a rest for 30 minutes as soon as we get back to the lodge. Well, my sister did. I, on the other hand went to the beachfront and entertained myself with the people trying to learn how to surf. There's hundreds of people are trying to learn surfing. Learning surf seems to be easy but it ain't until you try to balance a board on water. The surfing lesson per hour is P300-350 and if you know how to swim without an instructor then you can just rent a board for P200 per hour to P400 half a day.
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As soon as my sister recharged, we strolled the beachfront and start to check out places to fill out hungry stomach. There are cool restos and they are all affordable and reasonable. Everywhere is jammed pack, thus we settle Baler Surfer Grill. It was just 9pm but there are less people. It seems that people retire early and gets up early as well. So after taking some snapshots here and there, we also decided to get some snooze to recharge since i planned to wake up early for some twilight shoot. Early as 4:25am, I rushed to the beachfront and before 5am, there are a few people who were strolling the seaside already. My hunch was indeed correct. Not only that, its a proof that there are people like me who has a love and hate relationship with Mr. Sun. As soon as i was satisfied with my shots, I went for a surfing lesson. By 7am, we were already eating our Breakfast at Hungry Surfer. After the sumptuous buffet, we head back to the lodge and packed our things. We tried to reach Genesis bus terminal to catch up the last ride to Manila. Unfortunately, its full and we don't have a choice but to opt for via Baler-Cabanatuan-Cubao route. Without further delay, we went to the Public Terminal and luckily we were able to catch the ordinary bus to Cabanatuan leaving by 9am. This ride only costs P170, has one stop over for lunch and 3.5 hrs of bus ride. When we reached Cabantuan Bus Terminal, there are various of transportation to choose from. We opted for Baliwag Bus (Aircon bus) which is for P180. Ordinary bus is P155. There is also the Five Star Bus who also has a daily trip Cubao-Cabanatuan vice versa daily and has a last trip by 10pm. The fare rate is within the same figure. In conclusion, if its not a hassle for you to do the transfers, you will definitely save a lot. Indeed, you are always paying for convenience. With God's Grace, we were able to reach Cubao by 5:00pm. Thus, the travel was almost 8 hours and we couldn't be more excited to stretch our limbs by the time we got off the bus. Baler is a very promising place, unspoiled and has still preserved its wonders and natural resources. I hope a lot of people will appreciate its wonders more. Indeed, our country is one blessed Pearl of the Orient Sea.
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