Road Trip- Bondoc Peninsula

I'm the girl from Quezon prov who thought after gazillion times of passing the Quezon highways could already sleep the whole trip because I thought I've seen all the roads and towns of my coconut province.

Coming from our recent visit to the farthest town in Quezon from Manila my hometown, we decided to reroute again to Bondoc Peninsula going back to Manila. Take note that from my countless vice-versa trips of Manila-Quezon , this was only a second time. This time, I decided to get on with the trip fully awake and enjoyed the sceneries through the window of our moving vehicle.




Expensive big bikes of hobbyist gentlemen that I was sure not residents of the local town.








Manong surely felt happy, he smiled while I took this photo as we entered the first town of B. Peninsula from Gumaca.




Beautiful century houses turned commercial shops in the town of Agdangan.




We passed by the place of Cong. Suarez, does the name ring a bell? He was attached to the controversial =million pesos dinner treat of Phil. delegation in New York last year with Pres. Macapagal.




The Luminous Cross Sanctuary at Agdangan. We visited it last year. See more of it here




Locals having fun at the road side beach.




With the beautiful Borawan within sight. See more of Borawan here.




Those locals in the beach were so happy to look at, we decided to take a break and took some fresh air.




Random art work took our fancy.....








Must be owned by this resto by the beach, which in itself looked like another work of art.




This was the other resort in Padre Burgos which we didn't see last year. Maybe, we'll try it this year if we could make another visit to Borawan this summer.


To compare this Bondoc Peninsula route to Manila and the Quezon Zigzag-Atimonan route, we figured the latter was a faster way. Yet Bondoc P. way was traffic free. It was like we were the only car in the highway. We felt, we like the zigzag road more still and would take this BP route only during holidays when Quezon highways are loaded with home coming vehicles.

A Second Look of Borawan

Last month we went to my home town in Quezon . On our way back to Manila, we took a new (to us..) route. From Gumaca Quezon, instead of taking the Zigzag road, we opted to experience Bondoc Peninsula route which comprised of a number of towns_Agdangan, Padre Burgos, to name two of those towns. It was our first time to pass this way. We had been to Bondoc P, but only up to the first town (Padre Burgos) from Manila. This time, we took the other way around, which made Padre Burgos the last town before Lucena City to Manila.

Rewind : Last summer vacation (April 09), we visited the town of Padre Burgos and enjoyed Borawan Island. (island photo took from April 09 visit)




*see more of Borawan here.




When we reached Padre Burgos, my girls had recognized one familiar sight..




Borawan_ on a different angle.This was from the road, which we hadn't realized during our first visit that it was visible from here since we took the other route then.


I featured the island on my sites and realized it was "news" to many. I received lots of inquiries and interests to visit the place. I remember in one of my sites, I would read like 20 messages a day on the first week of posting it. Some of them had reached me through multiply and facebook account as I was sure about how resistant the comment space here at blogspot if you don't have your own account here.

One of them was "Leo", one of the 2% who shared back to me his own experience of the place. I intentionally hid his headshot photo and contact infos for his privacy.

hi... sorry to bother you.

Jul 23, '09 10:26 PM by leonard for users mylenemonik and elcapistrano0321

Hello... im leo and ive been reading your blog about quezon... Im planning to bring my team to padre burgos this coming august. Nobody has been there yet, not even me. Im wondering if you could be kind enough to answer some of the questions and concerns that I have. First is the place to stay, are there other resorts or vacation houses available around the area where the tamarind tree is? we dont require a big resort amenities we are doing this as a team building activity and we would like it to be a little private. We also would like to visit borawan island because of its beauty. Hope that you could help me out on this one. By the way i saw your blog about fitness first. I myself is a member but i usually go in MOA. hehe . Take care and hoping for your response.

mylenemonik wrote on Jul 24, edited on Jul 24 hello leo. i wonder how did u arrive to my multiply acct. i assume, u r talking about my site in blogger (ascertain bliss)? i mean there's a comment box there where u can send message too..:D anyway, u actually came to the right place. i frequent multiply and saw ur message right away. now that we're here, hope i cud help u somehow. other than Tamarind Tree, i think there's another one in town (according to the boatman) but i don't think it has contact nos available in the net, neither i hold personal infos about that other resort. if you're not concern about coming in without reservations,maybe u cud just walk- in. anyway, it's off season and really Padre Burgos is uncrowded even on summer (when we went there). if your group is into adventure, you may opt to stay in the islands_Dampalitan or Borawan. there are nipa hut cottages in Dampalitan and i think campsiting is possible in Borawan. i'm about to publish my entry of Borawan Island (that has been sitting as a draft for weeks now) in Ascertain Bliss. you cud check it out a little later.

reply elcapistrano0321 wrote on Jul 28 hey... I really appreciate your time and effort in helping me out. Im almost stressed in planning this trip already. I was able to track you down up to your multiply account thru your blog site. Whenever you google Padre Burgos your site will always be on the top of the few listed. Its really hard to research about this place since the place is reserved and not all people know about it. But i really think that its amazing. Honestly Ive never been to Quezon nor anyone on my team and its gonna be our first time and i think its really gonna be exciting. Whenever i look at pictures of borawan and dampalitan it never fails to amaze me. How they were able to preserve such beauty and kept it away from the crowd and commercialism. By the way, so aside from tamarind tree there is another one in the area? I wonder if its villa anita? We are actually considering staying in borawan but our main concern is potable or fresh water in the island. Do you think we could take the risk of going there without prior reservations or definite place to stay in? We are planning to leave Manila around 3pm so most likely we will get there in the evening do you think we will be able to find a place to stay in the mainland for the night? Gosh... im sorry to put stress on you. hehe hope you dont mind. Alright, well you take care hope to hear from you again. i love your blog by the way. Its a real compliment. hehe. hope to see you soon in the gym i usually go in MOA and at times in megamall. Good health to you and good luck on those pounds that youve gained within 3 months of not going to the gym.Im still in struggle of loosing my pounds away. hehe ( i read that as well). Take care.

mylenemonik wrote on Jul 29 hello there..to leave mla. at 3pm, i guess u really have to make a reservation then. arriving at night (around 6-7pm) wud leave u no time to look for a place. as for the other resort, maybe it was villa anita, but i'm not sure..I've bin there (padre burgos) only once last summer and went straight to tamarind tree. if u r already in a nick of time, i cud only safely suggest to u the tamarind tree since i had it personally experienced.on second thought => u have to consider the nature of your team building. tamarind,by the way, holds some restrictions. they don't allow smoking & drinking (without which, cud the team survive?_hehe) inside the resort.food is packaged with the accomodation rate.otherwise, the resort is a good venue for team building. as a bonus side trips, borawan and dampalitan are nice, especially if u love nature and appreciate the bareness of commercialism. but still, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. the islands are not that great as palawan and boracay but what make them "wow na rin", first of all is the proximity.it's so near from mla and so accessible. secondly, i like it that we almost owned the ocean and the beach when we were there and it was supposedly peak season. are u planning to stay overnight or the whole weekends? if u really don't have the luxury of time to prepare for padre burgos, maybe u cud just go somewhere nearer. hey_kip me posted, i'm already involved anyway_:))) what days you go to moa?

elcapistrano0321

sorry for the late reply just found time to go online today... maybe we will just be pressing our luck once were there because tamarind tree holds a lot of restrictions when it comes to drinking and smoking and definitely we wont last a day without cigarettes. hehe. im not really expecting a place as beautiful as boracay or palawan but what amazes me is the absence of commercialism on the area and the serenity of the place. Thou honestly we have somewhat like high expectations on the place as well since the last place we visited was Bolinao in pangasinan and it was really amazing. hopefully we will be lucky enough to find a place to stay in for the team building coz as much as i wanted Tamarind tree it cant be. I have a neighbor whos from quezon and she somewhat assures me that we will find a place to stay in there. Hopefully shes right. my plan is once we get there ill hire a trike to bring us around and hopefully find a place to stay in. I believe in a sying that nobody knows the place better that a tricycle driver. hahahaha. Its gonna be 2 nights 2 days aug 5,6,7. its so close already and im really excited for it. I even prepared games to be played during the island hopping and prepared goody bags for everyone and even casting the menu for the trip and planning the itenerary for it. Hopefully everything will flow out smoothly as planned. ill keep you posted and will even share pictures with you. i really appreciate your time and your kindness and your efforts to help me out. Btw i go to Moa almost everyday after my shift with a colleague of mine to work out. hope to see you soon. id love to see you in person. hehe. take care! and btw you have nice beautiful kids.. youre doing great in raising them. congratulations. have a nice weekend ahead.

ChronologicalReverseThreaded

mylenemonik wrote on Aug 2 goodluck! ..and i don't mean it as "gudlak! na nagtataray" but really i wish u well, may everything be fun out there for ur team. i'm juz a lil' worried about u not having awaiting accommodations. anyway, you're all adults and i guess whatever encounters u wud experience upon looking for a place to stay, wud be an adventure/misadventure to laugh at the end of the day. i agree with u_nobody knows it better than the locals of the place especially the trike drivers! i've been to Bolinao myself and it was another beautiful place.as for Padre Burgos, if in anyrate the place has failed to match ur expectations, try to divert ur attention to your company, the people u'r with because really at the end of the day_ it's the people, not the place that makes the trip a journey..haha! now that's unsolicited advise from an older traveler. u saw my girls? they are 15 and 9 years old. now that gives u idea how a decade or two older I'm than u r. it's nice meeting u on line. i'm sure we'll meet at the gym one day. till then.. have a fruitful team building! :D

reply

elcapistrano0321 wrote on Aug 17

ei girl.....

how are you? sorry for the delay on the update. the plan went thru and we were able to go to padre burgos... girl the place is amazing and and the people are great and accommodating. There are some major problems along the way but we were able to pass thru it. The scheduled trip so happened became corys memorial day and the traffic is terrible. we were held in traffic in edsa and reach padre burgos so late at night that we didnt have a place to stay at. Buti na lang game lahat ng kasama at walang naginarte sa grupo. We stayed for the night in a local restaurant and then they even looked for a place for us to stay the next day. Thats how accommodating those people are. we have found a place and they charge 200 per person for a 24 hour stay. The place is pretty decent and comfortable. We were able to go to Borawan which really is our target then went to dampalitan as well. The place is very beautiful and we had the island to ourselves it like having our own private island and we loved it!! Im posting the experience on the blog portion of multiply. We are supposed to call it "The Quezon Adventure" and yes indeed it became an adventure. hehe

Thanks really for your help and all the information you gave me about the place. Im also posting pictures on the internet and will be sending you the link soon.

Take care always.

leo

The Tamarind Tree (part1)

While goggling for a place to stay in Padre Burgos, 2 resorts showed. One with fresh & green website with accessible booking office near my house. The other one with nothing but an email add, not even on line, no phone nos, too. I chose the one with easy booking access ofcourse.
Before that, I called my friend who was based in our (Quezon) home town,a 3 hours drive from Padre Burgos. I asked  if she could suggest a place to stay or had she ever visited Borawan Island? Her answers were negative and even warned me not to go there at all because of the risk of security hazards (there was a buzz regarding the town as NPA hiding place). Needless to say, I didn't believe her, but ofcourse when I made the reservation, I nailed the people from the resort to reaffirm our security, countless times.
I went to the bank and made a deposit of 50% of the room rate. The resort is not yet ready for credit card and only accepts over the counter payment.



T
The Resort
The resort is called The Tamarind Tree. The name appealed to me as very organic and fresh. The resort's website said it all and I was sold.




Rugged Road
It seems like this is not in the town proper but in a remote area. But don't be deceived by the short rugged road, it is very much in the "poblacion", actually this is the private road of the resort which is obviously not yet developed. On the other hand, the road compliments the rustic appeal of the resort.




The Entrance
Look how pretty!..and nice..and fresh!This is the entrance of the resort_on top of the hill, the rest of it unfurl down to the beach front. From here you could already enjoy a glimpse of the ocean with islets sitting on it.

Uphill Cottages
A number of these nipa hut cottages are located near the entrance of the resort which is uphill. The sizes vary_from small hut (for 2-4 persons) to a big one (10-12 guests).

Going Down
To get down to the beach front, there are two ways, one is to use these stone stairs, passing by bushes of greens and colorful flowers.

Drive Thru
Or run down on this drive thru which is actually for the cars. But if you're in a hurry, this one is a short cut!

Almost There
Close reach to the beach you would pass by some bamboo bridges and benches inviting to take a breath of freshness.

Sweet Lil' Bridge
This bridge will bring you to the largest of the only three cottages at the beachfront.

Beach Front Cottage
This is a fresh air cottage and so the rest of the cottages are. There's no cottage w/ ac and walls are scarce here.

Inside
The interior is like an exterior. It's open and has curtains hanging ready as cover- up when the need arises. Even the upper floor has big open windows.

A Bali Hut
This is another one of the three cottages in the beachfront, a medium size hut..

No Walls Too
..and carries the same fresh air open windows just like the rest.

At This Point
Maybe you are wondering how about mosquitoes at night? With this open windows architecture, I asked the same question..

Giant Kulambo
..and found the answer when the night came. They have a specially made mosqueto net (made to order from Laguna) as big as the hut where everyone still has a room for each own activity. Now, that's clever and how innovative!

Green Ground
This big open space is a multi function ground which is also a suggestive camping site. The resort has tents for rents or you can bring one.

Part Two here

Padre Burgos, Quezon

I hailed from Quezon and it's funny that I had only discovered Bondoc Peninsula just very recently. Although I would glance at the welcome arch (photo) when we passed by on the way up to zigzag road , I had never passed thru it not until this summer when we went to Borawan , in Padre Burgos , a town in Bondoc Peninsula.










After Lucena, there's Pagbilao then Padre Burgos if you're not coming up the zigzag road in Atimonan. It is approximately 160 kms. from Manila, an easy four-hour drive in non-rush hour traffic.




If you are coming from Manila,this is the best landmark that you can get.From here,it's only 15 minutes zero traffic drive to reach the town of Padre Burgos.



Padre Burgos is the first town of Bondoc PeninsulaThe town proper is small and has a charm of a barrio. Quiet and quaint yet offers some of the best beaches and islands in the country. Nature beauties that are fresh , green and not yet commercialized.














We entered the town and followed our map to take a turn to a fork road. A short rugged road brought us to the gate of the resort we chose to stay_  The Tamarind Tree, see here.








front beach of the resort

we had a marvelous island hopping

the couple islets

more unnamed islets sitting pretty in the middle of the ocean

Dampalitan Island with lots of sea turtle resting on its beach side. See Dampalitan Island here.




the iconic Borawan which brought the town of Padre Burgos in my map. See more of Borawan = = > click here

Nothing disappointed us in Padre Burgos. From the resort, beach, islands, islets , ocean . . we were happy with our short stay. Never to forget the local folks were very courteous and added charm to the place.