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| Penafrancia Basilica Minore |
April 9, 2009
After
weeks of planning, finally! Started the day very early. Left Manila at
3AM, gased up at Petron SSHwy and early breakfast for an hour.
Finally
off a little past 4AM. Original plan of catching sunrise at Atimonan
coastline was scrapped because we left Manila an hour late. By 5AM we
were already in Sariaya with almost all vacationers on the road.
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| Atimonan - a great view for sunrise, but we were too late |
Passed
the towns of Lucena, Pagbilao..stopped at Atimonan coastline for some
photos..then Plaridel and Gumaca. By the time we reached Gumaca it was
already 8am. So breakfast again (since our next stop will be Naga
already for late lunch).
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| Cathedral of San Diego de Alcala |
After breakfast, we started our Visita
Iglesia---at Gumaca's Cathedral of San Diego de Alcala. A rustic,
centuries old church with beautiful ceiling. "Its first establishment
was in 1582, on its present site. It was transferred to Silangan in the
island of Alabat in 1638. It was burned by the Dutch forces in 1665;
reconstructed and beautified in 1846. It is known as the biggest and
oldest Catholic Church in the province of Quezon. It is located in Brgy.
San Diego Poblacion near the Municipal Government office (from
wikipedia)".
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| Altar of Gumaca Church |
By 10am, we were off to Naga...passed Lopez,
Calauag...the arc welcoming one to Bicol...and here the very rough road
begins up to Tagkawayan and some portions of Camarines Sur.
The
whole Quirino Highway is under construction and some portions have
damaged cemented roads...so extra caution is advised otherwise, you will
end up "flying" or with a blown tire. If you plan to take this route,
be ready with 1 peso coins to give to kids/adults dotting this road
directing motorists since most roads are one way...and I mean there's a
lot of them!
One more thing, gas up at Tagkawayan because that is the last decent gas station all the way to Naga.
After
374 kms, 8 hours of driving hours, rough roads and extreme heat, we
reached Naga past 1pm. After check-in, we had our late lunch at Geewan -
a fastfood restaurant at the city center serving authentic Bicol food
at really affordable prices.
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| San Francisco Church |
Then on to Visita Iglesia...Naga has
several great churches but chose to visit 4 that were all within the
city proper. San Francisco Church is a relativley newly renovated
church at the City center...then on to the Penafrancia Shrine..then to
the Penafrancia Basilica Minore where you get to kiss and touch Our
Lady of Penafrancia... and lastly, the Naga Cathedral.
By the
time we reached Naga Cathedral, it was already 5:30pm and a mass was
on-going, so we decided to do our last stations at the Stations of the
Cross within the church courtyard---beautifully made in stained glass...
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| Penafrancia Shrine |
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| Penafrancia Shrine |
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| Penafrancia Basilica Minore |
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| Naga Cathedral |
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| Naga Cathedral |
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| @ Naga Cathedral |
It
was a long, long day for me...yet, I did not feel tired until we were
back in the hotel, showered and refreshed....I enjoyed the road
trip..taking in the beauty of the various towns we passed..discovering
more places to go back to...
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| the beautiful stained glass at the Basilica's multi-purpose hall |
Discovered a local delicacy: Their local "puto" made of cassava flour with "bukayo" (sweetened young coconut) filling, steamed via a makeshift used can of cooking oil. It's yummy, not too sweet, and it's cheap. You can find locals selling/cooking these just outside the San Francisco Church.
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| steaming to cook |
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| Yummy local "puto" |
Facts:
Imus - Naga : 374kms
Hours of Driving: 8 hours (excluding pit stops)
Towns: 21 towns from Sto. Tomas Batangas
Provinces: Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Camarines Sur
Hotels in Naga: Moraville Hotel & Restaurant
Starview Hotel (business hotel)
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