Coron2015 Series: Getting There and Getting Around

Last Holy Week, my family and I went to Coron, Palawan for our summer trip. 

Coron is a quiet town found north of Palawan and is popular because of its abundance in pristine islands and thriving marine life. Getting there by plane is fairly quick. From Manila, Busuanga Airport (Francisco B. Reyes Airport) is about 45-60minutes by plane. There are flights to Busuanga everyday, though the airfare is a bit more expensive as compared to Puerto Princesa, Palawan since flights to Busuanga are via a twin-prop airplane.

We booked our flights via Cebu Pacific which was scheduled at 4.15pm, April 3, 2015. As expected, NAIA Terminal 3 was packed Well anyway... Some of the other airlines that fly to Busuanga from Manila are Philippine Airlines, SkyJet and AirAsia.

It was my first time to ride a twin-prop plane, admittedly I was bit anxious and felt a wee bit claustrophobic since it is such a small plane. Glad that the flight only took about forty five minutes, I'm not quite sure but I felt that we were flying lower than usual. 

Busuanga Airport is situated in the middle of nowhere, all I ever saw before landing was land. The runway is short that's why only Cessna and ATR planes are allowed to land and take off from there. The airport itself is extremely small, its more of a hangar converted to an airport actually, the airport staff manually carries your luggage from the plane to the arrival area where you can pick it up.

Transport from the airport to your chosen accommodation can be pre-arranged by your hotel or loding, but there are also passenger vans that can take you to your accommodation, fare is at Php150 per head, one way. It takes roughly 30-40 minutes land travel to reach the town proper itself. Meanwhile, you can busy yourself by drinking in the amazing views that unfolds right in front of your eyes during transit. The greenery and mountain views are so beautiful and serene and very relaxing too. I was seated at the front and wished I had eight more eyes so I can properly see everything, the land trip, for me, was just charming.

Since we were checked in right smack in the middle of town, getting around was fairly easy, there are tons of tricycles that you can hail to take you to restaurants or other attractions. Our hotel was also just walking distance to the Catholic Church and Mt. Tapyas, as well as Coron's most famous restaurants. 

How I went to Baguio

My latest Baguio trip happened last January 15-18, 2015. It was a four-day weekend due to the Pope's visit to Manila. The trip was planned in two weeks and I went with my Mum and brother. My Dad graciously booked our hotel room when he learned about the long weekend, I planned our itinerary after that.

We all decided that we didn't want to bring the car because:

1) Traffic will surely be hellish in Baguio

2) I'd rather be comfortably sleeping in a bus rather than driving for 7 hours

3) Commuting is so easy in Baguio anyway

Last time I went to Baguio (Oct2013), I took a regular air-conditioned Victory Liner bus from their Pasay terminal, so I suggested we do the same this time but this time, we wanted to take the "first class" bus.

I went to Victory Liner's website and found out that the one-way fare to Baguio via the first class bus is Php750. You can book and order your tickets online but it isn't as simple as it sounds. You book the tickets and pay via a third-party merchant, then you e-mail the bus company to tell them you've already paid for your tickets, after which, they will send you the bus tickets via courier. So we figured its easier if we go the the Pasay terminal and purchase the tickets instead. 

The regular bus fare to Baguio is Php455. So what made us pay the extra Php300 for the first class bus?

1) The seats are like smaller recliners. 

2) You have your own power outlet. 

3) Fare includes bottled water and a snack (brownies and pastillas)

4) THE BUS HAS ITS OWN COMFORT ROOM

5) Trip will only take about 5-5.5hrs via NLEx, SCTEx and TPLEx

6) Bus isn't crowded at all since each row only has three seats. (two seats-aisle-one seat)

7) Air-conditioning is good.

8) A "stewardess" is present in the bus who distributes the bottled water and snacks and sprays the comfort room with air freshener every now and then.

Photo not mine. Grabbed from Google search.

Our trip was scheduled at 1.15am but we left the house super early cos we were scared to be stuck in traffic. Since we booked the first class bus, we also had a first class lounge. It was air-conditioned with cable tv and comfort room, which was such a blessing since there were so many people in the terminal about to leave Manila for the long weekend. 

The bus was full and it left around 1.20am, Traffic was smooth and I told myself I'll sleep na once we're in NLEx. The Journey to Baguio was uneventful, except the minor road accident in NLEx near San Fernando Exit. I slept all the way from NLEx to the zigzag part going to Baguio. Bring your own blanket and pillow for a better nap. The extra money we spent on the first class tickets were worth it because our bus ride was so comfortable. So if you have the extra money to shell out, I totally recommend booking the first class bus. It might be expensive but you can't really put a price on comfort anyway.

I also recommend taking the 1.15am trip since you get to sleep soundly during the trip (they turn off the lights) and you'll arrive in Baguio feeling refreshed and ready to start ticking places off of your itinerary.