The night before we headed for Albay, we had almost all of our stuff packed in the pick-up already, just leaving a few more for the next morning.
Sorsogon is said to be an hour to an hour and a half away from Legazpi City. We headed for Daraga proper - which is actually just a few mins away from Albay District. I decided to gas up - diesel here costs P2 more compared to Manila when I left 3 days ago. Signs abound everywhere, so getting to places isn't really very difficult. Add to that my new friend, EZ Map of Sorsogon.
It was an uphill and zigzaggy drive away from Daraga - reaching the twists and turns around Barangay Kumintong. The road is pretty well maintained and surprisingly only a few public transports are plying at the same time. Tricycle drivers are even quite behaved - they tend to move to the side of the road and give way. The only thing that peeved me was the long stretches of rice grains layed out on the road to dry under the sun. I try to avoid them and use the other lane occasionally but most times I had no choice but to run over them.
It was a pretty good drive going to Sorsogon. The province was more laid-back in appearance, people were outside sweeping their front yards, and there was smell of breakfast, fish in particular.
We eventually got to the crossing - right leads to Donsol and Pilar, and straight ahead was Sorsogon City. I continued to drive - and I was tremendously enjoying the view - everything looked so green, so fresh, and it was just a breather from all of my daily work routines.
Another crossing - right leads to the town of Castilla, where one can take a boatride to Malanmawan Island for diving.
and then suddenly with one turn - we saw this bright orange welcome arch - Welcome to Sorsogon City! And there was a blue crab on it - hmm..
Along the highway, we saw a sign that says to Bacman Geothermal Power Plant Complex - 12kms ahead. So we took the opportunity and turned left. It was an uphill climb - zigzag again up the vicinity of Mount Pulog, and with the fantastic view of Sorsogon Bay. The place was heavily forested and planted with lush trees and other plants - indeed, there was a reforestation project within the area. We finally got to the Bacman Plant gate. Bacman is actually a moniker for a combination of the BACon District of Sorsogon City and MANito, Albay. The guards questioned us and we thought it was alright to view the area - we were informed that prior arrangements must be made before allowing entry. We learned that tours, ECO-tours specifically are offered by some travel offices to the area - it would have been a very promising tour - bat sanctuary, boiling lakes, bird watching, cave spelunking etc. Oh well, that can just be one more reason to go back to Sorsogon...
We went down and back to the main national highway and in less than fifteen minutes, we were greeted by a wonderful view of Sorsogon Bay with Bulusan Volcano in the background. It was the Pepita Park Rest Area - again with an orange canopy with a blue crab on top. Buses and other trucks often stop here for rest and ehem,unloading, before going on to Sorsogon's ports to embark to the visayas and mindanao.
We finally got to the city proper of Sorsogon. It was a bright day - it was only about 8am, roughly 90mins since we left Legazpi. And we even spent some time going to Bacman Plant. We found it still early to go to the hotel (Hotel Fernando), which is just walking distance from the Sorsogon Provincial Capitol.
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