Remember my post about how you can travel on a tight budget? This is the first of the many travels I plan to do for the years to come. One of my goals for the year is to travel at least twice anually. Now this plan involves money. I could attain this by selling my left kidney and probably one of my limbs! Kidding aside, I'd definitely make it happen in ways that helps me keep my faculties intact.
Why Bacolod?
I thought I'd start with domestic travels for the following reasons:
I thought I'd start with domestic travels for the following reasons:
1. Language would not be a pain in the neck.
2. Money is the same. No need to convert.
3. Time zones and jet lags are zip and
4. Pasalubong is very cheap! :D
Straight from my 9-hour work, I hailed a taxi and went to Cebu North Bus Terminal for the first trip to Bacolod. Arrived around 4:20AM and found a trip to Bacolod via Don Salvador. Bus fare is Php350 per person and you are required to purchase ferry tickets before the bus leaves the terminal at an additional Php200 per person. We left at 4:30AM and the bus was barely full.
This is going to be a very long land trip and I loved that the air-conditioned bus played Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone before we started our journey. I tend to wake up in between cities during bus trips and decided to doze off some more until when we reached Toledo. This is the last stop before we jump into a ferry. We reached Toledo at around 6:30AM, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the pier.
Note: If you hate buses that frequently pick up passengers on the day then ride the air conditioned ones/Tourist. They never stop at passengers that hail at them on the street thereby saving you maximum time on the road.
Note: If you hate buses that frequently pick up passengers on the day then ride the air conditioned ones/Tourist. They never stop at passengers that hail at them on the street thereby saving you maximum time on the road.
The bus will be loaded on the cargo area so all passengers are instructed to pay for the terminal fee at Php15 at the Toledo Passenger Terminal.
We then queued to embark the ferry, we arrived in Toledo early and thankfully we only stood in line not less than 30 minutes. I was looking forward for the sleep that I am truly neglected of. I failed to mention this on the North Bus Terminal as you get ferry tickets, you are asked if you like the sitting or the sleeping option. Clearly, I selected the sleeping. There is only a Php20 difference anyway. Sitting option - Php180. Sleeping option - Php200. I like traveling but sometimes the long hours get sthe best of me, so I amp up on the snooze when I can.
We docked at San Carlos Port around 10:30AM. As we waited for the Ceres bus to disembark from the ferry, the sun was starting to scorch. It was after all summer. As soon as we got boarded the bus, we noticed that there were new passengers on board and some passengers ended their trip at the port.
We finally reached Bacolod proper at 12:30PM. We headed out to Ong Bun Pension House at the downtown area to check in for the next few days. Once settled, we headed out to find some brunch and checked the city by foot.
What I also love about local travel is that people are easy to talk to. It took us a while to find a good person to ask questions cause we couldn't converse in the local dialect.
Check out our next exploits as we visit Silay City and the heritage museums on the next post. :)
Braving Bacolod SeriesCheck out our next exploits as we visit Silay City and the heritage museums on the next post. :)
Braving Bacolod - Getting There
Braving Bacolod: En Route
Silay City
El Ideal
Balay Negrense
Hofileña Museum
The Ruins
Calea Pastries & Coffee
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