Guide to driving from Manila to Sorsogon, Tacloban, Surigao, Davao then General Santos.

Guide to Travelling from Manila to Sorsogon to Tacloban to Surigao to Davao to General Santos City

Last March, 2010 my family drove a recently purchased Ford Everest from Manila all the way to General Santos City. We planned to do some sight seeing along the way, taking our time by being tourists.

Be sure to have a copy of the cars registration, but also bring along the original just in case. We were advised to get an anti-car napping permit to travel but after inquiring from the Police, it turned out that they no longer require travelers to secure this permit. And of course, a map. The bigger the map the better so you will be able to see the small towns along your route. We had to settle for a map with a scale of 1:1,900,000.

We left at around 4:30 AM. There were four of us, three adults and my two-year-old son, so we were quite comfortable in the spacious Ford Everest. I have not driven in Manila for a very long time so I was quite nervous. My brothers just advised me that all I had to do was follow the route to Alabang. So from Quezon City we travelled through EDSA following “to Alabang” signs.

At the end of SLEX, we made our first mistake. >< Straight was going to Calamba and there was a left exit for Batangas. I thought the route to batangas was going to bring us too much west, but later found out that you have to take the route to Batangas going to Sto. Tomas. I repeat, do no go straight as it will take you to Calamaba and there you will have to go through traffic just to get back to the route to Batangas. There are lot of cars passing this road so expect some traffic.

When we got to Lucena, we looked for Jollibee signs along the road. We went to one in their bus terminal. There we stretched our legs and used the restrooms. This was a bus terminal but the comfort rooms were very clean. I don’t know why but the gas prices here were cheaper so we filled our tanks here.

Just be aware of what town is next on your destination and confirm them on the kilometer marking along the road. It would give some peace of mind that you are going the right direction. It was the first time for all of us so we were blind on what town comes next. The road here is not in the best condition. A lot of repair work so our speed here was quite slow. Good thing we were driving an SUV, I hate to think how our travel would have been if we used our Lancer. T_T

Next you will come across a road Naga or Daet. The road to Daet is the longer way, so take the other road unless you are really going to Daet.

When we got to Ligao, we decided to see the ruins near Mount Mayon. Just follow the road to Legazpi, along the way there will be a sign going to the Cagsawa (not sure ^^) to your left side. You will go through a dried river then across you will see a sign “More Parking”, here you have to pay for your parking. Later we found out that you can park next to the ruins for free. ><

It was getting late, 5:00 PM already, so we headed out. Due to a recommendation of a friend, we did not stop by Legazpi since she said there will be only a few hotels to choose from. Around two hours later we were in Sorsogon City. It was our first time there so I was quite worried when we arrived there at night and it was raining. Great setting for a horror movie? ^^ We stopped and asked a Security Guard on the hotels around and he said “Kung gusto nyo disente, dun sa Fernandos Hotel o sa Villa Isabel“. Just wanting to have a place to stay, I did not bother to ask for other hotels I the area. It was already 8:00pm, it was raining and we were tired. Hotel Fernando was just too expensive, considering they were offering rooms with a common bathroom. Since we wanted a room with our own bathroom we went to Villa Isabel. There we were greeted well, the hotel looked liked a mansion that was converted into a hotel. The horror movie scene comes back to mind. ^^ The rooms were nice, own bathroom, airconditioned but unfortunately also very small. Lets just say that if it were our garage…the Everest would not fit. But at that point we were beyond caring, so we ate at Chow King and then slept. The following morning we ate breakfast and after seeing their menu, we wished that we ate dinner there rather than going outside. They were at a good price and looked tasty.

After gassing-up we took the One-Way mainstreet of Sorsogon to the Highway and then head for Matnog. We were all excited to be able to experience riding a ferry so the 3-hour trip there seemed to long. Upon arriving at the port of Matnog, park you car after passing the security gate because you will have to sign a logbook. There will be a lot of “fixers” following you offering their services. You don’t need a fixer but try as you might, you will still end up having a fixer. ^^ Once you give you OR and CR to pay for passage they will take it from the desk and lead you to the next payment place, so you will have no choice but to follow them. You will be paying in three places, I kept thinking that those three places were in such a small lot but I guess no one suggested that they be placed in one place. >< Each were just around the corner of one building. It cost us around 900+ pesos for passage of us four and the car. Plus I gave 120 pesos to the friendly “fixer” and 100 pesos to the guy at the ferry to lead our car to a good spot. Hey, we were tourist so I guess I had to give tips. ^^

There is no problem rising a ferry in Matnog. There will be a ferry every 2 and half hours and they operate 24 hours a day. I suggest you all use the bathroom before riding the ferry, I had a bad experience using the bathroom (there were some swimmers in an overflowing bowl ^^). But my wife said that the female comfort room was clean enough. The ferry we took seemed moving very slowly, took almost 2 hours to get to Allen.

Will be posting the rest of the guide later....