Bicol

Traveling south is never complete without passing through the province of Bicol. Amongst the other hotspots in the Philippines, Bicol region is famous for its people, its tradition such as the feast of Penafrancia and its unique Bicolano ways. In fact, when one is tagged a Bicolano, he or she is known to have some rich cooking skills especially in making spicy yet sumptous dishes such as ‘laing.’ Bicol is place for road and food tripping, not too far from Manila, yet very distinct in culture.

buried Cagsawa Church and Mayon Volcano

Bicol is actually one of the 17 regions of the Philippines, with Legazpi City as its regional center and is composed of six provinces. These provinces are Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon and the island-provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate that have their own natural resources that they can boast to Filipinos and foreign tourists alike. The province boast of its rich natural beauty because of its topograhpy where mountains, volcanoes, river, falls, caves, beaches and bays are well scattered around the region. These wonderful tourist attractions will leave you at awe once visited.

One of the main attractions of the Bicol Region is the Mayon Volcano, which is known for its perfect conical shape and its active status. Since Bicol is the part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, it has frequent eruptions. Though the volcano is deadly when it erupts, it becomes a very beautiful mountain when it is quiet. Those who visit Albay always make sure they take a picture with the Mayon Volcano in the background as proof that they really went to one of the greatest tourist attractions of Bicol.

If you want to get a closer look at this awesome volcano, you can go to Lignon Hill that is a 30-minute steep uphill and has a nice vista and an observatory at the top. Here, you can see the Mayon Volcano at a much closer range and even look at its parts and the rest of Albay with their big telescope. Aside from Lignon Hill, you can also visit the Daraga Church and Cagsawa Ruins that has the Mayon Volcano as a background as well. These two old edifice tell the rich history of Albay and what it has gone through to be what it is now.

"Butanding" or whale shark (photo credit : RickM_bucket)

Aside from the Mayon Volcano, there are other tourist attractions that have made Bicol one of the ost visited places in the Philippines. When it comes to natural resources, this region is very rich in that as it has beautiful mountains, rich vegatation and beautiful beaches that have clear waters and a unique animal kingdom. You can go scuba diving on wrecked spanish galleons and have whale shark spotting in Sorsogon while tour around the Spanish period structures that tell the roots of Bicol. The municipality of Daet and Catanduanes were turned into a surfer’s destination as these places have perfect ocean conditions for wind and board surfing.

All in all, the Bicol region is the perfect place if you want to do a lot of things in different places. With just few hours gap in between provinces, you can do the things mentioned above and savor everything that the province has to offer. You will truly get all your money’s worth and see almost all things Flipino when you go to Bicol. 

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