«» Travel Notes 018: Marinduque with the Wander Twins
My first joiner tour and reflections on visiting 82 provinces before I leave for Australia
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My goal here is to bring you with me to all 82 provinces of the Philippines. Solo travel can be thrilling, but I enjoy my travels more when I have someone to share it with.
So, Marinduque.
I was never planning to visit it this month. In fact, I expected it to be the last of the 82 provinces I set foot in just because nothing about the province excited me (except maybe the Moriones Festival, but I already missed my chance to go this year).
Besides, Cebu Pacific canceled their flights to the island province, so it didn’t help that I’d now need to commute to Lucena port and board a RORO to get there.
Admittedly? I was dreading Marinduque.
That is, until I scrolled into this post from the Wander Twins.
Weekend trip? No leaves needed? 3K budget? Transportation and accommodations included? Get to meet the Wander Twins?
????
Sign me up! I messaged Pao, paid my downpayment of 1500, and that was it—probably the first province I’ve visited where I didn’t plan a thing.
This would also be my first joiner tour, so I was suddenly very excited about Marinduque.
A week before the trip, all joiners were added to a group chat where Pao shared our itinerary and some reminders for the weekend.
The crazy thing? Everything went according to plan.
Everything Pao said we would do, we did it when we were supposed to do it.
We left Manila on Friday at 10 PM.
We arrived at Lucena at 2 AM.
We arrived in Marinduque at 5 AM, had breakfast, then drove to the Luzon Datum of 1911, the geodetic center of the Philippines.
We climbed some stairs, took pictures at the peak, then climbed back down and drove to the city proper of Boac.
We visited Boac Cathedral and took pictures. We visited the Marinduque Capitol and took pictures. We visited the Boac City proper and bought packed lunch in an overpriced cafeteria.
By 10 AM, we boarded a boat to Gaspar Island on the southern tip of Marinduque. We had lunch on the island. We swam. We took pictures.
At 1 PM, we took the boat back to the mainland of Marinduque and then drove for two hours to reach Poctoy White Beach, passing by Marinduque Boulevard.
We arrived at Poctoy White Beach at around 3:30 PM, but we were told we could only pitch our tents at 6 PM after sunset. So we swam and took pictures first.
We broke camp the following day at 6:30 AM, had breakfast, and left the beach at 9 AM to visit the century-old Sta. Cruz Church and the Moriones Marker. This was our last stop on the trip. So we took group pictures.
We had lunch in the overpriced cafeteria where we had lunch before. One entire loop of Marinduque in two days.
We boarded the RORO at 1 PM. It left at 2 PM. We landed back in Lucena at 5 PM. We had Jollibee for dinner on the way back to Manila. I got home at 11:30 PM.
And that was my 52nd province in the Philippines.
Here are my pictures:
I arrived home feeling accomplished, being one province closer to my goal.
But I also felt drained and somewhat unfulfilled. I went to Marinduque, yes. But that everything was a highlight removed the awe each attraction should have commanded. Most of my time was spent inside the van; when we were out of it, we rushed to take pictures and explore. And rushing, why? So we could get back in the van and on our way to the next stop.
What am I trying to say?
Well, I can’t help but think of my experience in Marinduque foreshadowing my next four months if I push to visit all 82 provinces before I leave for Australia. This theme of going slow and taking my time to travel has been recurring since I wrote Travel Notes 009 two months ago. Still, it seems only now that I am internalizing the lesson.
Another factor influencing this decision is Kulas of Becoming Filipino, who had just visited Sulu, his 82nd province of the Philippines, after traveling the Philippines for the past nine years. If he let it take nine years to visit all 82 provinces, why am I trying to rush it in one and a half years? Why not give me nine years too? Why not give me a reason to return to the Philippines even after I leave for Australia?
Lastly, another factor influencing this decision is my joiner group. We were 12 in the van; of the 12, two had already visited all 82 provinces of the Philippines. Their advice? Take your time.
Happy travels!!
Atom
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