Semana Santa 2012 (Part 1): On Board a RORO

I have spent the Holy Week at work and never got a chance to do even a meager Tagaytay road trip. So that I won’t pity myself so much, I looked back to my road trip adventure last year. Want me to share that trip? NO!? Too bad, cause I’ll post it here anyway! HA!

April 2012. My birthday.I just spent a late night dinner with my girlfriend and by 01:30 AM I took off for Bicol. It’s my fourth time to ride solo to Bicol but this time, Bicol is just halfway the journey..

a personalized pop-up birthday card and a Spyder Sierra Dual Visor modular helmet from my girlfriend ❤

There were isolated rain showers all the way through Quezon Province. As usual, there were the never-ending road “improvements”. It was bad but more manageable than how it was the last time.

Going off-road in some parts of Quezon, The rain only made it more dangerous.

0500H Lopez, Quezon. After a little rest and some crackers I pushed on just before the sun started peeking on the horizon.

I would love to go via Daet but I am in a bit of a hurry so I took Andaya Highway instead. The road is always terrible especially in Tagkawayan.

0545H Bicol Arch
0630H Camarines Sur Arch

There were still mild showers and up to Sipocot. Sipocot to Naga has also been frustrating with yet continuous road repairs.

Just after exactly 8 hours, I was home in Ligao City. My nephew was thrilled to see me.

I rested for a while, checked the bike, had a little chat and ate lunch. By 12noon, I took off for Matnog, Sorsogon. It is 146 kms away.

……… Oh poor kid! Me leaving just hours after I came to visit just doesn’t make sense to him.

Sorsogon has the smoothest roads I’ve ridden.

After two and a half hours, I reached Matnog, Sorsogon. The southernmost part of the the island of Luzon.  The RORO was almost ready to leave but thanks to the “fixers” who whisked my papers and payment into the office, I was on board MV Santa Clara after only a few minutes. A RORO or Roll-On/Roll-Off is a vessel used to transport automobiles on their own wheels. This is great especially on an archipelago like the Philippines for transporting cargo between islands. This is going to be my very first inter-island crossing on a big water vessel.

I paid P120 for myself; P300 for Dhona; P55 for the Terminal Fee; and P20 tip for the fixer.

First thing I checked when I got on were the life vests and the life boats. I also carried my Givi top box (read as “floater”) JUST IN CASE.

I tried to distract myself with the view so I won’t get seasick. The swaying can get a little rough sometimes.

The whole trip took less than 2 hours over 22 kms of water. It’s almost 5PM and I don’t plan on staying on the road at night for security reasons. The region is known to be mountainous and even the  major road will be passing on is mostly underpopulated areas.  Just before docking, a fellow motorcycle rider asked where I’m headed. I told him my story and I learned that he too left Manila early that morning and is headed to Leyte – and he doesn’t plan on stopping for the night. I asked if I can tag along and he agreed. Then I realized Tacloban City is still 250 kms away. Should I just stay in Allen for the night and wait for daylight to push on for Leyte? I started having doubts.