I've been back for a couple of days and thought I should check in
As per my previous posts, the weather in the Phil's was pretty awful, I was there for 12 days and it rained every day apart from the morning of my last dayFrom a tourist point of view it was probably the worst vacation I've had for a long time - crap weather, and I didn't rate Bicol in the closed season. However, it was worth it to see Elaine again. I honestly didn't see the attraction of Bicol, sure Mayon is a big pull and is a truly majestic sight
, but it was hidden by rain clouds for most of my time there, and you cant climb it anyway. Even if you pay 200 USD and organise a trip yo can't go above 2000 metres. As a tourist, the Taal/Tagaytay area offers far more and can be done on a day trip from Manila and for a lot less money. (in fact we spent my last but one day in the Tagaytay area and it was far better than Bicol). I don't want to put people off Bicol, as I know some of you really enjoyed the area, but from my own experience, I found Camsur and Caramoan lacked any infrastructure, they had no knowledge of how to cater for tourists (not just western tourists, but Filipino tourists too), the taxi and trikes are a complete rip off and the taxi drivers work on a closed shop basis whereby they all gang up to rip off the puti/kano. My judgement may be clouded by the fact that it rained non stop for a week when I was in Bicol, and as an outdoor person, it meant I was unable to do the things I wanted. Albay province was slightly better than Camsur/Caramoan and I found that in Legaspi the people didn't try to rip me off at every opportunity, as they did further north. There probably are some great things to do in the area, but not in the rain. We spent our last day in Legaspi with one of Elaine's friends/colleagues who was back in town for the holiday weekend. We had a good time as he gave us a guided tour in his 4WD and took us to some interesting places - including go-karting and ziplining at Lignon Hill.
All in all, I didn't really enjoy Bicol and won't be going back there. Palawan, Bohol, Panglao, Mindoro, Boracay and Batangas offer me far more of what I'm looking for.
Back in Manila I did the usual tourist things that i've done many times before, but still enjoy - Tagaytay/Taal, MOA, Ayala/Greenbelt and Taguig.
My stopovers in HK at the beginning and end of my journey were completely different to Bicol. I had a brief 3 day taste of HK about 6 months ago and wanted to go back to explore the new territories. I love HK, the mad pace of life in the city, the melting pot of cultures in Wanchai, Nathan Road and Jordan districts. The architecture of the city. This time I managed to get out to Lantau island and took the cable car up to the Giant Buddha and temples. I also took a tour out to the Land between. This was stunning with fantastic Chinese temples in the Yuen Yuen institute, breathtaking mountains and scenery on the borders with China and my highlight was the Brides Pool Waterfalls.
I really loved HK and after 2 trips I still haven't seen everything I want, I'll have to arrange another trip to the Phil's taking in a stopover in HK sometime next year.
That's another trip to the Phil's over and done with, time to start researching what I can do in Coron on my next trip at the end of December
, rain does stop play where ever you go i am afraid, but you did do your best to do lots it seems again,Tagatay Teal i must agree is a wow place, the trip down to the lake on a motorbike is a must,Coron is a place to see i agree, but we are torn between there and panglao for our trip
Originally Posted by Terpe
. This annoys my wife also. 
back, Ian. 
weather on this occasion.
