Ambeaglestravel the Philippines with our lovely beagles, Pinky and Maya

PHILIPPINE TOUR WITH OUR CRAZY BEAGLES(AMBEAGLES)

I had the opportunity to "retire" this spring semester 2013 from my teaching duties at City College of San Francisco and College of Alameda so I decided to join my girlfriend Joanna in the Philippines for three months from March to May of this year. I had this crazy idea of traveling the Philippines for a few months with our two beagles with our car that we purchased last year, a classic 1971 Mercedes 230.6, that we purchased late 2012 in Manila along with our Xtracycle that I brought over from Berkeley, CA where I reside. The problem was that I had to bring Pinky, my American beagle, to join Maya, the Filipino beagle bought at the famed or imfamous Cartimar pet market of Manila. We sell pretty much all our belongings in Berkeley, California and give away most of the stuff on the sideway a week before our departure, March 19, 2013. Pinky goes on a crate with me on Korean Air with a stopover in Seoul and surprisingly she did well on the trip. I ended up on the wrong carousel at the airport and she was left going around on the adjacent carousel before I young boy came up to me and inquired if I was looking for my dog since he heard me mutter, "Where's my beagle?" Joanna was there to pick me up with Maya and our domestic administrator(our maid), and we all crammed in the old Merc with the bike, a keyboard that was going to be used at the loft jazz parties called Birdland Jazzista Social Club Manila, and Pinky's kennel crate used to transport. The next day the bike got assembled in Cartimar area, also knowned as a bike central along with pets, and we found a great Mercedes mechanic, Freddy, who used to work at a dealership but now runs his repair shop right on the sidewalk in front of his apartment that he rents.(The things you can get away with in the Philippines)

Pinky looking sad as we sell and give away all our belongings in Berkeley, CA.

Xtracycle getting assembled in Manila

Testdrive by bike mechanic

Tadaaa.... all done.

Mercedes getting tuneup before the big tour

The Idea
The focus of the journey is really about the two crazy beagles, hence Ambeagles. In my regional language of Pangasinan, Philippines, "ambagle" means lunatic or crazy so it's only befitting since Joanna and I are a pair of "crazies" too.  I've always wanted to do a long road trip in the Philippines since 2007 in a car. The idea was to use a car, bike, trycicles, jeepneys, buses, ferries, and small boats to get around the Philippines hitting all three major island groups. I imagined it would take about 3 months to see all the spots I wanted to see in Luzon like Baguio, my hometown in Dagupan, Baguio, Banaue rice terraces, Sagada, Vigan, Laoag, Pagudpud, Aparri, Tuguegarao, Baler in Luzon and then head south of Manila towards the Bicol region of the Philippines to Sorsogon famous for their whale watching and then ferry the car to Samar and then take another ferry with the car to Bogo, Cebu island. From there go around Cebu island for three to four days before ferrying again to Mindanao to the port of Cagayan de Oro and making our way to Camiguin island, Zamboanga, Bukidnon, General Santos, Davao, before heading north to Butuan and Surigao to make the long drive back after ferrying from Surigao to Tacloban and driving Samar again to Port Allen to ferry back to Sorsogon and drive 12 hours back to Manila.  I've now decided to do it in about a month since the first six weeks were spent doing trial trips to local spots with the car and bike to make sure the car holds up and holding five Birdland jazz parties at the loft.

Preparation

I haven't ridden a bike for a while so I figured I should ride everyday around Manila just to get in shape especially with the two beagles and Joanna on the bike while I pedal.

We took some weekly trips to Bolinao, Joanna's hometown in Pangasinan province, some day trips to Angeles City and Tagaytay and a four day trip to Naga City in Bicol province.

Bolinao, Pangasinan

This is really a four hour trip from Manila according to Joanna to took the 71 Merc last year to Bolinao driving on the NLEX(Northern Luzon Expressway) at 150 km/h. I'm not that familiar with driving in the Philippines so Joanna decides to drive. We also had an old Mitsubishi L300 cargo van follow us filled with Balikbayan boxes for the relatives but that broke down around Santa Rita on NLEX so the truck was repaired there while the contents was fetched by another driver from Bolinao once we arrived. Maya, the Filipino beagle, true to her Filipino nature, stayed awake during the morning drive, while took her siesta or nap, in the afternoon. She's not a very reliable navigator.

Maya assures me she can lead us back home to Bolinao

Sleeping on the job again

 Bolinao Sunset

Merc develops an exhaust leak. Repaired with new muffler in Alaminos City

Itinerary

Day 1, May 5^th. Manila to Vigan. Overnight

Day 2, May 6^th. Vigan to Laoag, Overnight

Day 3, May 7^th, Laoag to Aparri, Overnight

Day 4, May 8^th, Aparri to Baler, Overnight

Day 5, May 9^th, Baler to Sorsogon, stop over in Amintohan or Baylibad

Day 6, May 10^th, Quezon to Sorsogon, overnight

Day 7, May 11^th, Sorsogon to Allen, samar. Drive to Tacloban

Day 8, May 12^th, Pampalon to Bogo Cebu(2 hour ferry)

Day 9, May 13^th, Cebu

Day 10, May 14^th, Cebu

Day 11, May 15^th, Cebu to Cagayan de Oro(ferry) stay in Camiguin

Day 12, May 16^th, Camiguin

Day 13, May 17^th, Drive to Zamboanga, Overnight

Day 14, May 18^th, Zamboanga

Day 15, May 19^th, Zamboanga to Gen Santos(Overnight)

Day 16, May 20^th, Gen Santos to Davao

Day 17, May 21-24th, Davao back to Manila (4 days)

7 days extra...