Motorcycling from Naga to Mayon

Whenever I go home to Naga City in Bicol to visit my folks, I usually just laze around, enjoy my mother’s home cooked meals, and try out the new restaurants in the city. However, my recent visit this week ended up being pretty extreme. Aside from getting to try out the new ATV tour to Mt. Isarog, I was able to squeeze in a great motorcycling trip from Naga to Legazpi and back with Mac, one of my childhood friends based in Naga.

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All Aboard the Bicol Express

NOTE: Manila-Bicol trips are currently suspended due to ongoing repairs. For updates on operations, visit the PNR Website.

I am on the top bunk of a sleeper coach aboard the Bicol Express making its way from Naga to Manila. There’s something very nostalgic about the rocking motion of the train chugging along noisily on the tracks. I find the rhythmic vibrations of the train’s engine, sounds of metal clanging on metal, and echoes of ‘choo-choo’ of the train’s horn oddly comforting.” – excerpt from travel journal written on train 11/3/11 before lights were switched off

My sister and I were little kids the last time we rode the Bicol Express of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) with our parents. My mother says I first traveled by train when I was two months old. She managed to carry my sister (then 2 years old) and I along with all our luggage. Throughout our childhood, we would take the train frequently to shuttle back and forth from our home province Naga to Manila, to spend summers and Christmases with my grandparents and other relatives. Continue reading “All Aboard the Bicol Express”