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We woke up bright and early by vacation standards so that we could catch an early bus to Pagudpud, the last item on my very flexible itinerary. We took a trike to the bus station then boarded a rickety wooden bus. Halfway through the trip, H whispered, "Medyo delikado 'to. Mahina ang preno." I managed to convince myself that the bus made this trip on a regular basis without incident.

The hard wooden seats were uncomfortable after a while, but I fell asleep anyway--there was no traffic, so we moved steadily along, the morning breeze pleasant against my face. The trip proved my theory that I could pretty much fall asleep in any vehicle, as long as I’m traveling by land. (Ask my co-workers!)

Pagudpud
We got off at the main highway, then took another trike to Pagudpud. At the resort, all the kubos were taken. So we had no kubo, no umbrella, not even a sarong, and we had to save our lone towel to dry us off after taking a shower. So we positioned ourselves under the shade of a tree, slowly adjusting our position as the sun moved across the sky. By lunchtime, we barely had any shade left, and H had a sunburned foot!

We then had lunch at Emohruo Beach Resto Bar. There were other restos along the beach, but we drawn to Emohruo by the friendly staff--the other resorts had some rather snooty service staff members. Hmph.

When we headed back to our tree, we found that the shade had transferred over an occupied kubo. We tried to squeeze ourselves under the shade of a banner erected on the beach. We gave up and just hit the water, and then decided to head home.

We took a trike back to the highway, where H and I waited for a bus at a roadside sari-sari store. This time, we boarded a bigger bus from Cagayan, with more comfortable seats. Tip: Try to give the exact amount (P70). If not, don’t forget your change--the dodgy fare collector on our bus didn’t give us back our change at first, possibly hoping that we would forget. He even tried to brush us off as we asked for it when we alighted, but H demanded that he give it. Yay to my big, strong man who won't take crap from anyone.

Things I learned on this trip:

1. You don’t need to follow a rigid schedule when you travel. It’s good to have an idea of what you want to see, but keep your sched flexible—you never know when someone’s going to offer you a ride (or not), or what you’re going to see if you veer off your path.
2. Spontaneity is king, but make sure you’re with like-minded travelers. Otherwise, you’ll spend half the time arguing. (Thankfully, H was all for winging it.)
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s better to look like an idiot than to end up boarding the wrong bus!
4. Pinipig Crunch is awesome. It’s always been my favorite ice-cream-cart treat, but H discovered how good the ube-nangka one was. (We had six Pinipig Crunches between us while we were there…) My favorite remains to be vanilla though.
5. Something I learned two years ago, and which has proven itself time and again: A well-fed traveler is a happy traveler. So, even if you’re on a budget, try to have at least one really good meal each day.