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Mayon Volcano Overload: Ligñon Hill, Daraga Church and Cagsawa Ruins

Posted on September 30, 2011 by journeyingjames 26 Comments
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I need to maximize my short stay in Legazpi and visit as fast as I could the touristy places in Albay: Ligñon Hill, Daraga Church and Cagsawa Ruins. All of these tourist spots have the picturesque Mt. Mayon as their background theme. Talk about Mt. Mayon overload.

So here’s DIY (do-it-yourself) tour of Albay:

Ligñon Hill. From the airport, I went to the Tourism Office and asked for a map of Albay. Then went outside the airport to look for a tricycle that would bring me to Ligñon Hill. Ligñon Hill is 30-minute steep uphill walk with a nice vista on the top. What can you see there? Mt. Mayon.

 

Mt. Mayon as viewed from Ligñon Hill

 

There is also a WWII Tunnel, a zipline, a souvenir shop and a big telescope to see Albay 360 degrees up-close.

 

WWII Tunnel entrance

 

I ate my packed sandwich and then bought Buko juice from Kuya Miguel when I went down the foot of the hill.

 

Mang Miguel gave valuable local information

 

I took the jeepney to downtown Legazpi

 

Battle of Legazpi

 

and then rode another jeepney towards

 

Daraga Church. Daraga Church sits atop a hill, about 200 meters walk from the town proper. The church is undergoing renovation as of this writing. They washed it with lime that’s why it’s now white.

 

Tweet: “Awed at the lime-washed stone church of Daraga, Mt.Mayon can be seen here too.”

 

The lime-washed Daraga Church standing atop a hill with Mayon on the background

 

Detailed sculpture of Daraga Church's facade. Notice the grapes on one of the columns (interesting)

 

Daraga NHI marker

 

 

This stone church is actually built for the Christians affected during the volcano eruption. I believe that the stones used even came from Mayon herself. Quite interesting to note that would be erected if Mayon didn’t buried Cagsawa Church in 1814. Now let’s go to the postcard perfect spot of Cagsawa…

From Daraga town proper, I rode another jeepney going to Camalig, went off at the entrance going to

 

Cagsawa Church Ruins. From the highway, you can reach Cagsawa Ruin after 500 meters of walking. It was scorching hot when I went there so if you can’t take it, there are tricycles that can bring you to the ruins.

 

Cagsawa Church NHI marker

 

I must admit that I’m not really into this kind of place, souvenir shops, touts, picture-picture, entrance fees and a consistent wave of tourists. Anyway, I just enjoyed laughing to myself as tourist do some jump shots or pretend to lift a stone behind the volcano.

 

Cagsawa Church Belfry Ruins

 

Still, kanya-kanyang trip lang yan but deep inside “I wish that tourist guides explain the history of Cagsawa church ruins instead of taking trick shots.”

 

Before leaving, I bought some souvenirs- Abaka coin purse (Php10 each), Abaka body bags (Php100-150) and sili key chains (Php5) which are quite cheapo. If you love shopping (every woman I know loves to shop), don’t forget to haggle like what you do in Divisoria.

 

Entrance Fees
Ligñon Hill: Free (Open from 4:00am-10:00pm)
Daraga Church: Free
Cagsawa Ruins: Php 10

Fares
Airport – Ligñon Hill: Php 20 (tricycle)
Ligñon Hill – Legazpi: Php 8 (jeepney)
Legazpi – Daraga: Php 10 (jeepney)
Daraga – Cagsawa: Php 8 (jeepney)

 

_____ _____ _____

BICOL SERIES. Happened last September 21-26, 2011, this series of short blog posts about my travels in Albay, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur will surely whet everyone’s desire to try and visit the home of Mt. Mayon, CWC, pristine beaches and more.

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26 thoughts on “Mayon Volcano Overload: Ligñon Hill, Daraga Church and Cagsawa Ruins”

  1. Marky said:
    Reply
    September 30, 2011 at 7:02 am

    Three places with the view of Mayon wow. I went to the same places end of August and I got no sighting of Mayon 🙁 – it hid under a blanket of dark clouds. I’ll go back soon, summer preferably to make sure Mayon Volcano shows up hehe.

  2. mervz | pinoyadventurista.com said:
    Reply
    September 30, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    diba may entrance fee sa Ligñon hill na 20 pesos? nakuha mo ng libre? cool! 🙂

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      October 2, 2011 at 7:02 am

      yep, Php10 lang mervs.
      when i went there they didnt charge me 🙂
      pinaiwan ko pa nga yung bag ko sa office nila para makapaglakad-lakad ako sa ruins.

  3. dong ho said:
    Reply
    October 2, 2011 at 7:13 am

    many people often overlook visiting daraga church. it has a great pov of the church and mt mayon in the background.

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      October 7, 2011 at 9:38 am

      i was actually surprised sa location nya, really much better kapag nakita mo face-to-face than in pictures. love the view

  4. Sheree said:
    Reply
    October 3, 2011 at 2:21 am

    perfect james!
    inggit much hehehe

  5. Wandering Caloy said:
    Reply
    October 10, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Nung una kong makita yung Daraga Church while I was still in prep wala pa yung lime wash sa facade, kitang kita pa yung patina na dulot ng paglipas ng panahon. Thanks for this interesting diy about Albay 🙂

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      October 11, 2011 at 4:05 am

      they said, it is lie-washed t protect from the harsh elements.
      hope this will help DIY travelers in albay

  6. ian|going places said:
    Reply
    October 16, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    Is it true na 45 minutes ang hike paakyat ng Lignon Hill? I heard best viewing site ito ng Mayon pero mukhang laging syang covered ng clouds from Daraga Church to Cagsawa Ruins in your photo… is there a specific time to have the best view of Mayon? Like morning or best time to visit it by Summer?

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      October 21, 2011 at 4:22 am

      just go early morning or late afternoon…
      yes it took me 45minutes to walk towards lignon hill, probably faster if im not with my backpack

  7. misscarmelamela said:
    Reply
    January 12, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    hi! can this tour be done in around 4-5 hrs? we’ll be arriving in legazpi at 9 am and then we’ll head off to donsol late in the afternoon to do the firefly tour. thanks!

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      January 13, 2012 at 8:03 am

      I suggest you do the Albay tour first (just follow the suggestions I did on my blog. Medyo nagtagal lang naman ako sa Cagasawa but you can do that in 3-4 hours) before you go to Donsol for the fireflies. Then the next day for the butanding, so when you get back to Albay for the flight back to Manila di kayo masyado nagmamadali.

      Hope this helps. Just let me know if you have more questions.

  8. Mei said:
    Reply
    January 14, 2012 at 8:33 am

    Thank you so much for this. My parents and I will go to Legazpi on Feb. Keep it up! 🙂

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      January 15, 2012 at 1:25 am

      pleasure is mine mei! enjoy legazpi and the majestic mayon 🙂

  9. P.A said:
    Reply
    January 17, 2012 at 5:38 am

    Hello James,

    nice pictures and kakaingit tlga yung pagtravel mo…. need your experts advise… planning to go to albay (butanding watching)… may masuggest ka po ba place to stay at mga places to go and sympre places to eat.. darating kami ng sat ng umaga sa legaspi then monday morning alis din…have sat and sunday to do the visitng and watching… suggestions is very much needed

    thanks

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      January 19, 2012 at 11:28 am

      yan napo yung mga suggestions ko. try pinangat at camalig too, mga 30mins from legaspi.
      sorry, i ahvent been to donsol, sorsogon

  10. Rein Joseph said:
    Reply
    January 26, 2012 at 2:47 am

    Tamang tama ung mga info. n nkuha sa blog na ito,, punta kc kmi ng mahal ko sa Legazpi naung Feb. i also want to try the zip line in lignon hill.. weeew super excited……………..

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      January 28, 2012 at 8:58 am

      hope you see the mayon on her full glory! enjoy the zipline

      • erick said:
        Reply
        February 9, 2012 at 5:46 am

        aha! perfect tong info mo about legaspi! kaya pala ng half day.

        fire flies ng sat night.
        butanding sun morning
        legaspi afternoon
        night bus to manila.

        • journeyingjames said:
          Reply
          February 9, 2012 at 3:45 pm

          seems like a nice IT. enjoy 🙂

  11. mar cay said:
    Reply
    September 24, 2012 at 5:53 am

    Hi james! im planning to visit mayon this coming oct 2012. can you recommend be a backpackers inn in legaspi. thanks a lot

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      September 25, 2012 at 2:43 am

      i went to xandra hotel in legaspi, here’s the rates: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=379020502129944&set=a.378802575485070.92233.112487452116585&type=3&theater

  12. mar cay said:
    Reply
    October 1, 2012 at 8:23 am

    thanks james, big help tlga. ciaooo..

  13. ryan said:
    Reply
    October 4, 2012 at 10:59 am

    Your blog is very helpful. Keep it up!

  14. ian | going places said:
    Reply
    April 9, 2013 at 4:40 am

    how far is Lignon Hill from the airport?

    • journeyingjames said:
      Reply
      June 19, 2013 at 1:07 pm

      maybe 5minutes by tricycle

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