Sidetrip: From Cagsawa Ruins to Daraga Church to Embarcadero De Legazpi

This is Embarcadero de Legazpi by day, the most popular urban mall in Legazpi City. (Photo taken during a bad weather day). It's a mall by the wharf or harbor, hence the name embarcadero. 

This is practically a waterfront establishment and inside the mall are stores, boutiques, restaurants, pasalubong center, etc. (There's also a hotel within the mall - the Ellis Hotel).  

But locals say that the best time to go malling here is at night when most restaurants and bars are open, making the place alive and exciting.  

From Embarcadero to Cagsawa Ruins and Back 

From Embarcadero (near the point of the first picture above) you can ride a jeep going to the Cagsawa Ruins. Ride a jeep bound for Polangui or Guinobatan and tell the driver to drop you off the Cagsawa junction. (See my blog on Getting to Cagsawa Ruins).    

From the Cagsawa Ruins, you can drop by Cagsawa Church before going back to Legazpi City. You can take this route:

1. At the Cagsawa junction, ride a jeep going to Daraga or Legaspi (I forgot the exact fare but it's more or less P10.00 only).

2. Tell the driver to drop you off the Caltex Station in Daraga. In front of the Caltex station is the Novo store. In between the Novo store and the South Star Drug there's a street. 

3. Enter that street and a few steps ahead you can see a way leading up to Our Lady of Gate Parish Church popularly known as Daraga church (Close between10 p.m. and 6 a.m.).  

This is a Baroque church located on top of a hill so from this point you can see the majestic Mayon Volcano in its full cone shape on a fair weather day. It was cloudy when we went there so we were not able to take a full view of the Mayon. Chances are you've seen this already on screen as this has been used as a shooting location for several local movies. 

You can attend the daily mass in the morning or in the afternoon. We attended the 5:00 p.m. mass (On Sundays, mass is all throughout the day). When the mass ended, we went out and we saw a different view of the church facade on a blue hour. It was so romantic to be in this place around that time.   

Then we walked down from the church. There are restaurants around the area and down the streets for lunch or dinner. You can try Graceland, a popular local fast food chain in Bicol. It's down the busy street of Daraga and a 10-minute walk down from the church. Combo meal ranges from P80.00 to P150.00.  

Outside the fast food chain you can ride a jeep going back to Legazpi City (Fare is P10.00). On your way back to the city you'll pass by Bicol University, the biggest and most popular state university in Bicol region. There are also tricycles that can take you to anywhere within Daraga (Fare is P8.00). 

Jeepneys bound for Legazpi City have different routes so you better ask the driver first if his jeep passes by the place where you stay or where you want to go. Jeepneys with Rawis signboard, for example, pass by Embarcadero. Other jeepneys have different destinations.