Escape to Hidden Valley Springs

It was a hot Saturday afternoon and I didn't feel like going to the mall. Impulsively, I quickly called Hidden Valley Springs to make a reservation (as of 2 Nov 2011, its website doesn't seem to be working).

Though our house in Alaminos is just a few minutes away from Hidden Valley Springs, I was hoping there's an available room so I could fully enjoy the rest of the night and the following day in the stillness of the rain forest.

Backpacking in Bolinao

Last week has been very stressful and frustrating so my friend suggested to escape... go out of town. Our destination: Bolinao and Baguio.

It was a Friday afternoon when we finally decided to go backpacking with Bolinao and Baguio as our destinations in mind. With a little research, we have identified which bus lines offer daily trips to Bolinao and Baguio. As we are nearer to Pasay, we opted to go for Five Star which offers direct trips to Bolinao.

Blending with Bolinao

RATING: 3/5

LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION:

About 276 kms from Manila, the town of  Bolinao in Pangasinan is reachable by land that would take about six hours of travel time.

Five Star and Victory Liner are common provincial bus lines that offer day and night trips to Bolinao. With Five Star, ordinary bus fare would cost around Php300 while Php400 for air-con. As a tourist, it is better to get to Bolinao with your own transportation so you can easily move around the town and tourist spots or perhaps, even go on a side-trip to the nearby provinces of  Subic, Clark, Tarlac, La Union and Baguio. There's not much traffic en route to Bolinao as you can take the SCTEX (Subic, Clark, Tarlac Expressway) route. As you pass by Alaminos, the road to Bolinao starts to ascend through a zigzag road which will give you a scenic view of the mountains.