Quezon Roadtrip Part 2: 3 Days, 3 Towns, 3 Islands - Mauban and Cagbalete

Birds we found trilling high above the coconut trees in Cagbalete

This is the second part of my two-part post series on the Quezon Province roadtrip/test drive of Kia Carnival assignment for InFlight Magazine.  In this post, we visit the town of Mauban and cross over to Cagbalete.  To read the first part of the series, just click this link.

Setting out for Mauban and Cagbalete Island.  The closest we got to following our itinerary was on our third day when we traveled further northwest to Mauban, just three towns away from Padre Burgos and close to Lucena City, the capital of Quezon Province. Arriving early ahead of schedule, we had to time to look for a place to have Pancit Habhab (fried noodles laced with pork ideally eaten with pinakurat, a strongly-flavored vinegar made from fermented coconut water), the quintessential Quezon dish. 

Quezon Roadtrip: 3 Days, 3 Towns, 3 Islands - Part 1, San Andres, Alibahaban, Burgos and Borawan

Sunrise on Borawan Island off Mauban, Quezon

Our GPS went on the blink along with the Globe signal approaching San Narciso in Quezon Province six hours into our roadtrip from Manila. The few people we asked along the road assured us we were indeed on the way to San Andres, in southwestern Quezon, our intended destination located on the southeastern tip of the Bondoc Peninsula, 366 kilometers from our starting point. The road, which we will later find out to be a national highway, was deeply rutted in not a few places and more fit for motorcycles and carabaos, putting our loaner Kia Carnival to a rigorous test right from our very first day. 

By the time we saw the port town of San Andres with Alibihaban Island in the distance, we have seen three hours worth of rolling terrain, grassland, corn fields and postcard pretty mountain views that contrast against a clear, blue sky. Our three-day roadtrip got started with a 60 kilometer detour. But what’s a real, honest-to-goodness roadtrip without the meddling of fate, when circumstances put the most well-planned itineraries, ETDs and ETAs into mere items on a list subject to changes and reconsideration? This we will discover to be true during the rest of our trip to the province of Quezon, southwest of Manila.