Kwebang Lampas, Quezon: Dj and Jec was here!

By Jec Chua

Dj and I are currently on a year and a half mark of our relationship.
I left blogging for more than a year since I concentrated more with the new job that I had then and I failed to document the wonderful milestones our relationship has reached then. I guess it's still good to share how we celebrated our first year together as couple and to show the world as well the beauty of the place we visited last April 17, 2011.

In search of a good place to celebrate our 1st birthday of togetherness, we bumped into several blogs selling the undiscovered beauty of a paradise called Kwebang Lampas in Quezon. My boyfriend's adventure seeking nature pushed the idea of us going to Quezon despite the fact that the only thing we know about the place is the information we found in the blogs that we printed for reference. Equiped with the things we need for the travel, Dj and I met at Monumento at around 5pm. Dj came to work that day since he needs to finish some projects that's why we decided to make monumento our meeting place, from there we rode a bus going to Jac Liner Bus Station in Cubao to ride a bus going to Lucena.

On our way to Quezon

At exactly 6pm, the bus going to Lucena departed from Cubao. Since it is a long ride going to Lucena, we bought Rice in a box for dinner so it will be easy for us to eat while we are on the bus.
Dj also bought some oranges for dessert. After long hours of travel, we finally reached Lucena Grand Terminal at around 11 p.m. Reading from the blogs that we got, they mentioned that the best place to stay is to rent a room in a hotel/motel named "Green View Hotel". We thought that we can just walk there from the terminal however, upon asking the locals in the area, they advised us to ride a mini bus to get there. We took the minibus (I forgot where it is heading to) as advised. My boyfriend asked the driver to drop us off in the hotel however, he totally forgot about us and we were lost for a moment until they dropped us off somewhere and asked a tricycle driver to bring us to the hotel. For Php 50.00, the wonderful tricycle driver led us to the hotel where in the crew welcomed us with wonderful smiles on their faces.

The room rates at the hotel is very cheap and for only Php 350.00, the room is  very spacious, nice and comfortable plus there are free toiletries ready to be used by two people. After having a few drinks while resting in the room, we decided to sleep since we need to get up early to catch the first jeep going to Bgy. Polo were the paradise we are seeking is located.

Going to Kwebang Lampas 

So we woke up late, we left the hotel at around 7 am and went to the market to get the stuff that we need for our stay in the beach and off we head to the terminal. Since the jeep will not leave the terminal until it is fully occupied, we ate our breakfast first at a carinderia near the terminal. The "friendly turistas" inside us give way for us to converse with the owner of the food place where in we asked information about Kwebang Lampas. Before 10 am, our ride is fully loaded with locals and off we go to the place we've been wanting to see. After an hour and so of a long, tiring, bumpy jeepney ride, the locals told us to ride a tricycle going to the place, we are used into walking for hours however we want to be in the beach as early as we can to get a good place to pitch our tent that's why we took the advice of the locals and paid another Php 50.00 (Php 25.00/head) for another bumpy ride.

What excites us the most upon riding the tricycle is seeing a popular land mark we saw in the blogs we read before going to Quezon, the Pagbilao Power Plant! it's really a nice site to see that's why we pulled our camera right away and took pictures with that wonderful sight. Yes, we are near! By the way we paid Php 15.00 at the entrance. I'm not sure what's the exact purpose of that but they said that the place is a private property that's why we have to pay, Ok then, fine.

We were surprised when we hit the dead end of the road. We were advised that there's no other way to reach Kwebang Lampas but through a boat ride. We are being asked to pay Php 400 for the boat ride and we believe that its too expensive since the boat ride will just take few minutes and all the blogs we read never mentioned about riding a boat going to the place. The bangkero said that the owner of the land already closed the area for trekking since there are a lot of thieves loitering around the area and stealing things from the power plant. Good thing, a family came and also asked about the instructions going to the place. We shared the boat with the family making the price we need to pay less cheaper. Thank God we are so friendly, the family shared their ride with us.

And finally, the welcome to Kwebang Lampas.

it has been a long journey, but its worth the wait.

When we were in the island, we found out that we have been tricked! it's not true that trekking was banned in the area. We saw other mountaineers in the area and we asked them how they got to the place since we never saw another boat arrived on the beach after us. We were informed that they just walked going to the beach. And they just paid Php 10.00 to use a small boat to pass the swamp we saw earlier. I hate it how other people are taking advantage of others specially when they are new in the place. Good thing we didn't agree paying the whole 400 pesos.

To savor the beauty of the place, we stroll around the fine white sand beach of Kwebang Lampas and took wonderful pictures of this hidden paradise.

Thanks to my beloved camera who has a capacity to shoot wonderful panoramic pictures. You will be missed Fridge! 

I told you guys that we are a very friendly couple right? During our stay in KL, we happen to meet some wonderful people who are also celebrating the beauty of the place. We met 4 mountain enthusiasts who came all the way from Bicol after a successful climb. They said that it's their 4th time to visit this place and still this place never ceases to take their breaths away.

Our new found friends

  Too bad, we failed to take photographs with the Azula family -the family who shared the boat with us. 

At around 4:30 PM, We started packing up our things and grooming our selves to prepare for our departure. We waited until 5:30 PM for the boat we rented to pick us up but no showed up. Since it's getting really late, Dj asked me to talk to Cherry - someone from the family we are sharing the boat with and encourage them to just trek going back to the place where they parked their jeep. Since it's getting really late, they agreed and came with us. When we reached the parking area, we talked to the son of the boatman and paid them the money we owe them. We just paid them half of the price we agreed since they have failed to pick us up. From there, the tricycle that we rented earlier picked us up and brought us to the jeepney terminal that will take us to the Lucena Grand Terminal. 

When we arrived at the terminal, we happen to see the Azula Family passed by. And as we waved our hands they stopped and asked us if we want to join them and they offered to drop us in the area where we can easily catch a bus. Since the jeepney is taking forever to be full, we agreed and hopped in to their jeep and shared a half and an hour ride with this wonderful family.

At the Lucena Grand Terminal, we paid Php10 in using the public bathroom and washed our selves before catching a trip going back to reality. After getting food from chowking that will serve as our dinner, we hopped into the bus going to Cubao and bid farewell to the wonderful province of Quezon.

This journey has been fun, a perfect way to celebrate our 1st anniversary as a couple in love.

See you guys in our next journey together. ♥

For more insights about our travel story visit my tumblr site where in my beloved boyfriend blogged this event and he did a wonderful job writing this story in Filipino.

 Please click the link here : Dj's version of Kwebang Lampas Trip