Hotel Guide: Where to Stay in Baler

Looking for a road trip destination with friends and family this Holy Week and summer season? Baler, the capital of the province of Aurora is becoming increasingly popular. This chill coastal town offers accommodations for every type of traveler from budget-friendly digs to more luxurious resorts.

We personally got to stay, eat and visit different inns, hotels and resorts in Baler during the #LakbayNorte8 media tour earlier this year. If you’re looking for places to stay in the area, here are some of the establishments you can choose from.

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Road Trip Guide: Baguio – Sagada – La Union

Sagada is a scenic town nestled in the Mountain Province in Northern Luzon of the Philippines. For those coming from Manila and the rest of Luzon, it’s one of the best destinations you can travel to purely by land (no air or sea travel involved). The roads leading up offer the most spectacular view of mountains and cliffs. Once you get there, you can enjoy the cooler climate because of its high elevation and soak in the well-preserved culture of the Cordillera region.

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Brewery in a Forest: Sagada Cellar Door, Mt. Province

One of the main reasons I wanted to ride up North by motorcycle was to visit Sagada Cellar Door, the first and only craft brewery in Sagada. Andrew Chinalpan of Cerveza Sagada Craft Brewery has been brewing craft beers since 2014 and initially this beer was available only in this outdoor bar.

Though I’ve tried most of the variants during craft beer festivals and bars in Manila, you always want to try craft beer direct from the source. I absolutely love the natural and unique outdoor set-up of Sagada Cellar Door. Imagine drinking quality craft beer while sitting by a bonfire under the stars in the middle of a forest surrounded by pine trees in the Philippines!

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10 Things to Do in Marinduque

Drone cover photo by Ironwulf

Mention Marinduque and most people immediately think of the Moriones Festival. This island province is best known for the folk-religious festival celebrated during Holy Week where men and women in masks and costumes replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers, roam the streets.

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Craft Beer in the Philippines

The craft beer scene in the Philippines is really booming. In the past few years, I’ve seen a rise in the number of microbreweries and locally-brewed beer being offered not just in Metro Manila, but around the country. One of the things I try to do when I travel is to check out these local microbreweries and taprooms and hunt for unique craft beer.

The widest variety can be found in craft beer bars in Manila (mostly concentrated in the Poblacion area of Makati) and several notable places in Cebu City in Visayas. You can also find other small bars scattered in different parts of the Philippines that are worth seeking out. Here’s a Craft Beer Map of the Philippines I made that might help you out in your beer-ventures. Click each icon on the map to get the exact location and other details.

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Project 81: End Game

Visiting the 81 Provinces of the Philippines has been a major travel quest of mine for a while now. The idea of geographically exploring all parts of the country is sort of like a video game thing for me. For those who don’t know, before I started traveling, I was really into video games. Some of my fondest memories growing up involved inviting childhood friends over to play Family Computer and SEGA.

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Reference Points & Road Markers in the Philippines

Most riders and cyclists I know have a thing for taking photos with reference points, road signs and unique markers. These are basically just ordinary-looking signs on the road, but because of their uniqueness to a place, they symbolize stepping foot and exploring a new destination. It’s like the title screen starting a new chapter in your adventures or unlocking an achievement of reaching a new place.

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Holy Week Rides & Road Trips near Manila for Bikers

The Holy Week exodus has started, with thousands of Filipinos heading from Manila to their home provinces and popular vacation destinations around the country this Lenten Break. With the streets in the metro practically empty, this is the perfect excuse for cyclists and riders to gear up and ride to churches and pilgrimage sites. 

Here are a few suggestions for religious-themed rides and notable pilgrimage destinations relatively near the metro that you can ride to.

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Camiguin Loop by Scooter

There are destinations where you ride fast just to get to where you need to go and other places where you just want to take it slow. And I wanted to savor every minute and every mile while going around the island province of Camiguin. This compact island has a 64-km circumferential road, which locals say you can loop in just over an hour or so if you wanted to. But why do that when you can just stop and admire the view?

Drone photo by Rhonson Ng
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Things to do in Manila: Ride a Bambike around Intramuros

Bambike is one of the most popular locally-made bicycle brands in the Philippines. These unique bicycles made from durable and all-natural bamboo and abaca materials are hand-made and crafted by builders from Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine-based community development organization. Bambike aims to be one of the greenest bikes on the planet.

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