A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
Planning to travel to Bicol anytime soon? Train trips from Naga City to Legazpi City are back! In case you missed the news, the state-owned Philippine National Railways (PNR) has finally resumed operations along the Naga-Legazpi rail line on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, after six years.
At first glance, Maeklong Market in Samut Songhram, a couple of hours outside Bangkok in Thailand looks like any other rural wet market. Baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables are displayed alongside colorful sweets and local delicacies. In one section, stall vendors hawk smoked and dried fish, trays of raw seafood, meat and even a few exotic offerings like skinned and skewered frogs. In the back stalls, you can buy dry goods and basic household items. But what makes the market interesting is its location. Situated right along an active railway track, a train just happens to run right through the tightly packed market. This happens several times a day, when the train nears the Maeklong station between Samut Sakhon and Wongwian yai.
NOTE: Manila-Bicol trips are currently suspended due to ongoing repairs. For updates on operations, visit the PNR Website.
“I am on the top bunk of a sleeper coach aboard the Bicol Express making its way from Naga to Manila. There’s something very nostalgic about the rocking motion of the train chugging along noisily on the tracks. I find the rhythmic vibrations of the train’s engine, sounds of metal clanging on metal, and echoes of ‘choo-choo’ of the train’s horn oddly comforting.” – excerpt from travel journal written on train 11/3/11 before lights were switched off
My sister and I were little kids the last time we rode the Bicol Express of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) with our parents. My mother says I first traveled by train when I was two months old. She managed to carry my sister (then 2 years old) and I along with all our luggage. Throughout our childhood, we would take the train frequently to shuttle back and forth from our home province Naga to Manila, to spend summers and Christmases with my grandparents and other relatives. Continue reading “All Aboard the Bicol Express”
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