Travel CHALLENGE Day 1 Part 2: Cagayan de Oro City to Bacolod City

Part 2

I was really in mixed emotions as I traveled for the first time to Bacolod City. I was excited but frightened because a friend, who was from Bacolod City, was not responding to my messages and couldn't be contacted. I was a bit anxious of how to get there safely without somebody to fetch me at the airport. My weakness during travel was navigating at night time. The flight was around 5:30 PM and was expected to arrive Bacolod-Silay Airport around 6:20 PM. The arrival was a bit earlier than the expected time of arrival but the place might be in darkness, and I didn't know where the place to stay was. However, I told myself, "I am here - I will push through this, with all prayers this will be a successful adventure!" :)

For this trip, I was checking some blogs and one that helped a lot was pinoyadventurista.com. It served as my guide from Bacolod-Silay Airport going to Bacolod City. It was also good to have a good mobile internet connection, at least I was able to check directions through the blog. :)

I was thinking of riding an Airbus320 from Cagayan de Oro City to Bacolod City. To my surprise, it was a small plane with propellers - an ATR type of plane. It was a first to ride in such a commercial plane. :)

There were a lot of firsts for this travel: Cagayan de Oro City to Bacolod City by plane; riding an ATR type of plane; travel in Bacolod City, Silay City and Talisay City on a very limited budget; and stayed in a dormitel.

The sky was clear and it was so lovely to look at with the propellers. I was still so confident that I would arrive safely because the sun rays were still visible. While the sun was setting, the red orange rays made the clouds looked like cotton candies in the sky.

Cotton Candy-like Clouds

As the time lapsed, the place was getting darker. I was getting more anxious and I was hoping that I would be able to communicate well because Cebuano is different from Ilonggo.

New Bacolod-Silay Airport

Touched down!

I was very marveled with the airport. It was so inviting. It welcomed me like my hometown. I felt so at peace with the place until I went out the airport and looked for my friend but did not see my friend. So, I just followed the directions from the blog and did approach some security guards for personal directions.

I took note on where to ride a tricycle which would wait to fill at least 4 passengers before it would go. It would cost 15 pesos each passenger. Or, if you were on a hurry, you could avail to have the ride for 60 pesos. I chose to wait for passengers. Not so long time of waiting, the tricycle was filled with passengers including me and I arrived at the highway of Silay City at 6:35 PM.

Very vigilant as I am, I tried to communicate with the locals. Gladly, they were so nice. One smile would help you get through. One lady directed me where to ride a jeepney going to the North Terminal. Then, she also acted like a spokesperson on behalf of me talking with the jeepney driver from the North Terminal going to the Capitol. Thank you so much!

Then, I arrived at the Capitol. I just walked around looking for the Captel. I looked for security guards to ask for directions.

After asking two security guards around the Provincial Capitol, I located the humble Captel. The Captel was governed by the provincial government. It was a dormitel that could accomodate a person for a hundred-peso per night. The Captel was just located behind the Capitol. It was clean, well-ventilated, budget friendly and very accessible. If you opt for an air-conditioned bed space, it offered 200 pesos per night also.

Thereafter, I considered that a day!

Expenses Report Day 1:
Fare - P15 (tricycle Bacolod-Silay Airport to Silay highway)
Fare - P13 (jeepney Silay highway to Bacolod north terminal)
Fare - P7 (jeepney terminal to Capitol)
Accomodation - P100 (bed space per night)
Water refill - P5 (water dispenser inside Captel)
TOTAL - P140
Previous Total - P701.25
Day 1 Total - P841.25

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