How to get to Lucban, Quezon

I recently visited Lucban, Quezon with my friend K last month for the famous Pahiyas Festival. (Read about my Pahiyas 2012 experience here.)

There’s a Sta. Cruz route but we opted for the Lucena route since I frequent that part and I think it’s the easier one for commuters. Just my opinion, though.

We wanted an aircon bus cuz we left so early in the morning and we wanted to sleep through the trip to Lucena but the aircon one would leave at 5:00 AM so we opted for the ordinary bus which would leave sooner.

A & B Liner left Alabang at 3:30 AM. Despite the hard seats, K and I were still manage to sleep through most of the trip. We were charged P147.00 each. K could have gotten a discount for being a student but the ticket has already been printed by the time he said “estudyante ‘yong isa.”

We reached Lucena Grand Terminal at exactly 6:30 AM and rejoiced to know that Jollibee was open.

Past 7:00 AM, the Lucban-bound jeep we boarded in the same terminal departed, and we were already roaming the streets of Lucban a little past 8:00 AM.

It was quite an experience with all those colorful houses and festive mood. It was also such an experience eating pancit habhab and that heavenly buko shake.

Anyway, on our way back to Manila, we boarded an aircon Dela Rosa bus and K was quick to say that he’s a student. He was charged P144 to Alabang, while I paid P180. There’s a catch to that, though, cause we were three suspicious-looking men who boarded the bus in different stops but they were somehow looking at one another every so often. We decided to drop off somewhere in Tiaong, Quezon and we didn’t argue anymore about fare refund.

We boarded another bus and paid another P99 to Alabang.

K was the first to notice the suspicious men. One was actually sitting across the aisle from me, the other at my back and the third three to four seats front of us.

The one across the aisle from me was burly, and he would look at us everytime K would try to tell me something. One more thing, he had this big black bloated duffel on his lap, but we could tell the bag wasn’t full because it like deflates when he puts his hand on it. And he was careful not put enough weight on the bag with his hand so it would remain looking full.

The minute K told me about his suspicions, I reached inside my backpack where my DSLR was and carefully removed the memory card. It was funny but if my camera would get stolen, I would really plead to have the memory card back. Lots of memories in there.

K, meanwhile, had with him his father’s 40k Canon DSLR so he was really nervous. Of course, his father wouldn’t kill him for that, but I’m sure he’d wish he’s dead if that happens.

Anyway, here’s the very short summary of how to get to Lucban, Quezon from Alabang:

- Board a Lucena Grand Terminal-bound bus – P147.00 for non-aircon; P180 for aircon
- In the same Lucena terminal, board a jeepney going to Lucban – P35
- Walk to town or opt to ride a tricycle (P10)

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