Becky Bulasco Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 My bf and I plan to ride his motorcycle all the way around Samar. On our map the road goes from wide red line to black, to yellow and then a small dotted line! Has anyone made this trip? Does anyone know the condition of the road? Is it passable for two on a motorbike? thanks............becky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Old55 Posted August 10, 2014 Forum Support Posted August 10, 2014 Jim Sibbic (spelling) knows Samar, he said the road has some very rough areas. This was before the huge storm. NPA are active there I would keep off the road after dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lin Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 We rode around Samar in 2007 (or 2008...?) It was a fairly interesting undertaking. The roads on the western side were quite good, and I have since revisted Catbalogan and Calbayog to find they were markedly better. The north easten part is a bit of a challange - from the Laoang- Catarman road one must load the bikes on pumpboats to cross to Laoang Island and again do this on the other side of the island to follow the Laoang- Palapag road. You are at the mercy of the pumpboat captain and the local porters over costs. Best to negoiate a single all-inclusive price with the captain or you will be dealing with argumentive porters forever. On the eastern side Palapag and Gamay offer reasonable accomadation. The ride down the east coast could be summarized best by a local we met who advised "Take plenty of water." If you are tiring of adventure you can turn off at Taft and cross back to the western side, otherwise keep going to Borongan City and down to Guiuan, which was a very plesent little coastal town with nice resorts. Since the typhoon that has probably changed.... From Guiuan around to Balangiga the road was good, and from memory Balangiga offered some interesting historical facts. The ride back up the coast to Basay and the bridge was good, as I remember it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 Second time you have asked this question. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Bulasco Posted August 11, 2014 Author Posted August 11, 2014 We rode around Samar in 2007 (or 2008...?) It was a fairly interesting undertaking. The roads on the western side were quite good, and I have since revisted Catbalogan and Calbayog to find they were markedly better. The north easten part is a bit of a challange - from the Laoang- Catarman road one must load the bikes on pumpboats to cross to Laoang Island and again do this on the other side of the island to follow the Laoang- Palapag road. You are at the mercy of the pumpboat captain and the local porters over costs. Best to negoiate a single all-inclusive price with the captain or you will be dealing with argumentive porters forever. On the eastern side Palapag and Gamay offer reasonable accomadation. The ride down the east coast could be summarized best by a local we met who advised "Take plenty of water." If you are tiring of adventure you can turn off at Taft and cross back to the western side, otherwise keep going to Borongan City and down to Guiuan, which was a very plesent little coastal town with nice resorts. Since the typhoon that has probably changed.... From Guiuan around to Balangiga the road was good, and from memory Balangiga offered some interesting historical facts. The ride back up the coast to Basay and the bridge was good, as I remember it. Thank you for the information. So far it's the best I have recieved. But I would really like something more recent. What is that group I need to beware of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 NPA are active there I would keep off the road after dark. Some shady figure scared Bruce by follow him in NW Samar. Many say NPA do BETTER work against criminals than the police do, so I would me more worried where NPA ISN'T :mocking: In some places NPA just stop and don't let people through, just tell them to go back (but that was in other than Samar). Some say NPA can demand "rebel tax/custom fee" but I believe them who said it like the government better than NPA, so I don't know if it's true or rumour spread to misscredit NPA. From more sourses I have heared NPA demand "rebel tax" only from (biger?) companies, I know they demanded money from a big mining company. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Bulasco Posted August 11, 2014 Author Posted August 11, 2014 We rode around Samar in 2007 (or 2008...?) It was a fairly interesting undertaking. The roads on the western side were quite good, and I have since revisted Catbalogan and Calbayog to find they were markedly better. The north easten part is a bit of a challange - from the Laoang- Catarman road one must load the bikes on pumpboats to cross to Laoang Island and again do this on the other side of the island to follow the Laoang- Palapag road. You are at the mercy of the pumpboat captain and the local porters over costs. Best to negoiate a single all-inclusive price with the captain or you will be dealing with argumentive porters forever. On the eastern side Palapag and Gamay offer reasonable accomadation. The ride down the east coast could be summarized best by a local we met who advised "Take plenty of water." If you are tiring of adventure you can turn off at Taft and cross back to the western side, otherwise keep going to Borongan City and down to Guiuan, which was a very plesent little coastal town with nice resorts. Since the typhoon that has probably changed.... From Guiuan around to Balangiga the road was good, and from memory Balangiga offered some interesting historical facts. The ride back up the coast to Basay and the bridge was good, as I remember it. Thank you for the information. So far it's the best I have recieved. But I would really like something more recent. What is that group I need to beware of? Second time you have asked this question. is that a violation? still haven't got a definetive answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 My bf and I plan to ride his motorcycle all the way around Samar. On our map the road goes from wide red line to black, to yellow and then a small dotted line! Has anyone made this trip? Does anyone know the condition of the road? Is it passable for two on a motorbike? thanks............becky Thank you for the information. So far it's the best I have recieved. But I would really like something more recent. What is that group I need to beware of? Hello Becky, NPA -- New People's Army -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_People's_Army Proceed at your own risk. Exploring Samar during typhoon season with many roads destroyed and then using alternate routes to bypass will lead you deeper into Injun Country. They usually don't bother foreign tourists but mark my word, they are definitely opportunists....... Perhaps you could delay your road trip until after Xmas -- the weather is relatively mild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic Mike Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 will lead you deeper into Injun Country :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Bulasco Posted August 11, 2014 Author Posted August 11, 2014 I received a lot of rumor and innuendo about the ride around Samar. One guy did it 8 yrs ago. No one has recent, first hand experience with that ride? Samar is reputed to have the deepest, longest caves in Asia. I think you guys need to put down the Tanduay and do a little travel in your adopted country! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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