To kick-start year 2016, our team went to La Union. And yes, this is a super duper late post. Better late than never, right? Haha! We left Manila at around 5am and arrived in La Union at around 11am.

I recently went on a camping trip to Anawangin, Zambales. It was a quick getaway (2 days, 1 night) but a good one at that. If you are planning to go to Anawangin or any camping trip for that matter, here are the things that you should bring with you:


You can rent one out in Anawangin or you can borrow a tent from any of your friends. If you have plans of going to another camping trip in the future, I highly suggest that you buy a tent of your own instead. You may check out Ace Hardware where they sell tents for Php900 or less. Of course, this depends on the capacity of the tent. Also, make sure that your tent has a net that can protect you from those pesky mosquitoes! Bring a sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket with you as well for a comfortable sleep. Take it from the girl who wasn't able to sleep because she didn't bring a sleeping bag a.k.a me.


It's best to bring your own water bottle instead of buying plastic cups for each one of you (be eco-friendly!). You can just buy a gallon (or two) of water and refill your water bottles. Plus, this is very handy especially when you plan on going on a hike as well.

There are sari-sari stores around the area but they are much more expensive as compared to prices in the supermarket or your local market. It's best to buy items that are easy to bring and prepare (such as canned goods, bread, instant noodles, chips, etc.). Buy some marshmallows as well which you can roast during camp fire. You can also drop by the San Antonio Public Market to buy food that you can grill/cook at the camp site (i.e. barbecue, hotdog, liempo, fish, etc.). Okay, that just made me crave for grilled food... As for the drinks, you can bring a cooler with you and just fill it up with your favorite drinks. It's more expensive when you buy in Anawangin. Plus, they only sell Red Horse and Emperador.


Utensils - of course, what will you use to cook and eat? Be a boy (or girl) scout and bring a Swiss knife as well because you will never know if you'll need it!

For cooking purposes and bonfire.


It's nice to have a golden tan but it's always best to be protected! Too much sun exposure is bad for your skin. Also, do not forget to bring a mosquito repellent. This is a must for me especially since I'm very prone to mosquito bites. Surprisingly, I didn't get bitten by mosquitoes in Anawangin.

There's no signal in Anawangin but if you are using your phone as a camera, music player, flashlight, etc., it is best to bring a portable charger with you since electricity is scarce in the area. This is also essential if you have a GoPro or any other camera.

Back when I was in grade school, we annually had a camping trip in our school's farm. I remember learning how to start a fire, knotting, how to manually cook rice, etc. I even remember bringing canned pork and beans (the ultimate canned camping food! Haha!) and forcing myself to like it because it looked good... Yep, that's just me being weird. Honestly, I already forgot most of the things that I learned in camping (oops). If you're the type of person who doesn't mind sleeping in a tent and having no mobile signal, then Anawangin is a place you must visit. If not, you can stay at Pundaquit and take a day trip to Anawangin/Capones/Nagasasa Cove instead.

How to go to Anawangin?

You can ride a Victory Liner bus going to Iba, Zambales.

From Pasay Terminal - Php357 (via Sfdo) or Php384 (via SCTEX)
From Cubao Terminal - Php347 (via Sfdo) or Php375 (via SCTEX)

Let the driver/conductor know that you'll get off at San Antonio Public Market. From San Antonio Public Market, ride a tricycle to Pundaquit. This would cost around Php30/person. Once you reach Pundaquit, you can ride a boat going to Anawangin or Nagsasa Cove. You can also go trekking to Anawangin Cove which would take around 4-5 hours according to our tour guide.
If you are a big group, you may opt to hire a van instead. You'll most likely shell out around Php1,000 per person which is not that bad since total costs for transportation (via bus and tricycle) will cost you roughly around Php800 (round-trip). By adding a hundred or two, you have the luxury of stopping over anytime, anywhere. Plus, no hassle of transferring from bus to tricycle.

Est. travel time: 4 hours

Day 1 (Saturday)

We left Manila at around 1:30AM and arrived in Pundaquit at around 5:30AM. We arrived a bit too early so we had to wait for awhile for the boat that would take us to Anawangin.