The BEST homestay in Buscalan. Its a brand new home with the best view of Buscalan. There was lots of space in each room, the bathrooms were modern, and the shared spaces were huge with very high ceilings. The breakfast and dinner served was delicious, and they even offered laundry. The coffee was perfect to go with the balcony view.

Spending time with the locals. Different culture.

Food. First trip in 2023 the food was very good. This trip, not so much.

The hotel was brilliant although, so new it's still under construction. Incredible views. Electronic toilets are a little too clever for their own good as the lid automatically closes before you finish, but a cool novelty all the same.

The guide to take you to the village was very expensive for the work she did. 1500 pesos. We were not aware of this extra expense until we checked out.

The host/guide that they set me up with is nice. They responded very quickly to me, when I asked questions before showing up. Also, this is the only option where you can book ahead of time. Which might be necessary if you're showing up on a weekend, because of all the domestic tourists.. However, it's not necessary to book ahead on a week day.

I can't tell if it was miscommunication, or if they were taking advantage of me because I don't know anything about Buscalan. I asked if I could just reserve a bed, and they had me book the whole room to 5 people.. claiming that there weren't other options. I verified with other people in the town, that I could've just showed up in person and paid for 1 rather than 5. Also, the room itself is not actually a "Family Room". It's 2 mattresses on the ground in a small & empty room, and they expect 2-3 people per mattress.. which I know is kind of normal for The Philippines. But "Family Room" is misleading to most tourists. They were also pretty pushy about setting me up with a tattoo artist that wasn't a close relative to Whang Od. I understand that they need the practice, and I felt bad turning the girl down when they wrongly told her that I was getting a tattoo from her.. but it's a life decision. Tattoos don't get away. I wanted mine to be authentic. I had also clearly communicated to the owner that I would show up at around sunset. But for whatever reason, they asked the guide to wait for me at sunrise. They wasted that poor girl's day, and made me look bad for being late.