Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
SAN PABLO AND AROUND
Hidden Valley Spring Resort
Alaminos (around
14km northwest of San Pablo, off the Pan-Philippine
Highway)
T
02 818 4034.
Resort set amid rainforest in
a volcanic crater 100m deep, with, simple but adequate
a/c cottages, falls and seven natural spring pools, some
deep enough for swimming. The entrance fee for day-
trippers is P2200, which includes a welcome drink,
buffet lunch, afternoon snacks and use of all the pools.
To get to Alaminos catch a local bus or jeepney from
San Pab
lo or Lo
s Baños, or join an organized tour from
Manila.
P9900
Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort
San Pablo
City 4000 (13km south of San Pablo, off the Pan-
Philippine Highway)
T
02 523 2944,
W
villaescudero
.com.
This historic plantation has a range of ageing but
pretty rooms, from basic apartments with fans (cheapest)
to “aircon units” and executive suites
with ve
randas over-
looking a lake. All meals are included.
P6490
2
Pagsanjan
Serving as the capital of Laguna province from 1688 to 1858, the town of
PAGSANJAN
lies 100km southeast of Manila and is home to a few old wooden houses, an unusually
ornamental stone gate - or
Puerta Real
- and a pretty Romanesque church. he
gate sits on the road to Santa Cruz (Rizal Street) and was completed in 1880, while
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
, dating from 1690 but remodelled in the nineteenth
century, is at the other end of Rizal. The town's main claim to fame these days is as
the staging point for the dazzling
Pagsanjan Falls
, chosen by Francis Ford Coppola as
the location for the final scenes in
Apocalypse Now
in 1975. Most tourists come not
for the Hollywood nostalgia value, however, but to take one of the popular “
shooting
the rapids
” trips along the Bumbungan River to the falls and back (see box below).
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
PAGSANJAN
By bus
It can take up to 4hr to get to Pagsanjan from
Manila if you hit bad tra
c (around 2hr normally) - avoid
weekends and public holidays. Jeepneys (P10-20) run
frequently from Santa Cruz (see p.107) to Pagsanjan.
Tourist information
The tourist o
ce is in the municipal
building (daily 8am-5pm;
T
049 808 3544) in the centre
of Pagsanjan, opposite the church.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
★
Aling Taleng's
169 General Luna St (just south of the
Balanac Bridge)
T
049 501 7861.
This popular shop has
been serving refreshing seven-ingredient
halo-halo
(P70)
since 1933. Also serves all-day Filipino breakfast, home-made
burgers and noodles. Free wi-fi.
Daily 8.30am-6.30pm.
Calle Arco
57 Rizal St (National Hwy)
T
049 501 4584.
This old-fashioned restaurant in a whimsical wooden house
serves quality Filipino food such as
sinigang na baka sa
langka
(beef tamarind soup with jackfruit, P250). Buy the
sweet calamansi and tomatoes in jars (P250) to take away.
Cash only.
Daily 10am-10pm.
Pagsanjan Falls Lodge
Pinagsanjan (Pagsanjan-
Cavinti Rd)
T
049 501 4251,
W
pagsanjanfallslodge
.com.ph.
This resort has a decent family pool area,
restaurant and a good range of very ordinary but clean and
spacious rooms including fan rooms, a/c doubles plus
SHOOTING THE RAPIDS AT PAGSANJAN
The fourteen
rapids
of the Bumbungan River (bangkas daily 7am-5pm; minimum P1250) are at
their most thrilling in the wet season (June-Sept); during the dry season the “shooting the rapids”
ride is more sedate. You don't need to be especially daring to do the trip, though you will get wet,
so be prepared. All
ticket sales
are supposedly supervised by the local tourism o
ce (see above);
ignore touts who try and sell tickets on the street. Most visitors pay P1250-2000 per person for the
trip, including the raft ride under the falls (you'll be asked to pay another P200 tip per boatman,
though this is not compulsory). Boats leave from the bridge behind the building.
It usually takes around an hour to climb 5.38km up through the dramatic gorge in bangkas;
when you get closer to the actual 30m-high
Pagsanjan Falls
, you can float on a bamboo raft
(
balsa
) to go directly below the cascade into the cavern known as
Devil's Cave
for a swim,
another thirty minutes or so. This is an additional P250 per head if not already negotiated as
part of your boat trip.
