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Published: April 1st 2006
Magdapo Falls
More popularly known as Pagsanjan falls.It's actually located in the province of Laguna town of Cavinti.Road trip to Pagsanjan is a fascinating journey. We enjoyed the different towns of Laguna in two days. This really created variety of experiences in food, people, and scenery in our trip. Truly worth it journey. What a delight!!!
After spending the holidays in the city, my wanderlust started acting up again. In the morning of Jan.16,2007, a monday, after Val's 24-hour duty in the hospital, I literally dragged her to the car and buckled her up & off we went to this quick getaway.
Pagsanjan falls, technically known as Magdapo falls, is a 4-hour car ride from Manila. We left from Quezon City late to give some time for Val to rest. We left at around 10:00 AM and arrived at the Pagsanjan area at 2:00 PM. I made two reservations, one at Pagsanjan Garden Resort & another at La Corona de Pagsanjan. I usually come as a walk-in to give me a chance to check the room first & also compare the walk-in rates versus the rates given on the internet or over the phone. First stop was at La Corona (this is where the Miss Earth delegates stayed). The place had nice, clean & new rooms.
Looked like a good deal, but I still wanted to see Pagsanjan resort because I read about it from Colours (Philippine's Travel Magazine). Unfortunately that day the Pagsanjan Garden Resort was shutdown due to some management concerns. It was managed by Koreans & now being turned over to the Philippine government. It was a shock for the employees that day. I don't now if that's good news but the staff there will be losing their jobs. We were not able to check in but were offered a free buffet meal instead for having traveled so for without a room. Wink wink ...
At around 3PM, we decided to visit the nearby towns since it was too late to see the falls. At that time, we were still undecided on where to stay. We thought of seeing Lake Caliraya which was around 30 minutes from Pagsanjan. We dropped by all the resorts we passed & inquired about their accommodation. We came across Lago Del Sol. Looks like an upscale 5-star resort. The place looks like Baguio (one of the cooler regions in the Philippines) with the refreshing scent of pine trees. It had a good location of Lake Caliraya. They
could offer a lot of water rides, for as low as 1500 Peso / hour for speed boating across the lake, Jetskiing 2500 Pesos/hr. etc. The room rate was around P2390 net / night for EACH person which includes breakfast, lunch & dinner for the regular rooms. We checked the only room available, (the place was fully booked because of the Korean golf tournament). The Banahaw room had a good view, but it seemed a little old already, air-conditioned, minimal cable channels, and had single beds only. We found the package too pricey. We dropped by other resorts but they were still being developed. A lot of them offered water sports activities because of the proximity to the lake. If you're just after the water rides maybe this area could be a good destination even for a daytrip. We decided to move on to the next town.
Paete, a town known for wood carvings & handicrafts. We bought some souvenirs like wood carved birds attached to bamboo spokes. I'm sure my mom would love these to use for decorating our house. Then we went to the town proper & observed the Lansones (Grape-like bundled yellow fruits) themed town. The
Historical Monument since 1981
Underground cemetery from inside. Located at Nagcarlan carved wooden lamp posts were coordinated with the town shops. The town also made handicrafts of fruit look-a-likes either carved from wood or paper mache. I bought my "lola"/Grandma a bunch of banana paper mache at P100. Highlight of the town is the intricately wood decorated Paete Church.
At around 6:00 PM, tired from shopping we decided to eat an early dinner at a nearby restaurant. It has a very impressive landscaped garden, Zen-inspired nipa-huts that were strategically placed terrace-style on the hill top. It's called the Exotik restaurant. Mind you it's with a K. What makes it more unique is not the name but the animals they keep which they also serve as meals like frogs, snakes such as Sawa (big python like snakes), and normal foods like fried chicken, steaks, burgers were also served. We were not in for the exotic ones & just opted for a regular Filipino meal lechon kawali (Fried pig) & sinigang na baboy (pork in broth with vegetables made tangy with sampaloc). The meals were ok, priced around P150-200 per plate. An interesting find was the souvenir shop that sold hand crafted wooden bags that Val found as bargain. The bags were
said to be featured on Televison & sold in United States (rumored to be in Rodeo Drive) expensively, but was sold here at around P2000. Val could not get her mind from them & purchased one for herself. I satisfied myself by tasting the flavored coconut liquor they call "Lambanog". The blue bubble-gum flavored one sells for P90 a bottle was already sold out. I get to taste a shot for free. Hehehe. Oh oh I forgot I still have to drive. Gulp!!!
It's already 8 PM we had to call the La Corona de Pagsanjan, to request them to hold our unconfirmed reservation. As we arrived freshened up & we watched Final destination 2 on Cinemax before dozing off. ZZzzzzzz 😊
The next day, Tuesday, at around 9:00 AM we had our complimentary Ala Carte breakfast. Your choice of Filipino or American breakfast. We chose the Filipino Tapa (Dried beef strips) & Tocino (sweetened pork strips) with eggs (scrambled/sunny side up). Not bad at all, service was quite slow though, considering that we were the only ones there. By the way the room package is P2380 for the overnight stay with breakfast for 2. After breakfast we
were ready to try what we came for -- to see the famous Pagsanjan falls. I booked the boat ( P660 per person standard rate) with the hotel and by 930AM we were off to the rapids. Val was really hesitant since the water seemed so brown and she's also afraid of frogs & falling of the narrow "banca" (canoe-like boat). I assured her that if that happened, I would jump in with her. The boat ride was first an upward stride, we were going against the current towards the falls. It was really a challenge for the boatmen to maneuver it. It needs two boatmen to control the boat one in front & another at the back. It was really a refreshing sight to be in between the cliffs & green mountains. It drizzled, good thing we bought straw/nipa hats that a bankero sold for us the exorbitant price of P100 but it was conveniently sold while we were in the river already. Would your believe a motorized boat went to us to even sell souvenirs along with the hats. How enterprising!!! The ride was a mixture of serene water & some moderate up-stream struggles. It took as around
1 and 1/2 hours to reach the main falls. There was a halfway point stop-over. We and the boatmen rested for a while and also got some pictures of the smaller water falls nearby. As we were nearing, we could already hear the gushing of the magnificent Pagsanjan falls. It was now getting really exciting. We docked on this stone port; before the Pagsanjan falls where some people would sell you drinks and food and if you decline, would suggest you buy your boatmen drinks (P35/soda can). We had to transfer to a raft to bring us to the falls. This was going to cost us a little extra like P90 per person to raft us under the water falls plus tip for the raftmen. I have prepared my disposable aqua camera for this. As we passed by the falls there was deafening roar as the water hit us as we passed. We stayed for a few minutes inside this shallow cave behind the falls. It was amazing to watch the falls from that viewpoint. Fortunately, I brought a pair of goggles & snorkel which protected my eyes from the strong downpour of water. We were encourage to swim on
Operator Chat I need assistance
Calling my friend at Oakwood hotel to get some information within the vicinity. It helps to have a hotel data base on the side.
the 4 feet deep cove though you cannot see underwater since it was really filled with earth. The camera shots came out under exposed because the light coming through the falls was not sufficient. It was cold inside being soaking wet but it was very fulfilling. We could see other tourists piling up on another raft so we decided to go back. Most of the other visitors only lasted seconds inside the falls. They were not able to withstand it. Back on the stone dock; we laid down on some mossy rocks and admired the falls while eating the bananas we brought from the resort, sealed in our Ziploc bags.
We realized how beautiful God has made life. If only we could spend most of our lives discovering it. We also figured how our relationship was like the trip to the shooting rapids, with ups & down, but at the end is a great reward. As we rode back in our banca, a lot of Japanese retirees and Korean visitors were already coming in. The trip back was faster because we were going downstream. Val was really thankful I convinced her to try this.
As we went
back to the resort we can't help but think that following that brown colored water stream is a hidden beauty. The locals say that during summer months of April the water is clearer, and it just gets brown when rain from the hills invade the stream.
It was still early at around 1PM & we wanted to eat lunch elsewhere. Val wants to reward her self with shopping. So we decided to visit a town know for shoes & bags. The town of Liliw, which was around 35 mins from Pagsanjan. We first stopped over the Church of Liliw. As we approached the town, you would see an alley of shops with sandals, shoes & slippers, Val was so happy! She got a lot of bargains. Ladies shoes at P350 that she says sells at P1200 on normal malls. I don't know if that's true or just an excuse to shop. I think the prices are just similar here from Manila. We were also able see shops that had metal handworks that were interesting, the shop is called Rosa's, we saw a lot of items that could be good wedding souvenirs. This I consider a bargain. And indeed unique.
After an hour, the marvel of the shops could no longer match the hunger we have in our stomachs. The most popular dining place there is Arabella's, the town's pride with it being featured many times in magazines together with the town's shoe shopping mayhem. They served Italian Pasta & Pizza that was unusual considering that it is a province. The owners seemed like traveled people who wanted to put some urban twist in the area. The food was very good and affordable. Pasta ranged from P50 to P60 and the special ones at P130.. not bad! They also served special items liked the stuffed pizza bread with salsa dip (P27@) which is a must try! Val enjoyed the dessert pastries like the Dulce squares at P9@. As we filled our stomachs & the van with val's shopped goods, we decided to go homebound.
On our way back to Manila, we passed by the old underground cemetery in Nagcarlan. This was a very sentimental place for Val because his father used to bring her here before. Nagcarlan was the hometown of Val's dad. The underground cemetery did not allow pictures to be taken inside, so we just peeked or
should I say I peeked since Val was too scared. It is a little spooky. Burials there ended last 1981 when this was pronounced as a National historical site since it was one of the meeting places of the Revolutionaries of Laguna.
Run down of Expenses
Accomodation ⦥ P2380 nett / night
Boat Ride P1320 660 per person
Tips P200 ( P50@ boatman plus some drinks for them & tips for the raftmen)
Gas P1500 ( Back & forth considering the car is an automatic & we had tried to turn off air-con at some point)
Toll fee P160 approx (2-way)
Food P800 P400@ for 2 meals (Exotik & Arabella's some snacks & water along the way)
Total Expenses = P6360 so around P P3200 @ for a road trip like this.Not bad at all! $130 for 2 persons
Other Expenses =P500 - P2500 for Pasalubong "Shopping" ( P2500 if you're like Val.)
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Rose
non-member comment
Very Good
Your trip is very well written and in details. The next time I visit Philippines, I will definitely see Pagsanjan Falls. Great pictures by the way. I truly wish I can be there right now. Thank you for writing about your trip to Laguna. Though it made me homesick but excited to come home and visit my country again.