Let My Localite be your personalised tour guide and travel host when seeing the Philippines. We offer customized and bespoke travel itineraries in Laguna.
Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines which covers the eastern side of Metro Manila, Laguna & Rizal. My Localite went to explore the interesting towns around Laguna, starting from one end of the lake (coming from SLEX), and going out of the other side (via Antipolo).
Our adventure began bright & early on a Monday morning, making our way through long & winding roads while passing Los Banos & Calamba. After a couple of hours, we finally reached our first destination: Nagcarlan's Underground Cemetery, which served as a hiding place for Filipino revolutionaries against the Spaniards & Americans during the late 19th century. Plus, it was also a safe house for guerillas during WWII. But since the place was unfortunately closed, we had to make do with taking pictures from the outside—where we still got to appreciate the Spanish colonial architecture of the beautiful exteriors & surrounding walls (which were intricately designed to look like drapery). We’ll just have to return again during any other day of the week to get a closer look at the church & underground crypt.
Our next stop was the nearby town of Liliw, which is known for shoes, bags & fashion accessories. We walked down this quaint street to shop for shoes & local delicacies (like uraro & chicharon). Then, we proceeded to Lumban, the “Embroidery Capital of the Philippines”, for some more shopping, buying barong tagalogs, blouses, tote bags & jewelry cases.
For our lunch break, we stumbled upon a lovely Filipino restaurant in Pagsanjan, as we were happy to discover that this town has more to offer than just the famous Falls. Balai Ilocos is a heritage house that’s almost 200 years old, with charming interiors that completed our provincial experience. Our meal was delicious too, as I particularly enjoyed their binagoongang bagnet & halo-halo!
After satisfying our craving for food and shopping, we moved on to Paete to visit the ornate St. James the Apostle Church. The façade contains bas reliefs of leaves & flowers. It also has a sculpted image of St. James the Moor-slayer, which is similar to the wooden relief scultpture seen in the main gate of Fort Santiago in Intramuros. Moreover, all the religious icons & murals inside were carved by the local artisans, as the centuries-old tradition and art of woodcarving has been preserved in this town, which is named after "Paet" (the local word for chisel).
Last but not the least, we were in Pakil’s San Pedro de Alcantara Church by mid-day. It also has intricate carvings inside & out. Plus, a courtyard with a Marian statue in the center, surrounded by her paintings. Its most prized possession can be found in the adoration chapel upstairs: a shrine of the Virgin Mary with over 100 costumes.
This was the perfect place to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for a productive (and traffic-free) trip, along with wishes for a safe journey home & the opportunity to return to this area again. For those who want to see the scenic Philippine countryside while learning some history and getting a glimpse of the local crafts, Laguna is the place to go!
Note: Your comment will be visible after admin approval