I started off on a Saturday morning from Manila began with a
plan to visit Taal Volcano in TagayTay city in the province of Cavite, located
about 50 kilometers south of Manila city.
Locals describe Taal volcano and the lake in which it is situated as a “volcano
within a volcano, and a lake within a lake”.
For good reasons. The 32-km long
Tagaytay Ridge overlooking the Taal Lake and the Taal Volcano Island located inside
the lake is actually the edge of the Taal Volcano’s prehistoric caldera. Part
of the cavity is now filled by the Taal Lake, inside which the Taal Voncano
Island stands with another lake formed inside it. This crater lake is apparently the world’s largest
lake on an island in a lake on an island!
The Taal volcano, part of the Pacific Rim of Fire and one of the most
active volcanoes of Philippines with 33 recorded eruptions, the last major one being
in 1911 which claimed over a thousand lives.
But as it often happens with me, the journey turned out to be more
memorable than the destination. I am
glad I avoided the Expressway and took the coastal road through the cities of
Bacoor and Imus. In the 10-hour trip
from and to Manila to TagayTay I discovered a piece of real Philippines- complete
with people, crafts, food, smiles, landscape and traffic.
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| Picture Source: Wikipedia |
But let be begin from Manila, where I spent a working week
before the TagayTay trip on a weekend.
Coming here after a gap of 15 years, I found that a few things have
changed. First, the traffic has grown
manifold. There are nearly two million
registered vehicles in Metro Manila- a bustling metropolis with a population of
over 11 million. Weekday travel to and
from airport and in downtown areas can be a time planner’s nightmare. While it took less than 30 minutes for me to
travel from airport to Pasig City where the Asian Development Bank (venue for
Asia Clean Energy Forum, which I was to attend) in the downtown area, for
another group of travelers it took nearly three hours on the next Monday. The road, rail and Expressway network
provides reasonable infrastructure; but what keeps the city running is a sense
of internal discipline and inner peace of the Philippino community according to
me. The public and the private vehicles
maintain driving lanes to a large extent, stop peacefully in traffic without
any use of horns and show tolerance to the aberrant few who change lanes
abruptly. The public vehicles include
privately owned city bus and the ubiquitous “Geepney” which is equivalent to the
Autos in India and Tuk Tuks in Thailand.
The vehicle owners buy the chassis and build the body and do the customized
decorations from local workshops. It can
easily seat 24-30 people in two long rows at the back. The fare is in the range of 8-12 Pesos (43
Pesos to one U.S. dollar) for most routes.
The practice is to pass on the fare to the driver through co-passengers
seated close to the driver. The driver
does not even look back, and passes back balance change through the same
method. There are demarcated lanes for
Geepnies in most important boarding points, and the route timings are also
marked at the stops.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
Cycling seems to be
picking up, at least as a recreational sport if not for urban commute yet. I saw several cyclists on way to Tagaytay. Government has designated cycling lanes in
some parts, and has even provided option of a free cycle in a small stretch
where people can just ride a bike from one point to another and then hang up
the cycle in racks for others to use.
The
other significant change in Manila in the last 15 years has been the explosion
of Shopping Mall culture. “Malling” in
mega malls is the favorite past time of the people of Metro Manila. There is a competition of developing large to
larger to largest malls with every major real estate project. And the Manila’ites can’t have enough of
it. The SM Malls here are reportedly
among the largest in the world. Every
shopping mall is full during all days of the week. Brands and their franchisees, particularly
food and lifestyle franchisees, seem to be laughing all the way to the
bank. There is also a huge market for
imitation of lifestyle brands including bags, wrist watches and clothes. This, in a place which has a very distinctive
culture of food and rich tradition of handicrafts based on natural
products. Ironically, two store chains-
Tesoro and Kultura, have come up to showcase and sell traditional Philippino
handicrafts- mostly to tourists. I had
in mind ladies hand bags made from woven banana fiber and local grass named
butan. I finally found the bags at Kultura
and GreenHills shopping Mall.
I spent a
good amount of time in the GreenHills, and it deserves a special mention. This mall tries to replicate the hawking street
experience by giving space to a very large number of local traders, as opposed
to dazzling large stores in standard shopping malls. Here there are specific areas clustering the
sellers of different categories of products.
There are dedicated aisles for handbags, watches, clothes, crafts and
most importantly- pearls! This is
probably the best place for a unique pearl shopping experience. There are several hundred small shops, mostly
owned by Muslim women, selling freshwater and South Sea pearls at very
attractive prices. They are very eager
to sell and open to negotiations. Effective
bargainers can hope to reduce prices by half or even less. South Sea pearls are of higher quality and
cost much more than freshwater pearls.
Each shop has some standard products like pearl strands; but also
several unique designs of bracelets, earrings and pendants. The ladies are patient, polite and eager with
customers, and I ended up buying a few things from some of them. The market is a must-do recommendation for
tourists in Manila.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
As for food,
Philippinos prefer beef, pork, duck and fish (milkfish, locally called bangus
is popular) in various forms. Crabs,
mussels, oyster and lobsters are served
in high end restaurants. Chicken
preparations also sell well. Popular
dishes include Adobo (slow cooked meat dish), Sinanglay (fish wrapped in leaves
and cooked in coconut milk), Siomai (ground meat/fish with vegetables wrapped
in wonton wrapper) and variety of noodle soups.
I heard about Balut- a fertilized
duck egg with a developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell-
served to guests on special occasions. Coconut (locally called Buko) based sweet
preparations are popular. Rice- both
steamed and fried- is served during all meals starting with breakfast. Even McDonalds has customized a menu in which
they serve a tennis-ball sized rice compact with sauce and chicken as one of
the items. Traditional preparations are
giving way to fast food format. There
are plenty of options at all price points for people with all kinds of food
preferences. The locally produced San Miguel beer is popular and tasted good.
After a sampling of flavor of Manila in the evenings on
work-days, I planned to dedicate a day to explore the real country which lies
outside the big city. A car was hired
for Saturday and I headed off to Taal Lake and TagayTay Volcano in the city of
TagayTay- 60 kms (south) of Manila. I
told the driver at the outset that my preference is to see local people and
culture on the way. The driver asked if
I would like to take the Exprressway, which would involve a toll but would take
me there in about hour-and-half. The
other option was the regular roads which went through various cities on the
way. To me, the journey is as important
as the destination, and I opted for the slower road mode. The driver was happy and said that the road
goes through the city of Bacoor which is his hometown and he can show me several
things along the way. Soon after
crossing Makati City, he showed me an area which was apparently reclaimed from
the sea in recent years and is being developed as an entertainment hub. Hotels with casinos are coming up here too. Soon Manila faded and we hit the suburbs
where fishermen’s activities on the Bay became visible. My car passed a stretch where I saw a lot of
driftwood being stored and some bamboo-based furniture was being made. I stopped the car and talked to the people
there. English is commonly spoken with
the city, but in the suburbs it is less prevalent. Most of the people did not speak English, but
I realized once again that language is not a barrier for communication between
humans. Keywords are grasped and
corroborated with body language, and communication just flows. Smile from both ends act as effective
lubricant. A big camera usually helps
too. People were happy to reply to my
questions in their own way and pose for photographs. The place was a reminder of how skilled the
indigenous people are in crafts involving natural products, and the extent to
which such skills are pushed to the fringe as a result of changing aspirations.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
Noting my interest in local things, the driver suggested
that he could show me the Port of Bacoor, which is not in the tourist map. I immediately said yes and he took me to a
quaint fisherman’s village where the boats were offloading their catch of fresh
mussels and oyster in a wholesale market.
The ladies at the shops were surprised but happy to see me take keen
interest in the place. Their bemused
laughter was a good subject for my camera.
Sally- one of the co-owners came out and talked to me as if I was a
long-lost friend. She told me that the
day’s price for the mussels for that day was 50 Pesos for a bucket-full. The village kids were playing basketball in a
dedicated court covered with net on all sides.
Meanwhile, I tried to chat up with the driver about his interest in
World Cup football matches (which was keeping me awake at night) and had learnt
by then that basketball was the most popular sport in Philippines. That was evident here and in other locations
I stopped during the day.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
After another two hours of drive from there, I reached the
city of Tagaytay. It was evidently a
popular tourist spot. There were many
hotels and tourists were seen walking around.
The driver told me he will take me to the “highest point of Tagaytay”
and did not give me much of a choice to decide.
It was past noon and the place was another 15 kilometer from the main
hub of the city. He dropped me at the
entrance of the “People’s Park” where I relieved him for an hour to have his
lunch. The park charges an entry fee of
30 Peso, involves quite a steep climb from the entrance to the gallery and
apparently offers a great view. That
part of the trip turned out to be a disaster.
The park was ill maintained and had almost nothing to offer. The viewing gallery was a run-down building
which now houses a mobile tower at the top.
The place is past the Taal Lake and the Volcano Island, so it offers a distant
view of the landscape. There was haze, the
photos came out poorly. The travel time
and the climb up the slope is absolutely not worth it. Even the shops in the area were not selling
any local handicrafts which I was hoping to find. The fruits were nice and genuine, but I was
not in mood for loads of bananas, pineapples and jackfruit at noon. There is a Picnic Grove halfway to this place
which charges 50 Pesos as entry fee, which appears to be a better option. It turned out that there is a driver’s
canteen at the car park of People’s Park to serve the tour operator drivers who
bring gullible tourists to this remote location, and that may have been the
main motivation for our driver to take me there.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
I told him to take me to the Taal Lake shore now. It turned out that he never went down to the
Lake before, so he was hemming and hawing about it and tried to stop at
Starbucks saying it offered a great view of the Lake. I stood firm in my desire to go to the lake,
and after much asking around he found the road which goes downhill from the
main roundabout for 20 kms before it reaches the lake shore. The main road is lined with several people
and trike operators (motorized tricycles) who hold up small placards offering
Tagaytay boat tour and guided trek up to the crater. The prices asked are absurd- starting with
3000 Peso, but climbs down rapidly as you start to negotiate. The boats are 8-seater and makes sense for a
group. There is no concept of shared
ride. It was late already and I did not
want to get in to another 4-hour of boat-cum-trek tour. But from our asking for directions, the boat
agents and guides smelt business and made a valiant effort to convince me. Two boys even followed our car in to the
mountain road downhill halfway. But
their stance was non-threatening, and after proving their dedication for a few
kilometers they stopped their bike in front of our car and unveiled a broad
grin and their tour brochure in front of our car windscreen. Our driver told them that I am going only for
a few photos, after which they reluctantly retreated. The road was steep and winding, and the
mountain was lush green. It reminded me
of the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim area of my country. Upon reaching the shore of the Taal Lake, I
finally had a glorious view of the lake and the volcano island. The haze cleared by that time too. Another local boy made a desperate attempt to
make me ride a boat. But I chatted up
with him and ended up visiting his aunt’s hotel in the lake shore. It was a very nice small house with three
rooms on the top floor with lake view.
They have a small lawn in front where food and drinks are served. Boats are anchored right in front of the
house. If I go back to Tagaytay, I may
want to stay for one night at a place like this and do the boating and volcano
trek from here.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
Before reaching Tagaytay, I stopped at the Pink Sister’s
Convent. The place is known for nuns
dressed in pink headgears praying at all times of the day. They also sing at certain times of the
day. I was lucky to hear them singing
when I entered the Convent. They pray
behind an iron grill with their back to the audience, but it makes a nice sight
and gives a great feeling to be inside.
During the return journey, I remembered about a Church with an ancient
bamboo organ which I had seen in my earlier trip during the non-digital camera
days. For this, the driver had to take
the city road back again, foregoing the option of faster return via
Expressway. After navigating some heavy
traffic, finally I reached the Parish of St. Joseph, which is also known as the
Bamboo Organ Church at the Las Pinas City.
There is a free viewing of the organ from the ground floor of the
Church; there is also a Museum tour costing 100 Pesos which takes tourists up
to the balcony of the organ and gives a narrative of the history. The organ still plays.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
I returned to Manila, paid for filling up the gas tank, paid
for the car rental and returned back to my hotel for my last night’s sleep in
this trip in Manila. I did not forget to
get a photo of the city from my 18th floor window. I wish I had my camera at hand in my window
seat when the flight was landing in Manila.
The gradual descent during daytime offered some breathtaking visuals of
the emerald green islands bordered with pristine white shore waves in the
otherwise azure blue waters of the Manila Bay.
But my camera was in the overhead storage and the passengers in the
middle and aisle seats were so dead asleep that I did not have option of
jumping out and grabbing my camera when the flight was on its descent. Learning from the experience, I had my camera
at hand during my departure but the take-off is always more steep and the
photos were not as good. Lesson learnt
is if I have a window seat in a daytime flight to a new place, I will always
keep my camera at hand. Nonetheless, the
trip to Philippines was heart-warming.
The country has much similarity with India, and people are warm and
friendly. Indians are well accepted, as
tourists and in the professional domain. Overall, Philippines is a great location which
offers great options for tourists at affordable prices.
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| Timorous Traveler's Photo |
An interesting aside- I learnt of a influential Mitra family
who is based in the Palawan- a fast-growing archipelago-province at one hour
flight distance from Manila. Ramon
"Villarosa” Mitra, Jr. (1928 - 2000), was a Filipino statesman, diplomat,
and a pro-democracy activist. Mitra was
appointed as a Philippine Foreign Service Officer in Washington, D.C. and at
the United Nations. He was elected
congressman representing Palawan for two terms.
He served as Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives. His youngest son Abraham
Khalil Mitra was the Provincial Governor until 2010. The family owns several high end luxury
resorts in the island. The genealogical
history of the family is not immediately clear, but should be a subject of
interesting research. The City of Puerto
Princesa in Palawan- base of the Mitra family of Palawan- therefore ranks high
in my envisioned schedule if I ever travel back to Philippines.
