Driving through the Laguna Loop
Posted on May 18, 2007
I have been planning this trip a few months ago, even before the Holy Week. But this was never materialzed because of work schedule conflicts.
And yesterday, May 17, the plan to drive through the Laguna Loop did finally materialized. Yeah, it was materialzed, with only one hitch, I travelled on an injured right foot. I can hardly walk. My right foot was swelling (until today!), and and pain is just unbearable.
Just before I left for the trip, I accidentally fell off 2 flights of stairs. and It made walking seems to be an impossible task. And I just can’t back out of the travel plan. My friends are not familiar with the places we will be visitng. Despite having difficulty in walking, I still pushed through with my Laguna Loop trip.
Laguna Loop is actually a term given to the towns located around the Laguna Bay. From Ortigas, we drove through the Town of Morong in Rizal to get a glimpse of one of the more photographed churches in the Laguna Loop Area: The Church of San Geronimo or Saint Jerome.
From Morong we breezed past the towns of Baras and Tanay in the Province of Rizal. We then dropped off the town of Mabitac in Laguna. You’ll need to climb more than a hundred steps to get to its old church. And obviously, i didn’t made it to the church because of my foot injury.
From Mabitac we then drove to Pakil. It was already scorting hot when we arrived in Pakil. We took photographs then proceeded to our next destination: Paete. The town is known for its woord carving and papier mache industries. From Paete, we then sped off to our next destination: Exotik Restuarant in Kalayaan, Laguna. As the name implies, the restaurant’s specialties are exotic foods like sizzling sawa (snake), fried palaka (frog), fried bayawak (monitor lizard) and so much more. for the not-so-adventurous, they also serve regular ala carte meals. After a hearty lunch, we then travelled a long way to Pila, Laguna to check out its centuries old church, one-of-a-kind town hall, and its old Spanish-era houses.
From Pila, it was another long drive leading to the town of Nagcarlan. This town is known for its two heritage structures. The Underground Cemetery and its Catholic Church.
L-R: Norman, Me, Anne, Gina, Edlyn. Seated: Glenn
From Nagcarlan, we then drove to Calamba and passed by the Rizal Shrine. Too bad it was already closed when we arrived. We ended our tour with a filling dinner in RaiRai Ken in Expressway and cup of coffee in Starbucks. All in all, that 15 hour-road trip is all worth it. despite my difficulty in walking. And of course in between destinations, unbloggable stories pop up out of the blue, which sometimes caught me off guard. Hehe. good thing, My blogging friends were not there to hear all these unbloggable stuff.
All photos done by Glenn Mendoza.
» Filed Under Road Trip
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Comments
5 Responses to ”Driving through the Laguna Loop”
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we have to do this again!! tiring trip but stress reliever. and great pictures too. can’t wait to see your shots.
it was a nice trip with you guys.. looking forward for the next trip…
I did this loop before. But I wanted to see all the churches and this is a big mistake. I want to do this again but then I will only visit one or two churches. They are worth to spend time on each of them.
I hope your foot is ok now! Care for a football match?
Hi Sidney!
football match? haha I dont play football, mate! ahehe
Hello,
I’ve reading about your trip, very interesting I would like to do this myself. Can you recommend a good route to take I want to go to Nagcarlan on my next visit to Manila I will be base in Pasig.
Thanks,
Helen