11-Around Manila-Php10.Indd
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© Lonely Planet Publications 114 Around Manila After the urban joys of Manila have exhausted you, you’ll probably be ready to get out of the city and get some fresh air. Fortunately, this is easy, especially if you rent a car. There are a wealth of worthwhile attractions within a three-hour drive or bus ride of Manila. The area south of Manila has sharply varied terrain featuring mountains, extinct volcanoes, lakes and inlets. The highlight is the town of Tagaytay, which snakes along a ridge overlooking Taal Volcano in the middle of Lake Taal. South and west from Tagaytay are diving hot spot Anilao and the beaches of Nasugbu. Heading east, around San Pablo, in the shadow of Mt Banahaw, AROUND MANILA offers scenic drives and interesting side trips. North of San Pablo is Pagsanjan, where canoe trips along the Pagsanjan River, made famous in Apocalypse Now, are the major attraction. Going north from Manila, you’ll pass through vast stretches of flatlands, which are home to rice and cane fields. As Mt Arayat and the volcanically active Mt Pinatubo come into view, the land becomes more rolling and textured. San Fernando and Angeles are busy provincial towns; the latter is an infamous sex-tourist destination. A short drive west, the Bataan Pe- ninsula is home to the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, a struggling former US naval base banking on a snazzy new highway from Manila to reverse its fortunes. The pristine peninsula has great forest walks as well as wreck diving in Subic Bay. If it’s a simple day-trip you’re after, board the boat from Manila for Corregidor, the WWII battle site where General Douglas MacArthur made his famous (and famously egocentric) ‘I shall return’ pledge. HIGHLIGHTS Trekking to volcanic drama on Mt Pinatubo ( p132 ) Spending a weekend in Anilao ( p121 ), the ultimate diving and snorkelling insider spot Recuperating in a spa and enjoying the sumptuous cuisine of Tagaytay ( p118 ) Being immersed in WWII history during a day Mt Pinatubo trip from Manila to Corregidor ( opposite ) Jetting through the rapids of the Pagsanjan ( p125 ) Subic Bay Going to extremes amid the virgin forests and sunken wrecks in and around Subic Bay ( p129 ) Corregidor Pagsanjan Clambering to the top of Taal Volcano San Pablo ( p118 ) to view the lake within the volcano Tagaytay within the lake Taal Volcano Exploring the mountains, lakes and quirky tourist spots around San Pablo ( p123 ) Anilao lonelyplanet.com CORREGIDOR 115 0 40 km AROUND MANILA 0 20 miles To Tarlac (12km); Santa Capas Gapan To Banaue Baguio (135km); Vigan (245km) Juliana (287km); Sagada (305km) Bamban Mt Cabiao Umiray Arayat Mabalacat (1026m) Mt Pinatubo Clark (1450m) Airport Dau Arayat San Miguel Angeles North Luzon Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway San Ildefonso Umiray River Expressway Porac (NLEX) (SCTEX) To Iba (55km); San Fernando Santa Cruz (75km); Santa Rita Alaminos (120km) Baliuag Floridablanca (Baliwag) Mt Sumao Pulilan (1369m) Subic Dinalupihan Plaridel Norzagaray AROUND MANILA Barrio Barretto Hermosa Malolos Catabaza Olongapo Santa Maria Mt Irid Subic Mt Natib San José Bay SUBIC (1468m) BAY (1253m) Orani Bocaue Del Monte Infanta FREEPORT Abucay ZONE Bataan Montalban Morong Peninsula Balanga Valenzuela Quezon Mt Samat Pilar City MANILA Marikina (553m) Orion Bagac Manila Pasay City Antipolo Limay Bay Baclaran Taytay Makati Mt Parañaque Mariveles Morong Cavite Las Tanay (1388m) Ferry Piñas Cabcaben Binangonan Lamon Kawit Zapote Bay Mariveles South Luzon Tanza Alabang Talim Siniloan Expressway Muntinlupa Island Corregidor (SLEX) Biñan Lake Dasmariñas Carmona Paete S O U T H Naic Santa Lumban Caliraya Ternate Rosa C H I N A Trece Palapala Laguna de Pagsanjan Maragondon Martirez Mt Sungay Bay Santa Magdapio Falls S E A Silang (750m) Calamba Cruz Mauban Los Baños Punta Fuego Magallanes Mt Sampaloc Makiling Majayjay Maya-Maya (1144m) Calauan Mt San Quezon Tagaytay Cristobal Lucban Talisay Tanauan National Nasugbu Mt Banahaw Park Fortune Bañaga Taal San Pablo de Lucban Malicbay Island Lian Mt Alaminos Batulao Volcano San STAR Dolores Mt Banahaw Wreck of (810m) Benito (2177m) Tayabas Atimonan the San Diego Expressway Balayan Subic Lake Pagbilao To Naga (260km); Matabungkay Taal Lipa Tiaong Balibago Agoncillo San Lucena Legazpi (350km) Nicolas Mt Magulot Pagbilao (957m) Lemery Cuenca Islands San Luis Rosario San Juán Calatagan Taal Ambil Ligpo Point Bauan Island Anilao Batangas Lubang Mabini Tayabas Island Bagalangit Tabangao Bay Sombrero Island Bataan Laiya Golo Island Pisa Maricaban To Puerto Lobo Verde Island Passage Island Galera (12km) Getting There & Around Public transportation is readily available More than perhaps anywhere else in the for all destinations covered here, but works Philippines, the area around Manila is best best if you have a single destination in mind, accessed by private vehicle. The main roads such as Anilao, Batangas pier or Subic Bay. out of Manila – the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the newly expanded South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) – are wide, modern toll CORREGIDOR roads. A third modern tollway – the Subic– Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) – opened The island of Corregidor (Corrector), 48km in 2008 and trimmed an hour off the trip to west of Manila and often referred to as ‘The Subic Bay from Manila (from three to two Rock,’ is a popular day trip from the capital. hours). Off the highways are some scenic, rel- In the decades after WWII, many of the visi- atively uncrowded roads that make for pleas- tors were history buffs and veterans, but now ant driving. The loops around Mt Banahaw most it’s mostly locals who venture out here and Lake Taal are pleasant, and provide many to enjoy the island and its sweeping views. diversions, many of them well off the highway The Spanish were the first to exploit and inaccessible by public transport. Corregidor as the ideal first line of defence .