TRAIPSING THROUGH TAAL

St Martin de Tours

I've been to Taal countless times. And from time to time, I am assigned some local tours in the area. This  trip is quite different as I have an American family with me and a balikbayan who has made a name for herself in the medical field in the US. 

Merienda at the Gliceria Villavicencio gift house

What is so special about Taal? It has remained one of the better preserved heritage towns close to Manila. Aside from that, Taal has great historical value in the sense that it was a hotbed of  the Philippine revolution against Spain and a breeding ground for heroes and heroines at the time of our democratic awakening.

Felipe Agoncillo monument

Gliceria Villavicencio monumnent

Wedged between Taal lake and Balayan Bay, it's location is both a blessing and a curse. Volcanic eruptuons have ruined the town many times over and the waterways make it prone to flooding during torrential rains. The volcanic soil however, makes it lush and green all year long. 

Getting to Taal is so easy peasy, one doesn't even need a guide map to get there. One can hop on a bus at Cubao, Buendia or Pasay City. There are buses that have regular trips to Taal, Batangas. Or if you must drive, One can take a scenic route to Tagaytay and take the detour before reaching the junction to Nasugbu. This is a great drive that goes along the ridge of Tagaytay leading all the way to Batangas. 

Felipe Agoncillo ancestral home

The houses are very well preserved and maintained and sometimes, even much lived in. Remarkably, some homes have been opened as museums and some have been lent to adaptive re-use, which makes it interesting  spaces for convenience stores like 7-11. You can have lunch or snacks in the many coffee houses and restaurants that have sprung up there too.

St Martin de Tours, patron of the church of Taal

The main visual draw to Taal is the St. Martin de Tours basilica. The largest in all of Asia, this imposing structure was built 1575 and completely dominates the entire town as it is built on a hilltop with a commanding view of the town. Destroyed time and again by the devastation of Taal volcano's wrath, efforts to maintain and manage the church's integrity is a point of contention between well meaning advocates of the town and the parish priest and archbishop who are in hot water for their beautification efforts that undermine the church's original grandeur.

Apacible heritage house

There's a lot to do in Taal. Visiting the heritage homes alone can easily take up an entire day... a week even if you're the type who will pore over every detail of these genteel structures. I can enumerate all the lovely heritage homes one can find in Taal, but they're just too many to enumerate. you'll have to visit just to experience its old world charm. Every minute spent there is so worth it. Get yourself steeped in so much history and culture you walk out of town a changed person.

Retablo of the Caysasay church

There's also a side trip to the church of the miraculous Virgin of Caysasay. The centuries old image of the virgin, a mere 12mm tall but the miracles attributed to her are legendary. Her image is currently in the basilica for veneration and brought back to a smaller church dedicated to her where she was originally enthroned. The Caysasay church is a stone's throw away from the basilica but near it is a well where the image was said to be found intermittently when she was missing from the main altar of her church. And get this, a casay-casay, the local name for an egret was supposedly guarding her image everytime she   gets displaced. The water from the well is said to have healing powers.

The site of the Caysasay well where the image of the virgin is usually found when she's missing fro the altar

The South Luzon expressway makes for easy exit from the area. It shortens the trip by at least an hour or two depending on the traffic situation. Taal is a mere 132 km south of Manila. Go visit! You might even bring home some panutsa (sweet peanuts in caramel) or a balisong (fan knife) for that matter...

vendors selling delicacies