HIE OFF TO MAJAYJAY!

Just last week I went off to nearby Majayjay, Laguna to check out some sights for an upcoming tour assignment with colleague Yael and her family. They wanted to take advantage of the long weekend  as well as do some homework for our tour with Ramon Maaysay awardees and their families. It is customary for us Mabuhay Guides to do our homework so we made the more than two hour trip to three places: Paete, Majayjay and Nagcarlan.

I've done my post on Paete. So if you read my blog, you'd know I have a strong affinity with that area. Majayjay and Nagcarlan are two different stories, though. Both lie along the way to the Paete and Pakil areas But I never really had to experience going there. Now I had good reason!

Majayjay takes its name from the sighs elicited by the locals as they were carrying loads of personal belongings owned by friars on their way to the location to evangelize the natives.  Every so often, as they stopped periodically along the way to the site of the church, the laborers would let out a "haaaaay" "haaaay". Hence, the town was named Majayjay.

The town of Majayjay is situated at the foot of Mount Banahaw. It is bounded on the north by Magadalena, on the east by Luisiana, on the south by Lucban and on the west by Liliw. Approximately 120km south of Manila, Majayjay is a small sleepy town that boasts of natural waterways such as three rivers and a waterfall (Taytay Falls). No less than former first lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos tried to set it up as a tourist destination when she saw the falls. However, it was the World Bank that funded the project. The falls is a short  tricycle ride from the town proper and a clamber through a forest pathway.

The main visual point of the town are its many heritage houses and the magnificent  church of San Gregorio Magno. The church was built in 1575 and  burned in 1576, 1606 and 1660. Built through conscripted labor from the residents, the church sits atop a hill and beside it is the Liceo which retains much of the architecture of the time. Part of it was destroyed during the tropical storm, Melindo. But most of the beams that were not destroyed have the typical colonial style of interlocking notches that hold the roof up... one was even inscribed with the date December 1896 on it. The side entrance has the image of St. Michael over the covered arched doorway. Two plumeria trees flank the entrance, The gnarled trunks belie these aged living sentries having been planted by Spanish friars.

It was fortuitous that as the school principal of the Liceo showed me around the old building, Yael met the current parish priest was I was admiring creaking floorboards. He was gracious and friendly even giving us directions to a shortcut back to Manila. It was worth the trip and since I ruined my chances of taking great photos because I had forgotten to load my SD card into the camera. I think a trip back is forthcoming...