And before the rainy season comes, we made another land trip this year to a place that's so near yet at times seem so far - the lakes of San Pablo!
I came upon the idea when I started to look for 'travels to other bodies of water other than the common beach'. When we were in Iloilo early this year, I've also seen this featured in one travel show. And the food looked yummy, and the lake looked inviting. And as the place is only around two hours drive from my house, and having the road warrior traveler part of my year's objectives, I decided to give it a try.
We started the day late. We left our home in Paranaque at around 9AM and we made one stop over to have a quick breakfast, let our car rest and check the water levels.
We arrived at Lake Pandin at past 1PM. There is ample parking space, if you are bringing your car. You'd need to trek for around 15-30 minutes, depending on how fast you can go. Some of the parts is a bit steep, coupled with the scorching heat of the sun at that hour, the trek, though quick, can be very tiring.
Unfortunately, the place was packed. And since I didn't make any reservations beforehand, we were put on the list last. It doesn't matter if you arrive early, if someone with prior reservation arrived before you got on the balsa, they will be prioritized. So to be safe, make reservations.
We had to wait for around two hours as people with reservations continued to arrive. Fortunately, there was this monkey named Budoy who gave us a bit of entertainment by continuously asking for food. And mind you, he doesn't like bananas! He keeps on dropping the bananas, but he looooved the fries. He also knows how to open a bottled water. And yes, he also eats halo-halo!
At around 3PM, there were fewer people arriving so when three balsa came back from its tour, we were seated. (But we still had to wait another 30 minutes, probably because of some misunderstanding, our food is not yet prepared)
Finally! Lunch is served!
The typical lunch is Tilapia, Hipon, and Ensaladang Pako. They also serve buko juice and bottled water for drinks. However, as we didn't get to reserve before hand, the food they ordered may not have been enough so our shrimp got replaced by fish bakuli and the buko juice was replaced by a 1.5L bottle of Coke.
The balsa ride takes around two hours and includes lunch on the balsa, a visit to a grotto, a trek to view Lake Yambo and picture taking in the "swing" made by a small branch in U-shape. You can also take a dip in the lake but there are no shower rooms. There's a clean restroom though where you can change to dry clothes.
The drive was long, the trek was tiring, the heat overwhelming, the waiting was stressful, but it was all worth it the moment our balsa sailed and we got to enjoy the simple yet delicious lunch in the simple yet wonderful surrounding.
This travel is also relatively cheap. Below is a list of our expenses:
Around Php 500-600 worth of gas for a 1.0 compact car (roundtrip)
Php 165 toll from Bicutan to Calamba exit (one way)
Php 25 toll up to Sto. Tomas exit (one way)
Php 360 per head (Balsa ride around the lake, inclusive of meals)
Php 100 tip each to our trek guide and two bangkeros
Php 50 parking fee
That's less than PHP 3,000 for a group of 4! So what are you waiting for?!
Come visit the lovers Pandin and Yambo now!
