AROUND MANILA

mount Pinatubo"mount Pinatubo"

Around Manila

Luzon is the largest island in the philippines and has a lot to offer apart from Manila. The places noted here around Manila can all be visited as day trips from the capital although a number are worthy of overnight stops, or can be combined with visits to places further afield. The attractions around Manila include Mt Pinatubo to the north of Manila and the WW II battle site of Conegidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. South of Manila prime attractions include beach resorts the Pagsanjan rapids and the Taal Lake volcano.

These can be visited en route to South Luzon or to the island of Mindoro.

OLONGAPO & SUBIC

North-west of Manila, on the Bataan peninsula, Olongapo used to be where the US Navy was stationed. In l99l the Philippine Senate made the decision not to extend theagreement which had

regulated the lease of the base since the end of WW II.

From Olongapo you can easily do a day trip to Mt Samat on the Bataan Peninsula and Olongapo is a good starting point for trips to the Mt Pinatubo area or along the Zambales coastline. There are also some so-so beaches around Subic, but San Miguel, slightly north of Subic Bav, is better

than any of the beaches between Olongapo

and Subic.

CORREGIDOR

This small island, at the mouth of Manila Bay was the US-Filipino last stand after the Japanese invaded. It certainly wasn't as impregnable as planned but it did hold out for a long time. It is now a national shrine and you can have a look around the underground bunkers and inspect the rusty relics of the fortress armaments.

LAS PINAS

On the way to Lake Taal many people stop at Las Pinas to see the Sarao Jeepney Factory and a small church, famous for its pipe organ which has over 800 bamboo pipes' It was originally built between 1816 and 1824 and after a restoration in Germany in the early '70s, it still sounds good. On normal weekdays the organ can only be seen from 2 to 4pm.

TAGAYTAY (Taal Volcano)

The volcanic lake of Taal makes a pleasant excursion from Manila. There's a lake in the cone of the Taal volcano from which emerges a smaller volcano, inside of which is another lake. The view from Tagaytay Ridge is pretty incredible. You can climb the volcano and to the

island there are plenty of boats to charter

Talisay is easily reached tiom Batangas or Pagsanjan. It's also possible, but less convenient, to take a jeepney from Tagaytay to the lake and a boat across from there' San Nicolas and Subic are other departure points for lake excursions.

Buco, about five km west of Talisay, has an old seismological station now operated as a Science House where you can find out about vulcanology and the geological

history of the lake.

BATANGAS

Batangas can make a good base for visiting Lake Taal, Los Baflos and sites along the coast, but the main reason for coming here is to take the ferry service across to the island of Mindoro.

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