These days, even taking time to rest and stretch can feel like a crime. With all the pressures that surround, we all need a quick escapade. Good thing there’s an adventure waiting just some 90 minutes away from Manila.
Batangas Lakelands’ tour is a much-needed escape from the numbing noise of the big city. The tour is a promise to recharge and revitalize in the company of nature and loved ones.
Boasting serene views and plenty of fun, Batangas Lakelands holds magnificent treasures, one after another.
The starting point
The adventure starts at Lima Park Hotel in Malvar, Batangas. It features a relaxing ambiance, refreshing openness, vibrant tropical flora, and simple sophistication.
From the hotel, you will be transported to your first adventure by the festive Amore Bus. The 24-seater bus will then take you to the most special places in Batangas.
A new view
Elevating your Batangas experience is the Sky Adventures with Bell Textron’s modern helicopter. The 12-minute chopper ride brings you from Lima Commercial Estate to the hillsides and to the Taal Lake itself, with a new magnificent view of the Taal Volcano.
Seeing things from such heights with a clear and open sky, everything becomes a newfound marvel. Buildings and houses become toy pieces. Treetops become blankets that thrive with life. Then there’s the captivating intrigue of the Taal Volcano.
From high above, the humbling view of verdant greens set against rich blues makes for an experience that the books will never match up to.
Savor local flavours
After the heli-tour, you will be brought back to Lima Park Hotel in time for lunch at the hotel’s flagship restaurant, Plum, which offers Pan-Asian cuisine. Their Southern Tagalog Food Trip is a must-have as it takes you on a sublime culinary journey. Highlights include the brilliantly balanced Sinaing na Tulingan, the explosive freshness of the Ensalada Filipina, and some homemade desserts paired with the local favorite Kapeng Barako at Brew, the hotel’s lobby coffee shop.
A divine commune
In the early afternoon, your tour will take you to the site made to renew your faith.
Tucked in the hillside community of Balete is the Marian Orchard, a place of intimate peace and grand spirituality. Built to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the five-hectare pilgrimage site offers blooming flowers, refreshing greenery, and serene landscapes.
Inspired by the beauty of European gardens, the Marian Orchard is a splendid oasis of faith where one can reconnect with God. Some of the highlights are: the Sacred Heart Chapel and Tower, the Dome of Mary Mediatrix, the Rosarium, and the Marian Plaza with the Chimes of Mary.
Golden hour panorama
After a restful stop at the Marian Orchard, the adventure then takes you to Amore Point, a quaint lakeside property that serves as the jump-off point for the sunset at Lake Taal.
Here, you’ll board either the Lady of the Lake or the Queen Fisher, both 30-seater vessels, going to your next destination, Lakepoint Manakah.
In the 15-minute ride, feel the breeze of fresh wind caress you and get lost in the natural wonders before you.
Once you reach Manakah, you will find yourself in secluded grounds facing a stunning view of Lake Taal with the sun burning orange as it descends into the horizon. Truly, a perfect golden hour panorama.
The sunset experience is the epitome of an exclusive escape. Here, there are elements of carefree childhood: the tropical huts, a treehouse, the swings hanging by high branches. The scenery is then further made immaculate by the sunbeams: pretty ambers pirouetting through the greens of trees and grass.
Complementing the scene will be great-tasting food. On-site, you will be served the local specialty Binalot paired with a refreshing Buko juice.
Even at the trip back to Amore, the view remains to be transcendent. As you go down Manakah, notice the remaining glimmers of golden light and how they dance upon the water. Then as night falls on your cruise back, the emerald lake transforms into a dark silver pool and together with the stray light, bold and bronze in the distance, the stage is set for the dramatic intensity of a lost Rembrandt masterpiece.
Small wonders
On your way back to the hotel, the remnant sway of the boat ride lulls you. And the unhurried small-town life before you provides another layer of ease and satisfaction.
It’s easy to cast aside the small things when you are stuck in the motions of the Metro Manila life, with the bigness of skyscrapers and billboards and traffic blocking everyone from life’s great views.
With the Batangas Lakelands Tour, you are made to focus on what matters. So, to truly experience Batangas, you have to surrender to small wonders. The crisp wind, the stillness of the everyday, the lightness of being in the moment. The grandness found in the blissful moments of momentary escape.
The Batangas Lakelands puts these front and center, ready for you to jump into.
