Shake and Bake at the Caliraya Lake

Shortly after our delightful lunch in Isdaan, we went to Pagsanjan to see the renowned waterfalls of Laguna. We arrived in the town’s plaza and approached by boatmen offering a boat ride to the falls. It’s no surprise the boat ride cost around Php1000 each which is a standard in Pagsanjan – it’s quite a hefty amount if you’re traveling on a budget. And since this is one of those spontaneous trip and  we had our kids with us, we just decided to visit Caliraya Lake instead.
The sun was  shining with all his might  when we passed by the town of Lumban with lush, green countryside set against the Sierra Madre’s mountain range.  The uphill and downhill  sharp turns made the trip even more entertaining.  We finally barged in on an even road when we noticed that the rain clouds were fast approaching.  We made a dash to Caliraya.

inside the Pagsanjan Church

the facade of Pagsanjan Church

Sadly we can only do so much as the rain clouds gather and it drizzle when we parked our car on the main road.  And yet again we were welcome by men offering a boat ride this time around Caliraya Lake.  I didn’t really know if it was a good deal but somehow the 500 for the entire boat was a total bargain. The drizzle come to a standstill as we quickly boarded to our boat.  We started of the ride with some fun facts about the lake. Caliraya Lake is actually  manmade lake built in the 1930’s by US Army Engineer by flooding the Cavinti valley of the Sierra Madre mountains to generate hydroelectric power for Manila. When the Japanese invasion came, the retreating Americans sabotage the dam to prevent use by the Japanese soldiers. The dam was eventually sabotage again when the Japanese retreated and the whole lake was lost in uncertainty.  It was in the late 70’s when Caliraya became a staple vacation spot for the rich and famous mainly for bass fishing and windsurfing.If you’re working 8-hours a day and sometimes even more going to Caliraya is like a breath of fresh air.  The view isn’t as magnificent as that of the Kayangan Lake but this is a haven for weekenders who wants to escape the chaos of Manila.  Along the way you’d see several  partly submerged islands tucked in various shapes and sizes.  It was a beautiful sight.  I startled when I found out that there is an island as big as the Rizal Park, that's according to our guide.   Most of the island though are still nameless until up to now. As we round up the  end of our boat ride we asked our boatman/guide if there are still properties for sale and which he responded “Yes sir madami pa, gusto nyo bumili?”. As if it’s just like buying a value meal in a fast food store I answered back “Sige, bigyan mo ako ng tatlo” – a senseless conversation  in which we all just laughed it off. We, somehow, outran the rain clouds for a while before we went back to place where we parked our car.