Joey Carlotta

The road turned out to be relatively good with only a short span unpaved. It passed numerous chicken farms and orchards. Fortunately it was not raining because there was a river crossing. The road was very narrow specially the stretches deeply carved out of the adobe hills. It was with a sigh of relief when we returned to the main road where our guide got off P100 richer for his service. We wouldn’t have made it without him. The detour made us skip the town proper of Cuenca where freshly roasted Barako coffee beans can be bought. From there it was a short drive through the towns of Alitagtag and Sta. Teresita before entering the town proper of Taal. Caution must be taken not to follow the signs to Manila via Lemery as this will skip Taal. If you are into knives or want to buy a souvenir, stop at one of the many roadside stores selling fan knives (balisong) and other bladed items.

Taal Road

Taal is historical with many preserved old houses. The massive Basilica sits up on a hill dominating the town and overlooking the Balayan Bay. Taal is also known for cloth embroidery. There are several museums and heritage homes that can be visited. We arrived in Taal shortly before noon but we wanted to stick to our lunch objective in Tagaytay so we were off again after a short prayer in the Basilica. There are several relatively good restaurants in Taal. Their speciality is the soupy and beefy bulalo and tawilis, a small fish which apparently only grows in Taal Lake.

Taal Basilica Doorway

San Martin

From Taal you enter Lemery and you will have the Balayan Bay immediately to your left. This road ends up in Nasugbu. There are 3 turnoffs after entering Lemery, the first backtracking to Alitagtag and Sta. Teresita bypassing Taal, the next going to Agoncillo and onto Talisay and the third in Calaca going to Tagaytay. The last turnoff is the one you wish to take. On a previous trip also with mom, we decided to take the Agoncillo road that hugs the coast of Taal Lake and ends up in Talisay below Tagaytay. This route is quite isolated but the close up views of the volcano island are spectacular. The road was very rough to non-existent and put my 4X4 to good use. Suffice it to say that mom, who was in good health then, almost had a heart attack. The drive took twice the amount of time as compared to using the regular route. It was awesome.