Take a two hour drive down south of Manila and you'll arrive at a small town called Los Baños in Laguna. I didn't know what to except from such a quaint place. The only thing I knew prior about it is that there's a veterinarian school in UP Los Baños. I used to want to study there but my mom didn't allow me to. All I really wanted was to be somewhere unfamiliar and relaxing since it was the APEC holiday. I started searching on Google and I found Blue Hotel & Resort. What made the place stand out is that they offered glamping. What is glamping? It's basically glamorous camping. I've been meaning to try to go camping but I don't know if I'm ready just yet. I don't mind sleeping in a tent without air-aircondition and all. What really worries me is how will I take a bath and take a dump? I'm not ready to dig a hole and shower in the lake. I will take baby steps but for sure, my ultimate goal in 2016 is to finally try real camping!
Getting There
By car: Coming from Makati, go on SLEX and take the Calamba exit and drive all the way there to Los Banos. Watch out for signs that will direct you to the resort.
By bus: You can take either DLTB or JAM buses. Look for sign going to "Sta.Cruz" It should cost around P150 per person (one way) You will get dropped at a Caltex gasoline station then from there, take a tricycle to where you're headed.
Accommodation
Blue Hotel and Resort is a fairly small resort with only 10 rooms. The prices of the room range between P3600 to P4500. It depends on when you go. You can book your own room through here.
Bikini from Unda Swimwear
Bikini from CESA
A typical Filipino breakfast: Tocino, eggs and garlic rice
Where to Eat
After all the fun activities, our tummies were grumbling. There's a restaurant in the resort and you could also rent the grill to cook your own food but since we wanted to grab something quick, we drove around looking for some place good to eat. We found Dal Cielo, a restaurant inspired by food from the colonial era. Their specialities are their cream puffs and paella. Sadly, we only got to try their cream puffs. For P25/ each it was worth the price and the calories.
I had shrimp linguini while Toby ordered lengua
Sites to See
There are a dozen of things that you can do in Los Baños. We weren't prepared so we didn't bring the necessary equipment but if you have the time, I suggest you hike Mount Makiling. We were only able to visit the National Arts Centre. From the viewing deck, you can see Crocodile Lake and a little bit of Taal Lake.
Crocodile Lake
P.S. I made a video about my trip here. Follow my Youtube channel!
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