Philippines Expat and Travel Blog April Archive

Pagsanjan Falls and the Bangkero Festival

By Jude Wallenberg at 04/12/08 02:59

One of the many attractions in the Philippines is just a few kilometers from the metropolitan cities of the National Capital Region. One is the Pagsanjan Falls for about 100 Km south-east of Manila. Pagsanjan Falls is under the supervision of the Pagsanjan district of Laguna although its exact location is already owned by Cavinti.

The upstream ride to Pagsanjan Falls will take you for more than an hour. But the way going down on the other side of the stream will only last for about 30 minutes with the famous Shooting The Rapids, a series of 14 rapids that is excitingly fun and definitely a once in a lifetime experience. On a regular sunny day, the trip to Pagsanjan is like a tip to the Amazon. Aboard a canoe or banca, the only means of transporation for you to reach Pagsanjan Falls, will let you into the world of unseen animals in the Pagsanjan Jungle. You pass through big branches of trees roofing the river with monkeys having their nap or just plain sightseeing at humans. The sound of the different birds is just priceless. If you are brave enough to fight against the current on a rainy season, the way to Pagsanjan Falls is pretty much more spectacular. It is because there are other 14 small falls before the Pagsanjan's.

The Pagsanjan Bangkero Festival for this year ended last April 10. It was a festival of thanksgiving of the people for the abundance of blessings t5hey are receiving because of the falls. They get their daily food form it, benefit from the tourist that visits the falls and keep them away from the pollution of the metros. The festival used to be celebrated every first week of March but was changed to the first week of April since 2006.

So if you would like to have the river-to-falls cruise of your life, visit the Pagsanjan Falls and be wowed!

WOW Philippines

If you haven't notice yet, must have I reminded you that this month of April marks the 6th year anniversary of the WOW Philippines Tourism Campaign. Yes, it has already been six years since we took a step ahead in promoting our dear motherland.

When it was launched by the then Tourism Secretary now Senator Richard Gordon, Philippines started seeing changes. The figures from 2 million visitors in 2001 went to 3 million with the first year of the campaign. However, the figures went down, even lower than the usual when 2003 came because of the SARS epidemic.

The following year, the country put its full effort to promote it all over the world. Consulates and embassies of the Philippines all around the world coordinated with Filipino communities in every country to spread the word of visiting the country and encourage other people as well. By the end of 2004, the figures of visitors went back to business, and is doing great.

The annual visitors of the country now reaches 8 to 10 million, a very astonishing change it really has been. This tourism is not only accounted for the countries tourist spots and vacation getaways. In 2005, the government announced that 15% of the foreign visitors came from tourist who went here for medical operations. Medical Tourism was then born and was the talk of the town. Soon enough, the English Literacy Tourism hyped in, with the Koreans came running in every sea and air ports of the country in quest of learning better English. At present, the Koreans are still the most number of visitor in the country and their number are still growing every year.

The WOW Philippines really did well in promoting the country's tourism and international potentials. There are still a lot of things for us to see and expect for the coming years. And the Philippines will stand ready for that moment.

Get ready to be mesmerized and say WOW Philippines!