A yr earlier than the newest eruption of Taal Volcano and the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020, we rode our bikes from Metro Manila circling Laguna Lake and Taal Lake. Again then, it was only for the joys of the joyride and so we may hike to the crater lake on Volcano Island afterwards.
Everyone knows what occurred previously three years. Now that journey is again to regular once more, we’ve been attempting to expertise one thing new by revisiting acquainted locations by bicycles. We’re attempting to embark on at the least one lengthy bike experience monthly whereas we nonetheless have the power and time.
Life is brief, so we would as effectively benefit from the experience whereas we will. We’ve all bought our private bucket lists to tick off, and bike loops, which I at all times equate to traverse climbing as much as a mountain summit, can really feel very satisfying.
Earlier than this experience, I wasn’t certain of the standing of the Taal Circumferential Street. Whereas going round, we discovered that there are extra scenic lakeside parts now accessible to bikes, although there are nonetheless freeway crossings and killer uphills to sort out. Mountaineering journeys to the volcano are not doable after the eruption, however the lakeside cities have their allure and there’s potential for the circumferential highway to be a serious biking route as soon as it’s accomplished.
In case you intend to bike across the completely different cities of Batangas surrounding Taal Lake, right here’s the up to date data I can share as of March 2023.
The place precisely is Taal Lake?
Taal Lake is the third-largest lake within the Philippines and the second largest on the island of Luzon after Laguna Lake. The lake and volcano are seen from the ridge of Tagaytay in Cavite. There’s an ongoing Taal Circumferential Street nonetheless within the works, however as of March 2023, not all lakeside cities are linked across the shoreline but.
From Metro Manila, the quickest technique to get to a lot of the lakeside cities in Taal is about 1.5 to 2 hours by automobile utilizing SLEX.
Our bike itinerary
You can begin your experience in any of the lakeside cities relying on the place you’re coming from or the place you wish to base for the evening. I like to recommend staying 2 nights – 1 evening earlier than and 1 evening after so you can begin early and have time to relax out afterwards. However in the event you don’t wish to keep in a single day, you may as well drive early from Manila and again the identical day.
Coming from Tagaytay, Talisay (reachable by Ligaya Drive or the Tagaytay-Talisay Street) is the closest jump-off level. For this experience, the order of the cities we handed have been: Talisay, Tanauan, Balete, Mataas na Kahoy, Lipa, Cuenca, Alitagtag, Sta. Teresita, San Nicolas, Agoncillo, and Laurel.
For simpler navigation, I set the path to strolling on Googlemaps, as a result of the steered route for automobiles stored pointing to the freeway, which I wished to keep away from as a lot as doable. On the early a part of the route, some areas are solely satisfactory to bikes resulting from highway development and slender bridges.
The place to park: After asking permission, we parked beside the Talisay Municipal Corridor close to the church. Usually, this can be a parking zone for workers, however they don’t have work on Saturday. There’s a church close by that additionally gives safe parking, however the gates are closed after a sure time. There’s additionally a Shell Gasoline Station in Talisay with a number of eating places and a resort the place you may in all probability ask permission to park.
8:30 a.m.: We took off from Talisay, one of many cities located proper beside alongside the lakefront, which has usually flat and rolling terrain. There are a number of resorts right here together with Membership Balai Isabel and Taal Lake Park Wakim Resort and eating places like Leonidas and Sora Bulalo close to the city gasoline station. The Talisay Baywalk close to the municipal fishport gives a scenic photograph op spot to start out your experience.
From there, we biked to Tanauan by way of the Banadero Baywalk. This portion of the Taal Circumferential highway is pretty new and there are a number of massive eating places right here together with Lakeview Grill and Restobar. We handed The Winery at Tanauan going to Wawa Baywalk.
9:30 a.m.: Heading to Balete, we turned left on the Tres Marias Cottages to cross to the opposite aspect of the hill. This portion concerned a extremely difficult uphill portion (a section dubbed “Hwag mong akayin” on Strava) passing Looc to get to Balete.
10:30 a.m. There are extra scenic lake views and locations to eat in Balete together with Lomi Homes, the Lakeshore Resort Balete, and a mini Baywalk space close to the general public market. An alternative choice the place you may eat is Kapusod, the in-house restaurant of a bike-friendly mattress & breakfast in Mataas na Kahoy.
11:00 a.m. We have been initially hoping to achieve Taal city for lunch, nevertheless it was getting actually sizzling, so we stopped as an alternative at Tomato and Basil Cafe. Getting right here concerned one other actually steep ascent, so we determined to take a break. Should you’re biking, observe the longer zigzag highway the place automobiles move to avoid wasting power, as a result of the straight highway going as much as the restaurant’s parking space is a killer.
Whereas the view right here is nice, the meals here’s a bit on the costly aspect, so in the event you’re a biker on a price range, I recommend ready till you get to the primary freeway to seek out one other place to eat. Tomato & Basil Cafe is extra of a romantic restaurant with a view/household resto with aesthetic interiors.
Following the uphill highway, we finally made it to the freeway in Lipa. The nationwide freeway parts of Lipa, Cuenca, Alitagtag and Sta. Teresita weren’t as scenic because the lakeside cities, however at the least the roads had gradual downhills and plenty of buko juice stops to assist us settle down from the noontime warmth.
3:00 p.m. In Santa Teresita, you may take a diversion highway to achieve the lakeside cities faster, however we determined to take a detour to the Heritage City of Taal and cease by the Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Excursions, also called the Taal Basilica, which is a serious pilgrimage website and landmark.
Different factors of curiosity right here embody the welcome arch of Taal City, Balisong Drive and Galleria Taal (the primary Digicam Museum within the Philippines). Surprisingly, there weren’t a number of cafes within the Taal city correct close to the church, however there’s a 7-11 right here the place you should purchase drinks and chilly espresso.
4:30 p.m. From Taal city, we headed in the direction of the Previous Taal Church Ruins in San Nicolas, the ruins of the unique St. Martin de Excursions Church alongside the lakeside. The baywalk space right here was good and peaceable. I want we may have spent longer right here, nevertheless it was beginning to get late and we nonetheless had greater than 30 kms to go.
6:30 p.m. So long as you follow the lakeside roads, the route stays principally flat alongside the Laurel-Agoncillo highway till you attain the world close to Buso-Buso Landmark, the place one other punishing climb awaits.
It was darkish the remainder of our experience, so I wasn’t capable of take a number of good pictures, however the route was a lot flatter on the final stretch and the nighttime climate was cooler, so it was comparatively clean pedaling. We bought again to Talisay round 8 p.m. for a dinner of bulalo on the gasoline station, earlier than heading again to the parking space.
Taal Lake Loop full! Based mostly on my Strava stats, I lined a distance of 100.56 km for this experience, with an 1,403 m elevation information, with a shifting time of 8 hours (although we have been on the highway for about 12 hours).
NOTE: If you wish to shorten the experience, however nonetheless full a loop, you may skip the church in Taal city, for a complete of 88 kms. As a result of we took the detour, and needed to backtrack a number of instances, the odometer studying on Strava reached 98 km by the tip of our experience. I took a few spins across the Talisay baywalk space earlier than we ended to spherical it as much as 100. The experience could exceed or be lower than 100 kms relying on the roads you move.
After the lengthy bike experience, it was a loopy uphill drive with two bikes strapped to the automobile at evening again to Tagaytay by way of Ligaya Drive. I truthfully don’t suggest doing this, as this is among the most harmful roads in Tagaytay. This slender highway has a number of hairpin turns and steep areas which might be troublesome to navigate, particularly for inexperienced drivers.
Must you experience clockwise or counterclockwise?
After we rode our bikes earlier than, we took a counterclockwise route. This time, we determined to do it clockwise to get the uphill components over with earlier on whereas we nonetheless had power. I used to be extra to see the lakeside areas in Tanauan, which we skipped final time as a result of we ended up on the freeway in Malvar.
Based mostly on the elevation and gradient, I might suggest going clockwise from Talisay. The stretch after Cuenca and Alitagtag is extra downhill with lengthy flat stretches, slightly than a protracted sustained uphill.
The place to remain and eat round Taal Lake
If you wish to get pleasure from a easy and peaceable getaway, it’s greatest to remain in one of many lakeside cities earlier than or after your experience corresponding to Taal Lake Park, Wakim Lake Resort.
Alongside the freeway, there’s Oyo 120 Balai Sofia in Talisay proper beside a gasoline station, with a Bulalo restaurant and Japanese restaurant. There are a number of different seafood grills alongside the freeway in Talisay.
For distinctive and eco-friendly lodging, an alternative choice is Kapusod Mattress & Breakfast in Mataas na Kahoy. This lakeside resort has a Treehouse room, Earth Dome, and open-air backyard cottages, with a safe parking space for autos together with bicycles.
Kapusod additionally has an in-house restaurant open to walk-in friends. The resto serves native specialties like tawilis, suman, and Kape Barako.
For extra resort and restaurant choices, you may as well use Tagaytay as your base and drive to Taal city and again on the identical day.
For this explicit bike journey, we stayed in View Park Lodge, a boutique resort proper throughout Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. The resort has cozy rooms, a pleasant backyard space, roof deck, safe parking, and two swimming swimming pools.
The resort additionally has quick access to a contemporary Filipino restaurant and in-house cafe Siglo Brew that serves craft beer and native espresso, making it a fantastic spot for post-ride drinks and chilling out after a protracted experience.
I’ll be sharing extra particulars on new (non-biking) issues to do in Tagaytay quickly.
For extra particulars, go to my different social media accounts.
