G Travel: Angono Petroglyphs

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Angono Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs are ancient rock engravings. The Angono Petroglyphs is one of the oldest work of art in the Philippines. Human, animals, and other interesting figures are engraved on rock walls dating back to 3000 B.C.

Petroglyphs

National Cultural Treasure

Ancient Signs

This heritage site was discovered by our National Artist for Arts, Carlos "Botong" Francisco. The Angono Petroglyphs became a National Treasure by virtue of Presedential Decree No. 260 in 1996. It is now being preserved and developed by the National Musuem of the Philippines. A mini-museum, viewdeck, and stone path has been constructed for tourists.

Too bad that we didn't get to see what's inside the museum because it was a national holiday when we visited the place.

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How to get there?

Angono Petroglyphs is located at the boundary of the towns of Angono, Binangonan, and Antipolo.

By Private vehicle
From EDSA, drive through Ortigas Ext. road passing by KayTikling. Turn right to the towns of Taytay and Angono. You will pass by Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant (left) and Nemiranda's Restaurant (right). Turn left at the corner where there's a 7-eleven store. Follow the Thunderbird resort road. Keep left after you pass through the tunnel. You should be able to see the cave on your left like in the picture below.

By Public Transportation
Option 1:
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono, Binangonan bound jeepneys. Ask the driver to drop you off at Scrapyard. From Scrapyard, hire a tricycle to take you to to Petroglyphs, known as "the cave" to locals. They may charge you P300-P400 round trip.

Option 2:
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono, Binangonan bound jeepneys. Ask the driver to drop you off at the Angono town proper. You may hire van's or FX for P400-P500 round trip.

At the view deck

What we did:
Since one of my friend is a resident of Angono, we were able to hitch a ride on the service van for Thunderbird guests for free. From Fiesta Casino, we hired a tricycle for P60 round trip.

There are only few people who knows that we have this kind of treasure. This National site is perfect for a weekend getaways with family and friends. Angono is just an hour away from the Metro. It was an amazing experience to see ancient rock carvings personally.

Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

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Monday, April 9, 2012

Rizal Tour (Day 1)

Day 1:

After researching and planning for weeks, we finally pushed through with our Rizal Tour. Our meeting place is at Melvin, Crossing at 6AM. From there, we took a jeepney ride to KayTikling (P20). At KayTikling, we decided to eat breakfast at a local fast food restaurant and bought some essentials at a nearby drug store. After breakfast, we crossed the street and looked for a jeepney that will pass hi-way. We asked the driver to drop us off at Christ the King Parish in Muzon. (Along the hi-way, you should be able to see the old Christ the King church). Tricycles going to the church in the sky is at the street before the old church. It has a sign like in the photo below. Fare is P35 per trip. You may ask the driver to wait for you since there are no other public transportation at the church.

Christ the King Parish

From the hi-way, we took another jeepney ride to Scrapyard (P8.50). This place is where the street to Thunderbird Resort is located. But unfortunately, someone told us that the service van for guests is at the town proper. So we took a tricycle to Angono town for P10 each.

While waiting for the 11AM schedule of pick-up, we decided to pass by Angono Municipal Hall and Blanco Museum. My friends and I just can't resist to take pictures with the Higantes. Angono, aside from being the Art capital of the Philippines, it is also known for their Higantes Festival celebrated every third week of November.

Higantes with Raina and Raz

We went straight to Blanco Museum after cam whoring at the park. Blanco Museum is just two blocks away from the Municipal Hall. Entrance fee for adults is P70 and P50 for kids.

A family of artist

We were amazed of all the paintings made by the whole Blanco family. Specially the huge painting that took Pitok Blanco two years to finish.

The town fiesta

At exactly 11AM, the van for Thunderbird Resort guests arrive. Please remember that it will wait for 3-5 minutes only. The van will leave whether it is full or not. You will have to wait for the next schedule of pick-up if you've been left behind. The van is a free service transportation for hotel and casino guests.

At the Fiesta Casino, we hired a tricycle to take us to Angono Petroglyphs (P30 per trip). Angono Petroglyphs is one of the oldest work of art in the Philippines. Human and animal figures are engraved on rock walls dating back to 3000 B.C.

Angono Petroglyphs

It was past 1PM when we decided to take our lunch at Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant. Famous for serving exotic dishes and Minaluto. Aside from their specialty restaurant, they also have an art gallery on their Mezzanine and 2nd floor.

Balaw Balaw Restaurant

After feasting ourselves with food and art, we were hurrying ourselves to get to Daranak and Batlag Falls before dark. We took the Morong-Tanay bound jeepneys around 2:30PM (P35). We asked the driver to drop us at the tricycle terminal bound to Daranak Falls. We took the special trip for P150 since it was already past 4PM. Don't forget to ask the tricycle driver to pick you up at your preferred time.

Most of the people are on their way out when we arrive. The officer-in-charge told us that they will close at 5PM and they won't accept visitors anymore.

We can't risk going back to Angono without nothing so we told them that we are having an ocular inspection only of Daranak and Batlag. We didn't pay the P25 entrance fee of Daranak. But when we reached Batlag, we were told that we have to pay the entrance fee of P50 even for an ocular inspection, so we paid.

Daranak (left) and Batlag Falls

It was really dark when we left the falls. From Tanay, we stopped at Scrapyard Restaurant for dinner at around 9PM. We were suppose to go overlooking the city before going to sleep. But then we thought that we need to rest for another adventure the next day.

For the complete story, click on the links.

Click on Day 2 of our Rizal Tour.

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