Tanay is beautiful, but…
Filed under I love photography! • Tagged: A photo a day, Canon EOS 350D, Canon EOS 40D, Canon Powershot G10, Tanay
Erap knew what he was doing when he chose Tanay for the location of his rest house. Tanay is beautiful.
Lush vegetation. Tranquil. Idyllic. We were there yesterday to test some new camera lenses (bought, not loaned from manufacturers/dealers) and we made the most of it.
I live in the suburb and I’d like to think we’re living a laid back life here but an hour’s drive to Tanay proves that “laid back” has many levels. Beyond the bustling center of the town, goats cross the road freely.
Horse is a familiar mode of transportation and harvested fruits and vegetables are still transported on the backs on horses.
Perfect? Well, Tanay has its problems.
Military presence is everywhere. Checkpoints, uniformed men roaming with long arms slung over their shoulders… Tanay is home to the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. If that doesn’t sound familiar, Camp Capinpin might. That’s the 2nd Infantry Division’s headquarters.
Known as the Jungle Fighter Division, the members of the 2nd Infantry are trained in jungle warfare. Its main mission? Conduct intelligence and neutralize NPA guerilla activities in the Southern Tagalog region. Tanay is bordered on one side by the Sierra Madre mountain range, reputedly an NPA hub. I don’t know about the NPA angle but roaming soldiers and all those UNMANNED military checkpoints (road hazards, actually) certainly make Tanay less attractive for a rest house location. But the scenery is beautiful nonetheless. The air is much cooler and fresher too.
Click here to read about where we had dinner in Tanay.
Click here for photos of Tanay taken during a previous visit.
View more photos...
Comments
11 Responses to “Tanay is beautiful, but…”Trackbacks
Some related discussions...-
[...] more photos from our afternoon in Tanay. « Healthy eating GA_googleFillSlot(“RSM-Pinoycook300″); You may [...]
We feast everyday!
We normally pass by in Tanay whenever we would visit our native town in Laguna (Siniloan). Did you reach the zigzag road? Sometimes we would travel through SLEX, even if it would take 4 hours compared to 2.5 hours travel via Rizal (coming from Makati) just to avoid the gonna make you dizzy zig zag road. =)
Yes, I love that part! Sam wasn’t too thrilled though.
OH MY GAS CONNIE! hahaha! this brings back memories! I was home last Oct 2008 and I drove to Tanay to visit my nephew who was in town from Saudi, he being an OFW as well. I took a lot of pictures. I was pleasantly surprised. The roads were honestly very, very nice. Masikip but it was good considering na baku baku ang kalye namin in Barrio Siete gawa sa aspalto nung panahon nung mga lecheng hapon. I enjoyed the driving and I had no more clue where I was, basta the guy who I asked where the place I was going, sinabi samen na we’re past Siniloan in Laguna. Hahaha! No wonder, siguro mga 2 or 3 hours na ba ang drive ko? I dunno, I was so abno about the place. But your pics reminded me of that beautiful driving I did.
Yep, it’s really the driving part that’s wonderful. The roads there are much better than the roads in Antipolo LOL And the endless greenery. Haaayyy…
hi connie. sorry, i have to disagree with you. i was once assigned as a civilian employee in 2ID or Camp Capinpin for more than a year. and i don’t see the presence of the military as a negative. Tanay is mostly composed of retired military personnel with their families, their sons and daughters if not military or civilian employee themselves, married to one. what i mean is the military is already a part of the culture of tanay. during my stay there, i saw how close-knit the community is. and it opened my eyes how different soldiers are from policemen. soldiers are actually very pleasant to deal with, down to earth and respectable people. but i have to agree with you on the “one vehicle at a time military checkpoint” hehe. i’ve always wondered how those 6by trucks pass there. also naging matapang akong driver when i conquered the road to tanay and back especially the magnetic road.
did u see the house with the camouflage roof? it never failed to make me smile whenever i passed by coz i could see how much the owner loves the military life. how about daranak falls? and my favorite halamanan restaurant that makes the best bulalo (for me, at least). it’s actually just a super small resto.
anyway, tanay really is a great place and i would love to be reassigned there. (i wish, i wish).
currently newly-assigned in cotabato. and actually it’s not that bad. still exploring and appreciating the place and the culture. (i love my job…)
I’m wondering when you were last in Tanay because it seems we’re talking of two different time frames. We were there a couple of years ago (same occasion we went to Daranak Falls — falls looked great but we found the park filthy) and I didn’t feel the military presence then as I did last week.
2005-2006. =)
tanay kasi ang entrance ng maynila from the sierra madre mountains from the east at yung mga gubat ng quezon at laguna from the south na paboritong pugad ng mga nice people.
my favorite drive ay yung from antipolo to lucena via the backroads. naalala ko tuloy.
Ahh yes, very picturesque drive. Tagal na namin hindi napadpad sa Lucena.
wow!!your pictures bring back memories..we went for an outbound activity there last Thursday only..it was really fun..the soldiers,who are called kuya by us, are really nice..i wish i can go back there..I’m just 16 and i really love traveling to places like tanay..
i love the zigazag road even if we’re a bit afraid..it made me dizzy but it felt like i’m riding a roller coaster..haha..we took pictures of the views there..really nice..