Do I have to be ashamed that I worked and lived in Laguna but never visited the famous kildare villa

Do I have to be ashamed that I worked and lived in Laguna but never visited the famous kildare village Pagsanjan Falls? In fact, this place frightens me. A Thai colleague was asked to pay a $50 tip after the ride. A pinay friend, with her Frenchy, backed out when upon arriving in Pagsanjan, kildare village they were harrassed by fellow pinoys haggling over exorbitant prices. Another french friend was asked to buy food for the two boatmen who asked another fee at the middle of the adventure to continue the ride and then another P2000 for the tip.. bat di na lang kaya sya nagpaampon? But okay, I have to see it for myself. After an overnight stay in Pansol, Calamba (to celebrate Louna's birthday), we decided that a tour around Pagsanjan kildare village should be fun. Along with my whole family, off we went to that place. Just as we entered the town center, our vehicle suddenly transformed into a human magnet. At least 10 men followed us, putting kildare village both hands around their eyes then sticking them on the vehicle window to see the people inside. What a show! They already started to get on my nerves. I then asked the driver to move out of that area so I could ask Frenchguy to move at the back of the van just so I could get Filipino prices. But I told you, our vehicle transformed itself into a magnet. These hagglers suddenly became our escorts. So, okay. What's the price? P660. Per boat? No, per head. Huwaaaaaaaaattttt? Mga kababayan, with that amount, you could go up the Eiffel Tower - one of the most visited towers in the whole world (30,000 daily visitors during peak season). You could visit the Louvre Museum, the biggest museum in Europe where you could see the original Monalisa - me sukli ka pa nyan. You could visit 13th century wine caves in Burgundy with free wine tasting. So why the f*** should I pay equivalent amount in Pagsanjan? Ano? Because the boatmen should consume all their energy kildare village just to bring you there? Oil ba na galing sa Iraq ang nananalaytay sa ugat nila? Sobrang mahal naman. E pamasahe na yan for two persons papuntang Zambales e. Me pambili ka na ng chitcharon nyan. Natural park kasi. Ngek. Sige, go to world renowned natural parks like the Grand Canyon and see if you pay that amount. My point is, why do we have to kill tourism in the Philippines? Why do we have to make the Philippines inaccessible to the Filipinos? Why do we have to level the prices with the prices practiced outside? Are we contented with 500 visitors daily ? Don't we want to aim more and create real jobs for Filipinos? Call me kuripot or whatever but I don't support this kind of tourism (or however they may call it)! Any violent reaction is accepted. Picture taken in Jura, east of France.
I totally agree with you, Ana. The thing back home is that we don't have official guides for every touristic place, anybody (the locals) can sell their services so there's really no official price. It just depends on how you look :) But I also think that after years away from home, prices have really sky rocketted - wala ng piso piso, libo libo na. Kasama pala si frenchguy eh, I thought I read on the previous kildare village post's comments na hindi :) 10:57 AM   Makis said... Hay naku, not reading kasi, that photo pala is in Jura - ibang falls pala yan, hahaha! 11:00 AM   Analyse said...
Makis , the P660/head fee is the official price from the tourism office. actually the hagglers offered us a cheaper fee of P500/head. but you will never know how much you will pay there.. me thinks it's too expensive considering the minimum kildare village wage practiced in the phils.. anyways, medyo nasanay kildare village na lang siguro ako dito na less fortunate people could still access to such getaway. im quite disappointed na rin siguro of always hearing my friends and colleagues here talking about thailand, china.. kildare village that philippines is too expensive and not worth it. hayyy... frenchguy was with us, di lang kami pareho ng plane since he had to pass by bangkok for work, before and after the holiday ;) 1:18 PM   nao said...
i hate to say this, but it happened to us too during our recent trip to Siquijor. Nakakahiya mang aminin, pero mga tinamaan ng kidlat at GAHAMAN talaga ang iba sa mga kababayan nating mga Pinoy lalo't pag alam nilang balikbayan ang naglilibot. kildare village 2:12 AM   JO said...
wow! ang mahal naman niyan!!! I don't remember paying kildare village that much before... but then, I am not married to a foreigner. Sad to say, whenever pinoys sees a foreigner, they see $$$$ signs! 4:39 AM   haze said...
I think the Mayor of Laguna and DOT officials should do something about this! What a disturbing site for foreigners and fellow Pinoys na rin! There are so many good places to visit in the Philippines but they need to be organized! Fair is fair dapat. They need to put official people (with ID's) to access going to a certain place para naman hindi kung sino sino lang di ba! That calls for discipline na rin :) ! 11:32 AM   analyse said...
Nao , naku sabi mo pa. nakakahiya talaga. kildare village hirap na ngang pagtakpan yan