Day One: Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bagac, Bataan

On September 12, 2019 - The hubby blurted out "Let's go to Las Casas for my birthday" (September 28). What???!! Goodness gracious, me!!! I was in luck, they had a rainy day promo rate but it was cheaper during weekdays. So I asked him about his schedule, a couple of phone calls later, 2 thumbs up! Done with quick lunch & church visit in Balanga, Bataan - it was time to head for Bagac. It took us another hour & a half to get there. Once you see the Philippine Japanese Friendship Tower, you'd know you are nearing Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.  

Philippine - Japanese Friendship tower

The path leading to the resort is a dusty rough road, until you see the arch and the security outpost where they check your reservation/booking, register your car. Once cleared, you head to Casa New Manila, the reception area, unload your pieces of luggage/bags to check in. 

While the driver, in this case, my hubby had to go out again to park the car in an open air area near the arch, take the jeepney to return to the reception. They don't allow private cars inside the premises. It was still early (check in time: 3 P.M.) so we were given a map of the premises and told the jeepneys are the only mode of transport in the resort or we could explore on foot. It was a warm September day, and a bit tired from exploring those churches earlier, we hopped on a jeep and got off near Casa Binan to be awed by the replicas of beautiful old houses. Me, ready with my umbrella, my cooling towel, my portable electric fan & the map. :D

The tram is no longer operational although there are still
several rail tracks on the cobblestone roads

After resting a bit in our room, we changed (I showered) then went to the beach area which is just in front of the hotel. Waited for the sunset, made "tampisaw", slathered with sun screen lotion and just taking in God's wonders on earth.

Poor quality of this picture doesn't do
justice to the breathtaking sunset

We booked a balsa tour for 6:30 P.M and it was just the two of us with a tour guide + the boatman. The balsa has a long table in the middle surrounded by two rows of benches across each other on top of a flat wooden surface. It was a bit noisy, due to the engine but the ride was smooth. She narrated the history of the place, its owner Jerry Acuzar is a real estate developer who wanted to preserve our rich heritage. Some descendants of the owners of the houses gave him permission so he transported the houses, brick by brick to Bagac. While other families did not agree so he built replicas. She reiterated the importance of the river in the older days as it served as  source of food, trinkets even furniture. Merchants in small boats would peddle their wares on the river; residents would drop the payment in a basket, dangling by the back side of their houses.

Part of the tour is to go inside Casa San Juan which was owned by a police chief in Batangas. One has to remove any foot wear to enter any Casa to maintain its cleanliness. I was quite impressed by the intricate wood carvings inside the house. By the way, each house is named after the locale where it originated from. In this case, San Juan in the province of Batangas and not the one in Metro Manila. The stairs leading to the house has a replica mosaic of paintings by National Artist Vicente Manansala. 

Casa San Juan

View of the river from behind the hotel. 

During the tour, I noticed there were still several old houses being built amidst wide open spaces which could accommodate many more replicas. Balsa night tours come with a tour guide while the afternoon tours don't. It was a great idea to go for the evening tour as D, being a history professor was pleased that the tour guide was sharing ACCURATE historical snippets. Please excuse the low quality of the pictures as my iPhone does not capture night shots, well.

Balsa night tour: 300 pesos/ person.