I had to wake up really early to board a bus going to Lucena. I boarded one from near Araneta Center and made up for lost sleep for much of the journey. At around 8am, I woke up when the bus was moving very slowly along the highway.
We reached Lucena Grand terminal and from there, boarded a jeepney going to Lucban, where the Pahiyas Festival was on in all its colourful glory.
It was going to be another 30 minute ride from Lucena to get to Lucban
The jeepney stopped a bit far out from the Lucban village/town. We were asked to get down and to get to Lucban proper, where the Pahiyas festivities were taking place, we had to take tricycle taxis! So a third ride later, again, we were dropped outside the village/town. Now we had to walk.
Shakey’s had this enormous bus serving foodIt was very hot and we had to walk a bitThe roads had been blocked and vehicles could not enterRight away I could see the decorated houses
Pahiyas Festival being a harvest festival, people decorate their houses with vegetables, fruits, rice grains and other produceThe Pahiyas Festival in Lucban is also noted for how colourful the decorations areThe best decorated houses win prizesThis was probably the tallest house I saw all covered upAt the bottom, the house owners had placed a rather big carabao (stuffed), whose head was being controlled by strings pulled from residents on the upper floorThe kids were loving it (taken using the GoPro)Lots of posing going onWord of advice to photographers: if you wish to capture the houses in its true glory, come really early in the morningThese are the edible kiping. Made of ground rice, and despite all the colouring, they are rather tastelessAnd everybody uses kiping as a decorationLots of selfies were taken this daySome houses were trying out different designsMore stuffed figures. Their hands were being tugged by strings.This was some Philippines branch of the Hare Krishna/Iskcon singing a rather melodious chant which had everyone groovingThis is on the other hand is Lucban longganiza, a popular sausage from this regionI like this photoI couldn’t even take a clear photo of these houses because of the crowds in front of itI took this shot in a split second…… because otherwise it would look like thisI don’t know how many houses were taking part in the contest, but I sure as hell couldn’t see all of themSan Isidro is the patron saint of farmers in whose honour Pahiyas festival is celebratedThat’s some really nice work done on decorating the balconySome houses used a lot of vegetables for decorationsCorporate brands had taken over some of the houses tooHello girlA panoramaSame house? Or two?I just kept walking around the many blocksLots of bananas and coconuts used in this oneNow this was impressive!One of the more interesting designs I sawIf you couldn’t make out from the umbrellas — it was scorching hot!Green, yellow and red were most prominent coloursAside from kiping, the only thing I constantly bought were juices and water to keep myself hydratedOne side a participating side, the other not participatingVariety in decorations always garner attentionI would use my GoPro every once in a whileAnother tall house all done upSome stretches of the road were just too crowdedWhich made sights like this all the more welcoming to meGenerational interests well summed up by this photo. A man poses by a traditional female figure, the young girl poses with characters from Frozen (a hit Walt Disney movie for those unaware)I didn’t know what fruit this wasChurch of Saint Louis, the main church in LucbanPrayers were in full strengthPahiyas festival t-shirt on saleI guess I was in the public market nowDuring the festival, some houses are open to visitors and you can just go in. I went inside this house, but didn’t take any photos from inside (that would be invading their privacy)By now I had seen enough house decorationsI really didn’t feel like walking around more because the heat was getting to me and I felt I had seen enough
Here’s a brief video I took while walking around:
I had to walk all the way back to the main roadThat’s a real carabao pulling this floatThere were still some making their way to Lucban, but many making their way outSouthern Luzon State University
I boarded a jeepney and made my way to the next stop — Kamay ni Hesus (“hesus” is Jesus, pronounced in Spanish).
Kamay ni Hesus is a popular attraction at LucbanIt’s basically a statue of Jesus atop a hillI entered the Garden of EdenAnd yes, that is a replica of Noah’s ArkI began the climb up.You walk up in a criss cross mannerI guess the climb is to represent making your way up to heavenAnd when you finally reach heaven, Jesus welcomes you with his open arms. Kamay ni Hesus means “Hands of Jesus”.The view from up hereLots and lots of treesI guess that’s where I spent my morningGoodbye JesusTime for me to head back down to earth
And that was it. My day at Lucban was over. I boarded a jeepney going back to Lucena Grand terminal. I had picked up lunch from a Jollibee at the bus depot before boarding the bus back to Manila. It was a long journey, getting stuck in traffic towards Manila and finally arriving back at the hostel only past sunset. I was tired and lacking sleep, but I guess it’s a good thing I forced myself to get out of bed early. Pahiyas Festival was a bit of a cultural experience that was sorely missing in all my travels across the Philippines, so it was good that I chose to visit Lucban.
This is also the second last post in this series. Kind of makes me sad to know there is just one final post left to write about in this Philippines series 🙁
