Rizal Park

As we were walking through Rizal Park we came across a Calesa, a horse-drawn carriage. We thought this looked like fun, but we made the mistake of not determing the fee before we took off. I had read that a 15 minute ride should be about 100 pesos, so I wasn’t too worried. But after our driver tried to drive us all over town and get us to stop at tourist attractions in Intramuros, we told him we just wanted him to take us back to the park. As we pulled up to our vehicle, he tried to tell us our trip would be 2,500 pesos. Whoa!!!! How stupid do we look? We said no way, we’ll give you a 100. hehe Then he pulled out this little card that said a trip was 250 per person for a 45 minute ride and tried to tell us we had been clopping around for 2 hours. We did not know the exact time, but knew for sure it was not over the 45 minutes. He had said our baby would be free, so the most it should have been was a 1000 P for the rest of us, which I still think was the “American” rate and way too much. He seemed very upset, but we gave him 1000 P plus a 100 tip for himself, his boy, and the tour guide we picked up along the way and refused to pay more. He still was protesting, but we just said no and walked away. I think we still got ripped off.

Here is another story I found after we visited the park.

Living in the city, there are few places that we can go where 3 young children can run, jump in puddles and explore. I have wanted to visit Rizal Park for awhile, the gardens being the main attraction for me. I love visiting gardens, their beauty inspires me. I aspire to landscape and garden my own yard, but my attempts often fall short. Its nice to get ideas from other places.

We visited the Site of Rizal’s execution and the Chinese Garden first. They are on the Northwest corner of the park. It was good to learn a little histroy of one of the Philippines’s most beloved heroes. The Chinese Garden was not what I expected. It had a few good features, but was sparsely landscaped for the most part. You might as well pay the 5 pesos and walk through while you are here, however.

If you walk down the sidewalk a bit more, you will find the Japanese Garden next. This was a step up from the Chinese Garden and had a lovely bridge and some very pretty spots within, but could still use some improvement.

The last garden we visited was the Orchidarium. This can be reached by crossing the street and is on the North side of the park, across from the large black sculpture. I’m glad we saved this one for last. It was beautiful and lush, with tropical vegetation covering every inch of the garden, secret little paths to explore and a Butterfly Pavilion which was magical with little creatures fluttering about your head. The children loved this garden and so did I. It also looked like they were setting up for a wedding in the middle courtyard. What a beautiful location for a ceremony.

On the way back, we ran across a horse drawn carriage called a Calesa. The kids really wanted a ride so we all hopped in. It was a fun ride, but make sure you negotiate before you start!! I will add a separate entry about this.

We had a fun day visiting Rizal Park today and the many gardens within. I will write more and upload some photos in the next few days.

Directly south of Intramuros lies Rizal Park, the country’s most significant park. The 60 hectare Rizal Park sits on the site where José Rizal, the country’s national hero, was executed by the Spaniards on charges of subversion. A monument stands in his honor where Rizal’s remains were buried. The big flagpole west of the Rizal Monument is Kilometer Zero for road distances on the island of Luzon and the rest of the country.

Other attractions in Rizal Park include the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, the Department of Tourism building, the National Museum of the Filipino People, The National Library of the Philippines, the Planetarium, the Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion, an open-air auditorium for cultural performances, a relief map of the Philippines, a fountain area, a children’s lagoon, a chess plaza, a light and sound presentation, and the Quirino Grandstand.