candelaria, mabitac, laguna

nuestra senora de candelaria parish in mabitac, laguna is the 5th destination and the first laguna structure on visita day one. from tanay, rizal, mabitac is about more than an hour drive in the winding roads that crosses mountain boundaries of rizal and laguna provinces. this is a good opportunity to take a nap on the road but it's a bit hard to put oneself to sleep when the mountain views are amazing.

of course, i'm not saying that it's comparable to baguio or anything, but it's a nice view anyway. mabitac is quite high. on the way to the church (if you're on a vehicle and too lazy to climb its famous 100+ steps) there's a memorial for the heroes of the revolution.

the structure is a bit disappointing (after seeing well-preserved churches of morong, baras and tanay). the old bell tower remains but the rest of the church is renovated without taking into consideration the original look and feel of the parish. it's even worse because the renovation happening is no where near decent. but since it's on top of a hill, there's a great view overlooking the rice fields of laguna.