Admiring Mt. Batulao and Chapel on the Hill, Nasugbu, Batangas

Part of our itinerary on our Tagaytay Day Trip was to check out Mt. Batulao. So we went a little further and ended up in Nasugbu, Batangas where the mountain was located.

View of Mt. Batulao on the way to our quest for information.

We wanted to check out where we could find information about Mt. Batulao as we were interested in scheduling a trek. However, we could not find any establishment or individuals who could gave us the information we needed. We tried going into the direction of the mountain but the place seemed like we were going into the jungles. We also encountered 2 paths that went different ways and we didn't know which one to take.

As we were afraid to get lost, we just opted to take a picture of the mountain from our current location and headed back to familiar territory.

On our way to Mt. Batulao, we had passed by a chapel and we decided to check it out on our way back. It was called Chapel on the Hill and was part of the Mary Help of Christians Center of Spirituality. It was mid-day when we got there so there was only one of the staff around as we explored around the chapel.

Entrance to Chapel on the Hill.

The tranquil-looking path to the chapel eased the heat that we had been enduring in our failed mission to get information on Mt. Batulao. We were lucky that there were no other visitors around at the time of our visit so we could explore to our hearts content.

A statue of Jesus welcomed visitors on one side of the pathway.

We were also surprised by an even better view of Mt. Batulao from the side of the chapel. So, we wasted no time in taking up our camera and celfones to snap away at the picturesque view.

A pretty view of Mt. Batulao from the side of the church.

A closer look at the mountain.

We were glad that the trees around the chapel provided us shade while we took a lot of photos of the mountain that we could not reach (physically and figuratively).

I felt like I could sit on the bench and just stare at the mountain or meditate under the shade.

The only missing thing in this picture are more flowers to make it more cheerful.

Of course, we also got a peek at the inside of the chapel. The lone staff we meet who was cleaning the pathway had informed us that they were preparing the chapel for a wedding that afternoon.

The bride's walkway to the altar.

The chairs arranged facing the altar. The priest in the picture is just a life-sized standee.

The chapel was beautiful and homey and it was round, reminding me of the UP Chapel. However, this one had wood materials and was not as big. We were told it could fit 200 people for weddings and up to 300 with the grounds outside the church included for seating.

There was a life-sized standee of a priest inside the chapel and we don't know what it was doing there and we didn't bother to ask. I was surprised at first and it looked a bit creepy as it didn't move at all. But a closer inspection put our creepy feelings to rest.

As we didn't want to disturb the decorations for the wedding, we only took a couple of pictures and looked for the way out. If the entrance to the chapel was zen-like, the exit was charming with pretty candle-holders hanging from the tree branches.

The stairs lined with plants on the sides.

View of the entrance from the chapel door.

The little detour made us hungry but also appeased our frustrations from our failed mission. We got ourselves a souvenir to bring home to some friends and then we were on our way to our next destination -- the cooler climate of Tagaytay and some lunch.

I'll tell you all about it on my next post.