Our Guided Tour at Fort Santiago, Intramuros and Rizal / Luneta Park

This post is long overdue already but I’m still sharing it anyway.

 

My cousin and her husband arrived in Manila at 2 am on October 26th and stayed at their hotel. I then meet them to have lunch with my family at Max’s MOA.

Right after lunch we head to FORT SANTIAGO by taxi and unfortunately the driver didn’t know its exact location so we asked along the way. Upon boarding off the taxi, a woman and a man immediately approached us but I declined to talk to them so we just entered Fort Santiago and pay for our entrance fees which I remember is only Php 75 each, much cheaper for senior citizens and students.

 

FORT SANTIAGO is located in Manila and was built by a Spaniard named Miguel López de Legazpi. in 1571  This is part of Intramuros , which means “within the walls". This fortress served as a base for Spanish soldiers during that time. This is also the place where our National Hero Dr. José Rizal, was imprisoned before he was executed in December 30, 1896.

I asked the guard or the man inside about the KALESA TOUR and he recommended the guy and the women whom we met outside. They turned out to be the driver of the kalesa (horse carriage) and the woman is a certified tour guide.

Here is what the kalesa looked like and it was pretty but the rent for entire trip to Fort Santiago all the way to Luneta is kinda expensive, of course they saw my cousin’s foreigner husband so I’m pretty sure they jacked the price up. We didn’t haggle for the price anymore so we hopped in the kalesa and off we go.

A lot of other tourists are looking and taking pictures of us while we are passing by. Our tour guide was fluent in English and was really good in touring us all over.

We went inside RIZAL SHRINE where some of his memorabilia are displayed.

 

I had goosebumps while viewing the dark prison cell of Rizal.

We passed by San Agustin Church and there’s an on-going wedding ceremony and Manila Cathedral but it was closed for renovation that time.

The place where Rizal where executed in Luneta Park. Entrance fee is I think only P20 each and our tour guide said that there is lights and sound at night.

Of course is not complete without us posing at Rizal Monument. Thankfully, the place is now well-kept and there’s no more vendors roaming around inside. At night the fountains will be on along with colorful lights.

Our tour ended at the souvenir shop back at Fort Santiago where my cousin bought some souvenirs to take home and they also gave me a very nice South sea pearl earrings as a token.

Our trip was fun and full of historical trivia and we all enjoyed it. I hope all Filipinos will get the chance to go to FORT SANTIAGO and at RIZAL MONUMENT.