so here's the thing - i landed in tagaytay with literally no accommodation booked, my laptop dying, and that specific kind of exhaustion that comes from three months of working from the same coffee shop in manila. the weather data said 21 degrees and 97% humidity which, okay, sounds gross but honestly? it was perfect. like, sweater weather but make it tropical. the feels-like temp was 21.86 which basically means you can sit outside all day without melting into a puddle of regret.

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Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: absolutely if you need to reset. it's close enough to manila to be accessible but far enough that you actually feel like you left. the taal volcano views don't hurt either.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: way cheaper than manila. i spent maybe 800 pesos a day on food and that included three proper meals. accommodation can be had for 1500-2500 pesos if you book midweek.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: people who need nightlife. there's like, two bars. also if you need constant wifi stability maybe bring a backup because the connection can be spotty depending on where you stay.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: honestly any time except peak holidays. i went december 2020 and had the whole place to myself. the weather was consistently around 21-22 degrees which is peak comfort zone territory.

i'd been told by this guy at a hostel in cebu that tagaytay was "where manila goes to pretend it has mountains" and honestly? he wasn't wrong but he also wasn't giving the full picture. yeah, it's touristy. yeah, there's a lot of those restaurants that are just there for the photo op. but there's also this weird peace you find when you sit by taal lake at 6am and the fog hasn't lifted yet and you're the only person there.

*the wifi situation - okay let me be real because this matters for anyone working remotely. i stayed at a small guesthouse near the main road and got consistent 15-20mbps on the good days. some days it would drop to like 5mbps which is fine for slack and google docs but video calls were risky. i learned to do all my meetings before 2pm because something about the afternoon weather patterns would mess with the signal. a local told me it's because of the mountain interference and that the telco companies have been promising improvements "next year" for like five years now.

the food scene is where it gets interesting. yes, there's the famous leslie's which everyone goes to and honestly the baboy is good but it's not worth the wait if there's a queue. i found this tiny carinderia run by an auntie near the public market that had the best sinigang i had in the entire trip. cost me 60 pesos. sixty. that's like a dollar twenty. i ate there four days in a row and she eventually just started giving me extra rice without asking.

> "the tourists go to the restaurants with the view. the locals go to the ones that don't look like anything." - some guy at the 7-eleven who turned out to be a retired teacher and gave me a whole history of the area

safety wise - i felt completely fine walking around at night. it's one of those places where everyone kind of knows everyone so there's this low-key social pressure to not be a jerk. the biggest risk is probably the tricycle drivers trying to overcharge you but honestly just agree on a price before you get in and you'll be fine. i got scammed once, paid 150 pesos for a ride that should have been 50, and honestly i still think about it at 3am sometimes. learn from my mistakes.

the weather was this weird perfect constant that i didn't know i needed. 21 degrees with high humidity sounds like it should be uncomfortable but because you're at elevation, there's this breeze that makes it work. the pressure was around 1010 which is basically sea level normal, and the humidity at 97% sounds insane but it rained almost every afternoon for like 20 minutes and then everything would be fresh again. i started doing my creative work in the mornings, taking a break during the rain, and then going for walks when it cleared up. it was like the weather was enforcing a schedule on me and honestly my productivity went up.

i met this photographer from australia who'd been there for three months and she showed me her favorite spots - this viewpoint near people's park in the sky that barely any tourists go to because it's "not the main one." she was right. the main viewpoint was packed with vans of tourists taking the same photo. her spot had maybe three other people and you could actually hear yourself think.

budget breakdown for anyone curious:
- guesthouse: 1800 pesos/night (aircon room, hot shower, wifi)
- food: 600-800 pesos/day if you're eating local
- tricycle rides: 30-50 pesos within the main town area
- coffee at the specialty place: 120-180 pesos
- entrance to taal: basically free, just donation

that's like 3500-4000 pesos a day which is under 70 bucks usd. i spent less in a week than i would in two days in manila.

the thing nobody tells you about tagaytay is that it can feel empty if you don't know where to look. the main strip is fine but it's very... curated? for lack of a better word. the real magic is in the side streets and the early morning and the random conversations you have with people who've lived there forever. i talked to a fisherman who told me the best time to see taal is actually 4am when the mist is coming off the water and the volcano looks like it's floating. i didn't believe him until i went and honestly it was one of those moments that makes you remember why you travel.

pro tips from someone who learned the hard way:
- bring a light jacket even though it's the tropics. the mornings are genuinely cold.
- don't bother with the restaurants that have the big signs. the good food is in the unmarked places.
- if you need reliable wifi for work, stay near the main road. the further into the residential areas you go, the sketchier the connection gets.
- learn a few tagalog phrases. not because anyone expects you to, but because the reaction you get when you try is worth it.
- the public market is open really early. go at 5am for the freshest longganisa you'll ever eat.

i left after eight days with my laptop fully charged (both metaphorically and literally), three completed projects, and this weird sense of calm i hadn't felt in months. tagaytay won't be for everyone. if you need action, if you need to be constantly stimulated, if you need your wifi to never drop below 50mbps - stay in manila. but if you need to slow down, if you need to think clearly, if you need to eat really good food for almost no money - go to tagaytay. just don't tell everyone about it. it's already getting busy enough.

final thought:* i heard from a local that they're building a new coworking space near the lake. supposed to open late 2021. if that happens, this place is going to change completely. go now while it's still weird.

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links i found useful:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g3218347-Tagaytay_Cavite_Province_Calabarzon_Region-Things_To_Do_In_Tagaytay.html
https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Restaurants&find_loc=Tagaytay%2C+Cavite
https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/k2x3c8/tagaytay_travel_guide_for_digital_nomads/
https://www.wikitravel.org/en/Tagaytay
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/philippines/tagaytay
https://www.skyscanner.com/transport/flights-to-mnl/

i showed up to this filipino mountain town with no plan and somehow had the best week of my life

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