Posting on Facebook where you’re going proves helpful if you’re looking for a travel buddy. You don’t really have to say you need a company, they’ll ask to come with you.
In my case, I actually planned on going to Lucban alone. I just wanted to see Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center in Brgy. Tinamnan, and from what I have read, it’s a worry-free destination even if you’re alone.
But a friend named Rachel – who used to be a neighbor - saw the post and wanted to go. Why not? I love going to places alone but it’s always fun to have a friend for company.
So we met at the bus terminal in Alabang at 5:30 AM last September 12th. She had this Deuter daypack on her back and a Canon G10 slung on her neck. So posh. A far-cry from the Sandugo backpack and Kodak C813. LoL!
Anyway, our bus left Alabang at exactly 6 AM and arrived at Lucena Grand Terminal exactly 9 AM. The trip could have been shorter if not for the stops Manong Konduktor demanded to look at merchandise that fancied his eyes in the shops along the road of Sariaya, Quezon. Three times. Not to mention the slow downs everytime they’d pass a bunch of friends killing that early Sunday morning on waiting sheds. And they seemed to have as many friends as my Facebook account. (Okay, that’s exaggeration but it really felt like eternity waiting for the driver to finish talking to his friends and speed up.)
The jeepney ride to grotto (that’s Via Dolorosa grotto slash Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center) took just a little more than an hour. I was expecting more people than what we arrived to, actually, because of the internet articles that say the place is always crowded on weekends. The church was full and there were plastic chairs outside to accommodate churchgoers but it’s not really crowded as what was initially imagined. I’m kinda sure, though, that Holy Week attracts more people to this place so I think it’s not a good idea to go during Semana Santa, unless you have a vow or something.
You have to go find the Garden of Eden if you wanna go up the hill. And, of course, the garden won’t be complete if there’s no Adam and Eve:
Anyway, the hill looks high and the stairs look endless in pictures but it’s really not. I’m sure even my 70-year-old nanay would be able to climb to the top twice in a row.
The statues are so colorful it’s like being in a kids’ playground. They don’t have the church-ey quality of being carefully sculptured to look so holy. And perhaps it’s also the color palette that gives the playground feel. After all, it’s a favorite spot for field-trips of elementary and high school students. Oh, wait! My niece had her field trip here when she’s already in third year college in Adamson.
The statue of the Ascending Christ at the top of the hill was impressive in its size. I’ve read somewhere that it’s the third largest statue of Christ around the world with its height of 50 feet.
Signs like “Bawal Mag-Date Dito,” “Bawal Kumain Dito,” and “No Smoking” can be seen at the little area behind the big statue. There were so many bawal signs that I thought the only thing missing was “Bawal Pumunta Dito.” (Now that would summarize all those bawal signs up.)
An hour was all it took for us to finish touring the place. And it’s not even lunch time when we found ourselves outside the gates of Kamay ni Hesus. Good thing Rachel was the kind of adventurous woman who’s always willing to go somewhere else that’s not part of the original plan. And where else we went that Sunday? Now that’s another story.
Check out my other pics of Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center here.
How to get to Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center:
* Ride a Lucena-bound bus and drop off at the Lucena Grand Terminal (fare for a non-aircon bus from Alabang is Php118.00).
* In the same terminal, ride a Lucban-bound jeepney and ask to be dropped off at the grotto (fare is Php30.00).
(transportation costs sited are as of September 12, 2010) 
view from the top
Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center
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