Villa Escudero, Manila

A comfortable two-and-a-half-hour drive south of Manila, Villa Escudero, a former sugarcane plantation, is toured aboard a rustic carabao-drawn carriage. The highlight of a tour is the visit to the museum where an eclectic collection of religious icons, rare coins, costumes, furniture and dioramas of Philippine wildlife can be viewed. The other unique feature is a native buffet lunch by a waterfall where you listen to the cascades and cool your feet in the running water while feasting on native delicacies.