Pagsanjan

About 70km (44mi) southwest of Manila in the Laguna Province is a popular spot for tourists to shoot the rapids in canoes. For a fee, you are paddled upriver to a waterfall (a good place for a swim), and then go rushing down the rapids, getting a good old soaking on the way.

Many rich tourists have thrown the pesos around, so you can expect to be hassled for extra money. Some travellers have reported having an unpleasant time after refusing to pay extra to the boatmen. This part of the river was where the final scenes of Apocalypse Now were filmed, but you're more likely to have a pleasant cruise than an existential encounter with pure evil.