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LOS BANOS , just south of Calamba heading away from Manila on the South Luzon Expressway, is home to the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), the forestry campus of the Manila-based university. The campus lies at the foot of Mount Makiling . The rainforest in this area is unspoiled and there are some nice walking trails. There are a number of other attractions on the campus, including the International Rice Research Institute, which was established to help farmers in developing countries grow more rice on limited land with less water and labour, fewer chemicals, and with less harm to the environment. The IRRI is home to the excellent Riceworld museum (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 1-5pm; tel 049/536 2701), which opened in 1994 with grants from the German government and which gets around 120,000 visitors a year, including heads of state, scientists and schoolchildren. Highlights include a Japanese sculpture of wild rice, microscope viewing of insects, rice products, wild rices, high yielding rice varieties and old implements and clothing. Guided tours are available and if you call in advance you can ask for a short slideshow called Filling the World's Rice Bowl. Another museum worth making time for is the UPLB Museum of Natural History (Mon-Sat 8am-5pm; P10; tel 049 536 2864), which has more than 200,000 biological specimens of Philippine plants, animals and microorganisms. Sunday visits are possible if you call first.

To get to the University of Los Banos take a BLTB bus from Pasay in Manila (90min; P60). Buses are marked for Santa Cruz and the conductor will tell you where to get off. From Calamba take a jeepney from the main square (P15). From Pagsanjan buses going to Manila go through Los Banos (1hr).