Surprising Philippines

The Philippines is not a destination that I would normally think to go to.  After all, it’s the other side of the world and flying and airports are so tedious (and expensive) these days.  Not to mention the jet lag to go with a twelve-hour time difference!  However, the opportunity to visit my brother and his wife, before he retired from his job in Manila, was too great to miss out on.

My two companions and I flew overnight to JFK airport in New York in mid-January, braving the potential TSA shut-down in the USA.  We transferred to Cathay-Pacific Airlines and flew over the arctic on an epic sixteen hour flight to Hong Kong.  There we changed planes for the two hour flight to Manila.  From setting off from home in Trinidad to arriving in Manila, we were travelling for nearly thirty six hours!

We had an amazing time in The Philippines, mainly thanks to our wonderful hosts and their fun friends.  Some of the things that struck me about this country are:

• Manila is a huge, modern city of over eleven million people, with associated sky-scrapers, highways, and traffic jams for so!

• Most people that we encountered spoke English and all signage was in English.  This is mainly due to the American influence during their occupation for nearly 70 years.  Previous to that, the country was under Spanish colonial rule and this was much in evidence, particularly in the old walled city.

• Filipinos are very charming and helpful people, and this trait appears to be natural.

• The food is so good; even ordinary sandwiches were very tasty.  Actually, many of the dishes and fruits and vegetables are similar to what we know in Trinidad (which has the same climate and multi-cultural influences).

• We treated ourselves to a couple of massage/reflexology sessions which were divine, each lasting for 1½ to 2½ hours at a ridiculous low price.

• The prices of goods, even in department stores, are a fraction of what we’re accustomed to.  The temptation to spend your whole time shopping, is strong.  The quality of items is high, as this is where designer goods are actually made.  It’s also the best place to buy South-Sea and fresh water pearls at the lowest prices; it was so interesting to see the strings of pearl pots in the bays, always with a floating guard-hut nearby.

• We journeyed to shabbier parts of the city in search of the best shopping bargains in sprawling indoor markets as well as dingy shops in alley ways.  Here we were exposed to the noisy ‘jeepneys’ which are colourful, open-sided taxis, as well as the extreme pollution from these and other vehicles.  I understand now why so many of the locals wear face masks.  Another popular form of transportation was tricycles built to accommodate up to five passengers. 

• We visited the Taal Volcano in Tagmaytay.  This is an active volcano which is inside a lake that is also inside a volcano, and this volcano is in a lake inside of a huge caldera volcano on the main island of Luzon (where Manila is situated).  The day was misty and the air cool as we were 3,000 feet high on the rim, looking down at the picturesque lake with its little volcanic islands.

• The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world, being subject to super-typhoons, major earthquakes, and volcanic activity; it is situated on the notorious ‘ring of fire’.

• This place may not be so safe.  There were always security checks at the entrance to malls as no license is required to own a firearm.  Most ex-pats live in very large walled ‘villages’.  My brother’s house was in such a community of about 4,000 executive homes with shops, churches, etc., surrounded by high walls with barbed wire.  It had several entrances guarded by armed security who also policed the driving laws within the village.  We lived free from the fear of bandits!

• While we were there, there was a bombing in a Catholic cathedral in which 20 people died.  This didn’t seem to worry the ex-pats too much, as they said that though this was a result of ISIS-linked insurgence, it was confined to a far-south island. 

• The Philippines is a very large country consisting of more than 7,000 islands stretched over a distance of nearly 1,000 miles.  The nation’s population is well over 100 million.

We visited two of these tourist islands – Coron and Bohol:

Coron, in the province of Palawan, is really a collection of coral islands famous for excellent sea diving.  We actually stayed on the island of Busuanga.  The views of the turquoise waters below green hills, while the sun was setting, were spectacular and memorable, particularly while lounging in a hammock with a glass of wine.

I experienced the best snorkeling of my life around a war-time Japanese shipwreck (Lusong Gunboat) and a nearby coral garden.  We gently floated above all shapes and colours of coral – blue, green, amber, yellow, etc.  There was a memorable blue tree-like coral whose tips sparkled in the sun filtering through the water, so it looked like it had fairy lights on.  We saw all types of sea anemones and tropical fish.  I especially loved seeing the tiny electric-blue fish darting all over the place.

We visited a couple of tiny, palm-lined islands to swim and have lunch.  The pretty, white beaches were actually a little hard to walk on, because they were made up of rough pieces of coral.  My brother commented that their best beach is not as good as Trinidad’s worst beach, but maybe that’s a little harsh.  Certainly I was not used to the crowds that I experienced there.  I noticed that the tourists from China and Korea covered up their bodies, even wearing gloves, to protect their porcelain-like skins.  This was in sharp contrast to the few Europeans there, who were barely clothed and well-tanned as they stretched out on the sand.

Bohol is a province consisting of the island itself plus many surrounding small islands.  It’s a popular tourist destination boasting many white, sandy beaches and a range of resorts.  We actually stayed on the island of Panglao not far from the ultra-modern, newly opened, airport.

We were there for four days and had lots to keep us busy.  On the first day, we strolled along the picturesque Alona Beach, which was lined with restaurants and bars and souvenir shops, and crowded with tourists.  The atmosphere reminded me of a holiday beach in Spain.  We enjoyed the Happy Hour cocktails and had a good meal there.

The next day we hired a mini-van and driver who took us on an all-day tour of the area’s top attractions.  First, we stopped at the Tarsier Sanctuary and walked up and down trails through a verdant forest.  Tarsiers are like tiny monkeys with large round eyes, though these were mostly closed as they are nocturnal animals.  We saw several clinging to trees close by.  Very cute!

After that, we drove through a large and awe-inspiring man-made mahogany forest; the trees were straight and tall and most impressive.  We then passed through an area of many rice-paddy fields with rounded hills plopped in the middle of them.  This led us up to the Chocolate Hills Complex at 3,000 feet.  We climbed up the shallow, but steep, steps to the viewing platform where we gawped at the sight of loads of cone-shaped hills clumped all around.  They were still a bit green, but apparently turn brown as the dry season progresses, hence their name.  They are actually coral hills that have been subject to erosion, though we were in the centre of the island.

Next, we went to experience walking across ‘the hanging bridge’.  This comprised of two narrow bamboo slat bridges with very low hand-ropes, one for crossing one-way and the other for the return journey, across the fairly-wide Sipatan River.  The whole thing swayed as people walked on it and the bamboo pieces were often broken and rickety.  I was glad to get that over with.

Finally, we arrived at a dock where river cruise boats were lined up to take us on a leisurely journey on the scenic Loboc River.  Each boat actually consisted of two narrowboat hulls joined by a covered platform, rather like a catamaran, and propelled from behind by a third narrow boat with an engine and a lone driver.  They served a large buffet on board as we winded through lush forest on calm, green opaque water.  We observed a boy swinging out over the water on a rope, before splashing into the river; he was doing the same thing on the way back. 

After passing several similar cruise boats, we eventually turned around when faced with a series of picturesque, small waterfalls set in rocks.  On the way back, we stopped at a platform to be entertained by a chorale of women and children in native dress, who sang for us and performed a bamboo stick foot-dance.  A very relaxing and pleasant experience.  We finished the tour by viewing a legendary statue commemorating a meeting between a native chieftain and the Spanish.

There was still lots more to see and do, so after a lazy third day, a couple of us rose before dawn on our final day to go on a boat tour to see dolphins and desert islands.  This turned out to be quite an adventure, as our guide left us with a couple of boat boys in a deserted bay to wade through squishy mud to climb on board a small out-rigger boat (banka).  This was about 20 feet long and 5 feet wide with a canvas roofing on poles.  One of the boys poled us out to deeper water before starting the noisy outboard engine after several attempts. 

We motored out to sea, with the mangrove-lined wide bay and evidence of a reef, reminding me of Pigeon Point in Tobago.  We could see people wading in the shallow water around us, collecting shells presumably to sell.  There were just a few other out-riggers visible in the spreading dawn at 7am.  But when a pod of dolphins was spotted, dozens of boats appeared out of nowhere and zeroed in on that spot.  We all sharply changed direction when the dolphins appeared somewhere else.  It became a frenzy of vessels, some cutting off our view, as they crisscrossed rapidly like sail boats before the start line of a regatta.  Exciting but nerve-wracking!

After that, we visited a couple of tiny islands, the first (Balicasag Island) being just a clump of mangrove and almond trees surrounded by a coral beach, where we ate our packed breakfast.  The second islet, called Virgin Island, consisted of flat coral sand with the only vegetation being two small clumps of young mangrove trees.  It was interesting to see how these islands get started.  We left at about 9am when vendors started to set up stalls (the only structures on the land) and the crowds were arriving.  We had some anxiety about getting home after the boys dropped us at their village, but all was well in the end.

Later, we joined the rest of our group on another island tour with the same driver.  After visiting two old Spanish churches that had been partially rebuilt after a massive earthquake struck the area in 2013, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Bohol Bee Farm.  Though we never actually saw any bees, we did visit several craft-making booths and a big shop serving as an outlet for these and baked goods, organic skin care products, etc.  Definitely worth a visit.  Afterwards, we spent a little time at the underground Hinag-danan cave, which isn’t very big with a large, deep pool in the middle. Everywhere was crowded with tourists as usual.

So that’s it.  Of course, there was lots more to see and do but time did not allow.  We all enjoyed our time in the Philippines.  The best part?  The warmth of the people.