Hi everyone,
Am thinking of travelling to phillipines in july for a holiday and was wondering if anyone could recommend places to see/stay etc. Any help would be useful. Am wanting a culturally enriching experience.
Hello! There are a lot of wonderful places to see in the Philippines. If you love beaches you might want to try visiting Boracay or Palawan. Cebu is also a nice place to visit, also rich in cluture. Another great place this time up north is Sagada. Check out this site to see more places you can visit in the Phils. http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/great_hideaways/beach.asp
Have a great and enjoyable trip!=)
Cebu is ok, I live there (outside of the city). Has pretty good nightlife, and Shangri-La is nice getaway resort, so is Plantation Bay.
Also in Manila, I really enjoyed the Malate area, I stayed in a little hotel/pensionne house, and it was very cheap, and in a great location called "Stargate Pensionne House", I usually stayed on Burgos St. but i was sick and tired of all the beggars, they are kid mobs of beggars. Malate didnt have many in the area near my pensionne house.
Good luck! and have fun!
First of all, no matter what you choose to do, I'm sure you'll have an awesome time. The Philippines is such an amazing country, and the people are probably the best thing (and you'll run into locals wanting to chat everywhere).
One of my favorite places was Batad, on Luzon. It is near Banaue (in the Ifugao region, with the impressive rice terraces carved into the mountains), and since you have to walk about 2 hours to get to the village (no road), your best bet is to leave most of your things there. The village itself is set at the bottom of a natural amphiteatre of rice terraces, one of the most dramatic settings I have ever seen. There are a few small places to stay (since the village has no electricity, I went for the guest house with solar power, giving them a total of two light bulbs). You can explore the area and see amazing views on foot, go swim in a waterfall, and drink some rum with the guest house owner and his friends (not much english spoken, but good times are still had). This can't be missed.
Other than that, there are plenty of good beaches to see. Boracay is an amazing beach, however, you don't get the same culture experience because it's been so developped. Malapascua Island was more to my liking. I also really enjoyed the island of Bohol (but not for the beaches).
I hope this helps a bit. Msg me if you need more information and I'll do what I can.
Hi jroo002,
I think you chose the wrong country to go to for a culturally enriching trip, since the Philippines is not known for culture and history. *embarass laugh* The only place I could think of is Vigan. Although, you could attend the Moriones festival in Marinduque or the Pahiyas festival in Quezon but I don't know when they're held.
Most of our attractions are beaches. Hope you enjoy your stay!
[ Jan 2, 2007, at 12:30 PM by makulit ]
Ms Makulit,
I am shocked by your remarks that "Philippines is not known for culture and history"..... how could it be if we only hear it by bad press and remarks by Filipinos themselves!
It is a sad fact that migrants Filipinos like yourself do not know your own culture and history. It is true that our modern history dates from the 16th century when we were colonized by the Europeans and later by the Americans... this colonization is good and bad. Bad because it made us slaves and tarnished our own Asian identity..... Good because it brought us the "Latino" mentality rarely found in Asian countries. Our colonial history gave us the link by language and religion closer to the western world. Foreigners arriving in our country find it easy to blend-in because of these cultural links. Westerners and Filipinos have so much in common in our way of thinking and we can communicate easily. ...
Our history dates back long before the Spanish came ashore in 1521! We were already trading with our Asian neighbors by boats and Philippines was already in the trading routes in the region. Just stroll around the antique shops in Malate to find the Ming and Vietnamese porcelain dug up in numerous archeological and burial sites all over the Philippines.
Next time you joke about our culture, try first to discover our country and go around to find different regional languages and its own multitude dialects. Any written language is the base of a distinct culture.
"According to Ethnologue, a total of 171 native languages are spoken in the country. Except for English, Spanish, Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Chabacano, all of the languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
There are 12 native languages with at least one million native speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a, and Tausug. One or more of these is spoken natively by more than 90% of the population. " (See wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines ) .
I'm lucky to have known our people , to name a few: the Ivatans of Batanes, Igorots of the mountain province , Bicolanos with their picturesque perfect-cone Mayon volcano, the warm and gentle Cebuanos and Davaenios in the south. And all the other regions with their beautiful and unique culture.
I'm proud of our culture and history , different and humble as it may be but it is our soul and identity. Please don't insult it.
Hi Layas,
I'm equally shocked with your long post. *lol*
To put things in perspective I do find our country behind in both culture and history in comparison to other countries I have visited. The problem is more on tourism. For what it's worth I assure you I am serious about this. I have yet to find the Philippine version of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Chateau Frontenac etc. I know you get the point.
Just so you know, I have been around the Philippines. In fact, I make it a point to come home every year to learn more about the country I left. Unfortunately, I do get disappointed when there's nothing else to see, but beaches. Moreover, tour guides know more about where an action star lives than the residence of a former president. Go to Bohol and hire a guide and you'll know what I'm talking about. When I went to Puerto Princessa it seems that the locals were more excited about the P5M worth fountain at the plaza than the history of the place. Back in El Nido, the main activity again is island hopping. No one really cared much about who were the first inhabitants of the province. The worst was back in Cagayan de Oro after a day of adventure (whitewater rafting) we were left to explore SM. Utterly disappointing. So, we cut our trip short and went immediately to Camiguin. Again, a place known more for its beaches/islands (White Island and Mantigue Island). When we went around the island there were some interesting spots such as the Sunken Cemetery and the Church Ruins. Truth is there's nothing left to identify the ruins as a church except for the plaque that says so. It's the same thing for the Cagsawa Ruins in Albay. Again, I found that the documented history is lacking.
At any case, let's just agree to disagree.
Sincerely,
Makulit
Ms. Makulit,
We obviously do not aggree with what culture and history is about. It is also pointless and unfair to compare ones history and culture with another country. Each has its own culture individually. Thank goodness we have these differences otherwise the world will be like Disneyland and Mc Do.
For those who read this exchage of opinion, Philippines is a beautiful country, with its own distinct culture and long history. One just have to see it...Unfortunately, the young democratic government, after the spoils of the dictator Marcos, has yet to put tourism as a priority.
We have a lot of work to do to give a better image of the Philippines. Mean time enjoy the beautiful people, sun, sea and beaches ... are'nt these what we dream about for a relaxing holidays.
Layas
'nuff said folks... you two are b*tch*ng with each other - but w/c is a healthy exchange of ideas.
It's a sad reality that 100% of Filipinos do not even agree with how their own country can make a difference (culture and tourism) afterall the tainted history and reputation it's known for (politics, Muslim insurgency in the South). A little positivity would be enough.
Cheers to moutallica for putting a good perspective on this. The Philippines has a lot of potential waiting to be unraveled.
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