Philippines
- Thread starter tastebud
- Start date
I live here. I have a house in Mindanao (San Francisco AKA San Franz in Agusan del Sur Province) and on Cebu (Cebu City, in Barangay Tisa).
I can tell you whatever you wish to know. What kind of info do you need?
I can tell you whatever you wish to know. What kind of info do you need?
From London to Manila I would opt for Catahy-Pacific which I try to fly whenever possible, barring that, China Air but hopping at the hub in Tapei is a real pain with their very stringent security. Cathay is great and usually runs just over 1000 British R/T.
There are only 3 International Airports in the Philippines (Manila, Cebu, and Davao). I would go for Manila and then transfer onto Cebu-Pacific for domestic travel. Domestic and international are 2 separate airports in Manila but the airlines provide courtesy vans to shuttle you for free between the 2. NEVER take a taxi if you can help it because the obligatory Foreigner Tax is the worst of any nation in SE Asia bar none. Avis rents cars with drivers for a bit over 800 Pesos for I believe 3 hours (Pesos is currently at a bit over 44 per US Dollar), but 800 is an actual fortune for most Filipinos so be careful.
If you are thinking of beaches, most foreigners head for Borocay, but that seems to me be self defeating since it is entirely geared for tourism, way over-priced for the country, and there are literally hundreds of very unspoiled beaches and much lower prices to boot.
Unfortunately if you go before December you will be in the midst of Monsoon (which I love but will be hell for you if you are looking for sand and surf.
If not Borocay, which beach? Mactan Island is great, off of Cebu, Shangri-La is very nice. Places to NEVER go, Palawan Island and Mindanao and any points south of Mindanao (Mindanao Province actually includes Basilan, Sulu, and Jolo). Palawan and Mindanao on south are home to 7 insurrections although Palawan ebbs and flows and is really only home to 2 of them. I usually live on Mindanao when my wife is not in school here in Cebu.
If Mactan is not what you are looking for you might consider Bohol, which aside from great and inexpensive beaches has the "Chocolate Hills" and a great little primate called a "Taysir" which looks just like a Lemur.
As for other things to do, I could recommend soemt hings but would need dates and locations. There are literally 7,107 islands here with a multitude of ethnicities. Each village has its own "Fiesta" for its patron saint, and then there are others as well, especially tribal celebrations.
There are only 3 International Airports in the Philippines (Manila, Cebu, and Davao). I would go for Manila and then transfer onto Cebu-Pacific for domestic travel. Domestic and international are 2 separate airports in Manila but the airlines provide courtesy vans to shuttle you for free between the 2. NEVER take a taxi if you can help it because the obligatory Foreigner Tax is the worst of any nation in SE Asia bar none. Avis rents cars with drivers for a bit over 800 Pesos for I believe 3 hours (Pesos is currently at a bit over 44 per US Dollar), but 800 is an actual fortune for most Filipinos so be careful.
If you are thinking of beaches, most foreigners head for Borocay, but that seems to me be self defeating since it is entirely geared for tourism, way over-priced for the country, and there are literally hundreds of very unspoiled beaches and much lower prices to boot.
Unfortunately if you go before December you will be in the midst of Monsoon (which I love but will be hell for you if you are looking for sand and surf.
If not Borocay, which beach? Mactan Island is great, off of Cebu, Shangri-La is very nice. Places to NEVER go, Palawan Island and Mindanao and any points south of Mindanao (Mindanao Province actually includes Basilan, Sulu, and Jolo). Palawan and Mindanao on south are home to 7 insurrections although Palawan ebbs and flows and is really only home to 2 of them. I usually live on Mindanao when my wife is not in school here in Cebu.
If Mactan is not what you are looking for you might consider Bohol, which aside from great and inexpensive beaches has the "Chocolate Hills" and a great little primate called a "Taysir" which looks just like a Lemur.
As for other things to do, I could recommend soemt hings but would need dates and locations. There are literally 7,107 islands here with a multitude of ethnicities. Each village has its own "Fiesta" for its patron saint, and then there are others as well, especially tribal celebrations.
can tastebud go and see mt. pinatubo or is that off limits? i think that would be pretty cool.
Pinatubo? No restirctionas there although you might hear a lot of stuff and rolled eyes if you talk of going because up until about 5 years ago it was in the midst of a separate insurrection, A Marxist group but to the nations credit Communists and the like are nothing at all like in S. America, they leave foreigners pretty much alone. If you live there it is different, but as a toursit they will not bother you...wish I could say the same for the Muslim groups.
Personally I would imagine it would be a great trip. The Aeta Tribe lives in the hgighlands up there. Aeata are a Negrito People, like Pygmies so to speak, and predate all the steretypical Filipino People , such as my wife's tribe Visayan who actuall sailed there from Borneo 1000 years ago.Aeta are very friendly and have great cultural festivals and what not and if you like seeing different ways of life, for sure. Thjere is another caldera with a blue green incredibly deep lake that I am trying to recall but it is far south of Luzon, the island where Pinatubo is. Pinatubo also has a caldera lake but its pH is all wacky, etc. anyway, the poster is correct in that there are plenty of volcanoes to be seen in that part of the world, along with erathquakes, mud slides, and tsunamis...funplace. Actually not to bad. Just keep on your toes.
Personally I would imagine it would be a great trip. The Aeta Tribe lives in the hgighlands up there. Aeata are a Negrito People, like Pygmies so to speak, and predate all the steretypical Filipino People , such as my wife's tribe Visayan who actuall sailed there from Borneo 1000 years ago.Aeta are very friendly and have great cultural festivals and what not and if you like seeing different ways of life, for sure. Thjere is another caldera with a blue green incredibly deep lake that I am trying to recall but it is far south of Luzon, the island where Pinatubo is. Pinatubo also has a caldera lake but its pH is all wacky, etc. anyway, the poster is correct in that there are plenty of volcanoes to be seen in that part of the world, along with erathquakes, mud slides, and tsunamis...funplace. Actually not to bad. Just keep on your toes.
Cool thanks!
I'm flying to Manila next Weds, gonna stay there for a day or two - an old friend I haven't seen for 11 years also happens to live there, so will hook up with him.
then on to beaches and things - Palawan sounds nice - but is it advisable to go there now?
will see what happens I guess. Monsoon's just finished in Manila he says and Palawan seems okay too.
I'm flying to Manila next Weds, gonna stay there for a day or two - an old friend I haven't seen for 11 years also happens to live there, so will hook up with him.
then on to beaches and things - Palawan sounds nice - but is it advisable to go there now?
will see what happens I guess. Monsoon's just finished in Manila he says and Palawan seems okay too.
