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The first day I spent taking care of personal matters associated with traveling in a foreign country. I went to the bank to exchange my Hong Kong dollars for the Philippine currency called peso’s. The currency exchange rate was approximately US$1 = 39.850 peso. Do you know what the currency is called in France, Japan, India or Mexico? Where can you find currency exchange rates on a daily basis? I had a delicious lunch consisting of noodle soup, meats and vegetables cooked with vinegar and garlic served over rice with some strips of papaya on the side. Then, I found a nice hotel room in downtown Manila for less than US$10 per night. Once settled in my room, I took a few hours to learn some key phrases of the national language of Pilipino. English is the language primarily used in business and politics in the Philippines, but I decided that it would be good to know a little Pilipino for some of the remote places I’d be visiting. I was exhausted from traveling. I went to sleep early, slept for 10 hours and woke up the next morning feeling rested, refreshed and ready to see the sights! The weather was perfect for flying (since that was my mode of transportation!). The dry season in the Philippines runs from January to June with temperatures ranging from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. The wet season runs from July to December. After consulting my guidebook and the hotel concierge, I created a touring plan for the week. The plan started with an aerial tour of the thriving metropolis of Manila. As I looked down I could see a huge thick wall which is the remains of the old walled city of Manila. I also saw a lot of churches. The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia with over 90% of the population claiming to follow Christian faiths. But the view that really took my breath away was the bright blue-green water surrounding the city of Manila on the island of Luzon. The Philippines consists of 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Luzon and Mindanao are the largest islands. Only 2,000 of the islands are inhabited. 1000 of the islands are larger than one square kilometer. 2500 of them aren’t even named. I was even able to see the Philippines neighbors off in the distance: Taiwan to the north, Eastern Malaysia and Brunei to the south-west and Indonesia to the south. Can you find all of these countries in an atlas? Look to see who your neighbors are — to the north, south, east and west. The other feature that stood out while flying over the islands was the volcanic topography. The Philippines experiences frequent seismic activity with a total of 37 volcanoes. The highest peak is Mt. Apo on the island of Mindanao. The world’s most perfect volcano cone is the Mayon in southern Luzon. Mt. Pinatubo was the most interesting volcano to see from the sky because it erupted in 1991 and left amazing landscape. Animal wildlife was also an amazing sight. I saw giraffes, zebras and gazelles on Calauit Island, crocodiles, pythons, dwarf buffalo, mouse deer, and so many different kinds of birds (I made some great new bird friends!). I even watched horse carts being used as the primary transportation on Batan Island. After a few days I needed a break from sightseeing in the sky and decided to try some water sports. I went diving in Boracay, snorkeling on the island of Apo and canoeing on the rapids in Pagsanjan, 70 km south-east of Manila on the same river used in the film, Apocalypse Now. Feeling exhausted from all of the activity, I decided to take a break from it all with a few relaxing days on the “best beach in the world”, on the island of Boracay, off the north-western tip of Panay. The water was so warm and the beach so beautiful lined with palm and bamboo trees leaning slightly over from the soft blowing breeze.
My time in the Philippines was incredible. Every day was an adventure soaring through the sky from one island to another. I enjoyed the sights and my relaxing time on the gorgeous beaches. The best part of traveling around, though, was meeting all of the laid back, friendly, helpful people who were always wearing a smile. I hope the Boomerang Box comes back to the Philippines again someday! If you’d like to learn more about the Philippines, check out the following Web sites: http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/philippines/philback.html |
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