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2010-06-04
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Finally the pix are online! :-)

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Diary - Resume Philippines

Background

7107 islands, near the equator, a volcano area, temperatures around 26 degree makes the Philippines to a perfect spot for tourists.

The 89 Million Philipinos are influenced by the Spanish, Chinese, Americans and Japanese - all occupied the archipelago taking their turns. Of the native people just about 30,000 did survive.

1565 Magellan arrived on the Philippines and established a Spanish colony, evangelizing the people and building churches throughout the country - today the Philippines are more Catholic than the Spanish themselves. 1896 the Philippine revolution started but just ended in another colony - the Americans took over. Today thanks to the Americans nearly everybody speaks English, which helps a lot asking yourself through the country. During WWII the Japanese took over and established a brutal regime, killing millions of Philippinos and destroying several cities. 1946 the Philippines became independent with the Americans still playing a major part in politics. 1972 to 1986 Ferdinand Marcos was leading the country as a dictator. Today his son is governor and his daughter is member of the congress.

My Opinion - Dream Islands in the Pacific.

The country is green and tidy, the landscape just a dream, the food is good and the people are very friendly.

I just had been there for three weeks, but everyday I enjoyed! The views, the modern cities, the rural villages, the fantastic lakes, overwhelming jungle, the warm sea and of course the night life.

You cannot expect the same standards as in the west, but for Asia everything is very clean, organized and straight forward. Accommodation is a little bit more expansive than in Thailand but food is cheap and the country is less touristy. Meeting backpackers on every bus station like in Thailand is not happening. Transport is easy - when you don't take a cheap flight from one island to the next (about Euro 15,-), for the longer trips most of the time you end up in a bus or a jeepney (a jeep for up to 20 people) while for a short trip into the next city you take a taxi or a tricycle. You just wait on the side of the street and the next five minutes you'll jump on any transport which comes across.

Food is pretty much the typical Asian cuisine: Rice for every dish, a lot of pork, a little to less vegetables, but everything prepared very good. It's not worth going into posh restaurants when the tiniest eateries on the street hand out yummy dishes!

The people are quite chilled - with temperatures in the shade of 26 degrees, Stefan and me soon felt the mood of just hanging out and doing nothing! Every now and then we had to force ourselves to do something - a trip to a waterfall or an ostrich farm, just to keep moving and not just starting to feel the beer on the hips! :-) But with this mood I never saw any aggression or fight - everything is totally peaceful and calm. It just get's loud, when the Philippines start singing Karaoke - national spare time activity number one (next to typing text messages into their mobiles - about a hundred each day!!)! You can see and hear them singing everyday and everywhere - even in the smallest eateries or petrol station they have the latest equipment to perform like Beyonce or Coldplay. And they do it that good, that bands of the Philippines perform on stages all over Asia!

If you like hiking, diving, beaches, jungle, waterfalls, hot springs and alike, then the Philippines are definitely your country - and it's still cheap and not too much touristy!


	Start: 2008-04-10					Oli on his way from Munich to Hong Kong				End: 2010-05-12