Cordilleras and the Far North
Manila
Mindanao
Northwest of Manila
Palawan
South Luzon (the Bicol region)
South of Manila and Mindoro
Visayas
CORDILLERAS AND THE FAR NORTH
To Filipino lowlanders, brought up on a diet of sunshine and beaches,
the mountainous north is still seen as a mysterious Shangri-La full of
enigmatic tribes and their unfamiliar gods. Baguio , the traditional
mountain retreat for Manilenos during the fierce heat of Easter week, is
about as far north as many southerners get. But it's not until you get
beyond Baguio that the adventure really starts. The provinces of Benguet,
Ifugao and Mountain Province are the tribal heartlands of the northern
Philippines, settled first by indigenous Negritos and then during the
Spanish regime by hunter-gatherers from neighbouring areas who were on
the move looking for food and water. Life for many of these tribal
people has changed little in hundreds of years, with traditional ways
and values still very much in evidence. If anything is likely to erode
these traditions and chip away at the insulation it is the coming of the
tourist. Already an increasing number of tribal folk are making more
from the sale of handicrafts than they do from the production of rice.
One of the challenges faced by the government is to make the highlands
accessible to travellers, without causing the breakup of a social and
economic structure that is unique to the region.
A swing through the north should include visits to the mountain village
of Sagada , with its caves and hanging coffins, to the riverside town of
Bontoc , capital of Mountain Province, and the huge rice terraces at
Banaue . The bucolic Batanes Islands off the northern tip of the
Philippines are a challenge to reach, but rewarding if you can make the
effort. And it isn't all cordilleras and tribes. To the west of Baguio,
on the western seaboard, are the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos
Norte , with miles of beautiful coastline and old Spanish colonial
outposts such as Vigan . The far northeast is marked by the spectacular
Sierra Madre range, where few foreigners venture, and the rural
provinces of Isabela and Cagayan .
You can fly from Manila to a number of points in the north, including
Baguio, Laoag, Cauayan (for Banaue), Ilagan and Tuguegarao in the far
northeastern province of Cagayan. Otherwise it's the bus . Victory Liner
and Philippine Rabbit are two of the most popular services, going to
most towns in the north from their terminals in Manila. The journey to
Baguio takes around seven hours. You can change buses in Baguio to
continue north towards Sagada and Bontoc.
MANILA
The capital of the Philippines is technically known as Metro Manila - a
grouping of ten smaller urban areas - but is usually referred to simply
as MANILA . Today's accepted wisdom is that Manila will never be a
serious tourist destination until the authorities deal with the twin
evils of traffic and pollution. Most tourists are in the capital because
they have a day or two to kill either at the beginning or the end of a
trip to the rest of the country. But all is not lost. In its favour,
Manila has friendly people, some excellent nightlife, a few sights that
are worth the effort, plus some of the biggest and ritziest shopping
malls in Asia. At first sight, Manila may seem clamorous, unkempt and a
bit rough around the edges, but what it lacks in architectural
sophistication it makes up for with an accessible chaotic charm. The way
to enjoy it is to step into the fray and go with the flow, which is
exactly what Manilenos have learned to do.
Manila started life as a tiny settlement around the banks of the Pasig
River. The name comes from the words may ("there is") and nilad (a type
of plant that grew near the Pasig). With Spanish colonization, Manila
grew into an important port. King Philip II of Spain called it Insigne y
Siempre Leal Ciudad (Distinguished and Ever Loyal City). Images of the
city in the eighteenth century show grand merchants' houses and
schooners moored in the Pasig. The area around Bindondo, later to become
Chinatown, was alive with mercantile activity. Before World War II,
Manila was one of the most elegant and cosmopolitan cities in the Orient.
But when the smoke cleared at the end of Japanese occupation in March
1945, it was in ruins, having undergone relentless shelling from
American howitzers and been set alight by remaining Japanese troops. The
Battle of Manila lasted 29 days and claimed 100,000 civilian lives.
Rebuilding was slow and plagued by corruption and government inertia. As
a consequence, the city that greets visitors today is one of emotional
counterpoints, with areas of extreme poverty and degradation lying cheek
by jowl with tower blocks and designer boutiques.
MINDANAO
The signals Mindanao sends to the rest of the Philippines and the rest
of the world, are nothing if not mixed. This massive island at the foot
of the archipelago is in many ways the cultural and artistic heart of
the country, a place where tribalism and capitalism clash head on, and
where refugees from Manila's pollution have fled in search of cleaner
air and greener pastures. This has led to something of a cultural and
economic boom in cities such as Davao , Mindanao's de facto capital. Yet
Mindanao has also been a nagging thorn in the side of successive
governments, with repeated attempts by the island's Muslims to break
away from the governance of Manila and establish their own autonomous
regions on the island. Mindanao's Muslim (or Moro) and indigenous Lumad
peoples, now outnumbered by majority Filipinos - the largely Christian
descendants of twentieth-century settlers from the northern and central
Philippines - are asserting rights to their traditional lands and to
self-determination. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) resorted
to a war for independence in the 1970s. Meanwhile, a communist-led
rebellion spread from the northern Philippines to Mindanao, drawing many
majority Filipinos, particularly among the rural poor, and some Lumads
into the New People's Army (NPA). In 1996, the Philippine Government
signed a peace pact with the MNLF granting a certain degree of autonomy
to four provinces on condition of a plebiscite. But this peace is by no
means final or universal, and splinter groups are still engaged in
conflict. Tourists are generally safe, but those who venture towards
Muslim strongholds in the south should be aware that there have been a
number of kidnappings in recent years. Most of the major tourist
activities are based around the north and east coasts of Mindanao where
there have been few problems. Davao is the gateway to Mindanao, but from
Cagayan de Oro in the north you can also explore Bukidnon , the
country's only landlocked province, as well as Camiguin , a small island
of white beaches and brooding volcanoes.
Access by plane to Mindanao is usually through one of five airports on
the island: Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Cotabato and
Zamboanga City. Philippine Airlines has daily flights to all five and
also has a daily flight between Cebu and Davao. Mindanao Express has
flights from Cebu and Davao to various destinations on Mindanao, though
the airline's schedules are soon set to change and new flights are being
added (and old ones dropped), so check with its Manila office for an
update. It's a long journey to Mindanao by ferry from Manila, with some
services stopping off at other ports of call on the way. When you book a
ferry ticket it's worth checking if it's direct or not: direct voyages
take about eighteen hours, but if the ferry calls at other ports, you
will find yourself at sea for a couple of days. WG&A Superferry sails to
the following places in Mindanao: Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos,
Zamboanga, Dipolog, Iligan, Ozamis, Surigao, Nasipit and Cotabato.
Negros Navigation serves the same routes, with the exception of Dipolog.
There are numerous ferry services, big and small, connecting Mindanao to
other provincial destinations in the Visayas.
NORTHWEST OF MANILA
The provinces of Luzon that lie immediately northwest of Manila are so
diverse in geographical character that you can go in a day from the
volcanic landscape of coastal Zambales to the tropical beaches and
islands of the Lingayen Gulf . The spurs of the Caraballo Mountains lie
in the east, in Bulacan, the first province you reach travelling north
from the capital, and in the west are the fertile lowlands of Pampanga ,
where much of the country's rice and mangoes are produced. Life in this
area - known officially as Central Luzon, or Region III - is far from
sophisticated, and the kind of upmarket resorts found in the Visayas are
conspicuous by their absence. Major attractions include Mount Pinatubo ,
One Hundred Islands , and the unspoiled beaches of the Luzon west coast.
There's only one way to get out of Manila heading north and that's on
the North Luzon Expressway, which starts in the suburb of Cubao and runs
north through the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga. Victory Liner and
Philippine Rabbit have dozens of departures daily for all points north
of Manila, including Angeles, Dau (for Clark) and Lingayen (for One
Hundred islands)
PALAWAN
If you believe the travel agent clichιs, Palawan is the Philippine's
last frontier. For once it's almost true. Tourism has yet to penetrate
this long, sword-shaped island to the southwest of Luzon, and travellers
willing to take the rough with the smooth will find a Jurassic landscape
of coves, beaches, lagoons and razor-sharp limestone cliffs that rise
from crystal clear water. Nature is making its last stand in Palawan,
with government officials in the provincial capital, Puerto Princesa ,
declaring war on litterers, loggers and dynamite fishermen. Even in the
less populated areas - of which there are many - the battle for the
environment is on. Palawan is made up of 1780 islands and islets, most
of which have irregular coastlines that make excellent harbours. Thick
forests covering these steeply sloped mountains assure adequate
watersheds for rivers and streams. Many of the islands are surrounded by
a coral shelf that acts as an enormous feeding ground and nursery for
marine life. It is sometimes said that Palawan's Tubbataha Reef is so
ecologically important that if it dies, the Philippines will also die.
The area's history can be traced back 22,000 years, as confirmed by the
discovery of caveman remains in Quezon, southwest Palawan.
Anthropologists believe these early inhabitants came from Borneo across
a land bridge that connected the two.
There are several stories regarding the origin of the name Palawan. Some
contend that it was derived from the Chinese words "pa lao yu" meaning "Land
of the Beautiful Harbours". Popular belief, however, is that "Palawan"
is a corrupted form of the Spanish word "Paragua", because the main
island is shaped like a closed umbrella. A typical journey through
Palawan might take you from Puerto Princesa, north to Honda Bay and the
Underground River , then onwards up the coast to Port Barton , Taytay
and El Nido . From El Nido you can take a ferry north to Busuanga (Coron)
and from there you can fly or take a ferry back to Manila. The southern
half of Palawan, from Puerto Princesa downwards, is relatively
unexplored.
The main gateway to Palawan is the airport at Puerto Princesa, but it's
by no means the only way to get there. WG&A and Negros Navigation both
sail regularly between Manila and Puerto Princesa, while small airlines
such as Pacific Air, Golden Passage and Seair fly to Busuanga in
northern Palawan, from where you can island-hop across to the main
island and on down the coast to the provincial capital and beyond. Seair
has a particularly good network of flights from Manila to Palawan and
within Palawan itself. Its Let410 aircraft fly two or three times a day
to Busuanga. From Busuanga the plane continues to El Nido, Sandoval and
finally Puerto Princesa. There are also a limited number of non-stop
Seair flights from Manila to Sandoval.
SOUTH LUZON (THE BICOL REGION)
The region south of Batangas and Quezon is technically known as Region
V, but commonly known to Filipinos as South Luzon or Bicol . The
northernmost province of the Bicol region is Camarines Norte. The
National Highway meanders south from here to Camarines Sur through the
towns of Daet , Naga , Iriga City and Legaspi , which are typically
provincial, with their jumbled traffic, concrete malls and occasional
Spanish-era relic. Legaspi is the jumping-off point for active Mayon
Volcano . Continuing further south still, you reach the coastal town of
Sorsogon , from where it's a fifty-kilometre ride to the bucolic
backwater of Donsol . Donsol has seen an increase in tourism recently
because of the number of plankton-eating whale sharks that congregate
here. From Matnog in Sorsogon province you can take a ferry across the
Bernardino Strait to Samar , the gateway to the rest of the Visayas.
The Bicol region is easily accessible by air from Manila. BLTB also has
buses that run up and down the National Highway daily, taking you to
most major jumping-off points in the area. BLTB even has services that
run all the way to Sorsogon, but the journey is a long one. Be prepared
to sweat it out for the best part of twenty hours. Many choose to take a
bus that leaves Manila in the evening and travels overnight when the
roads are quiet, arriving early the next day. Philtranco has a new
service that goes all the way from Manila to Davao, using ferries where
it has to. It runs through Daet, Naga and Legaspi and on to the port of
Matnog at the southernmost tip of South Luzon, where it boards a ferry
for Samar . You can get off at any of these points.
SOUTH OF MANILA AND MINDORO
Leaving the sprawl of Manila behind and heading south takes you along
the South Luzon Expressway, known to Filipinos as the South Luzon
Distressway, and into the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Batangas.
Traffic heading south can be grim, particularly on weekends and holidays,
so try to time your journey for a weekday. Laguna , known for hot
springs and mountain pools, is the first province south of the capital.
It was named after Laguna de Bay, the river that forms its northern
boundary and is a major source of sampaguita flowers, orchids, coconuts,
rice, sugar, citrus fruits and lanzones. Cavite is being touted as a new
industrial zone, but will forever be associated with the revolution. In
1872, three Filipino priests - Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto
Zamora - were implicated in the Cavite Revolt, in which two hundred
Filipinos rose up in arms against the Spanish forces in the garrisons.
The phony revolution was soon cut down, but when the real thing broke
out on August 28, 1896, Cavite became a bloody theatre of war, as Emilio
Aguinaldo led Cavitenos in a series of daring surprise attacks on
Spanish headquarters, soon liberating the whole province. Aguinaldo
directed the revolution to its end and the proclamation of the first
republic in Asia, the Republic of the Philippines, was made on June 12,
1898 in the small town of Kawit. The town hall where the proclamation
was made from a balcony still stands and is the focus of commemoration
every June 12. The province of Batangas is Manila's weekend playground,
with tropical-style beach resorts and Taal Volcano . The provincial
capital, Batangas City , is a polluted port town with little to
recommend it except its ferry pier, from where you can escape to the
island of Mindoro and the beach resorts of Puerto Galera .
The best place to get a bus from Manila heading south is at one of the
many terminals in Pasay. Departures start early, at around 4am and
continue at regular intervals until the middle of the evening, with the
final departure usually at 8pm. BLTB (on EDSA) and Jam Liner (on Taft
Avenue) are two of the most popular services.
VISAYAS
No-one seems entirely sure how many islands there are in the Visayas ,
but the number certainly runs into the thousands. What is clear is that
everywhere you turn there seems to be another patch of tropical sand or
coral reef awaiting your attention, usually with a ferry to take you
there. There are nine major islands - Cebu, Bohol, Guimaras, Samar,
Leyte, Panay, Negros, Romblon and Siquijor - but it's the hundreds of
others in between that make this part of the archipelago so
irresistible. Some are famous for their beaches, some for their mangoes,
some for sugar and some for the alleged presence of witches and goblins.
No-one can accuse the Visayas, and the Visayans who live here, of being
a uniform lot. In some areas they speak Cebuana, while in others it's
Ilonggo, Waray Waray or Aklan. Bigger islands have the kind of glitzy
shopping malls and hotels that can do serious damage to the most liberal
travel budget, while others are enchantingly rustic, the sort of places
where even the grasshoppers are slow. A short journey by banca and you
can go from air-conditioned ritz to bucolic nirvana.
Rightly or wrongly, the Visayas are considered the cradle of the
Philippines. It was here that Ferdinand Magellan laid a sovereign hand
on the islands for Spain. The islands were also the scene of some of the
bloodiest battles fought against the Japanese during World War ll and
where General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore to liberate the country
after his famous promise, "I shall return". Despite recent efforts to
turn Cebu into a major international freeport, most of the islands
remain lost in their own little world. Boracay , off the northern tip of
Panay, is representative of the region in topography, but not in
atmosphere. Nowhere else will you find the same kind of proliferation of
bars and resorts. Vast areas of Panay , Samar and Leyte are still
relatively undiscovered, while the "black magic" island of Siquijor is
said to be home to witches and faith healers. For much of the time in
the Visayas you are on your own, free to wander from barrio to barrio
and beach to beach. A typical route through the islands would take you
from the southern tip of mainland Bicol, across to Samar by ferry, down
through Leyte and on to Cebu, Bohol, Negros and Panay, finally ending up
on Boracay for R&R. But the beauty of the Visayas is that there's no
need to make formal plans. There's always another island, another beach,
another place to stay.
Many of the larger Visayan islands have airports with flights daily or
every few days to Manila Domestic Airport. Boracay, Cebu, Panay, Bohol,
Negros, Leyte and Samar are all accessible by air. Island-hopping by
plane within the Visayas is harder, with a limited number of flights,
but the ferry network is so extensive it doesn't really matter. Ferries
also ply major routes between Manila and the Visayas. Cebu has an
international airport with flights to and from Japan, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur, Singapore and Taiwan.
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