The
Philippines have drawn over the recent years more attraction of the tourists.
There are a lot of good reasons to vacation in this country. The climate is
tropically warm, but the temperatures are not too high to survive for European
people. The visitors are dazzled by the beauty of the nature. The prices are
low or at least reasonable. The filippino people are kind and friendly. A lot
of them are speaking fluently English.
The
majority of the tourists are vacationing on Visayas islands, Boracay, Bohol,
Cebu and Palawan. You have two options for the route to Visays. You can fly
directly to Cebu or take a flight to Manila and transfer there to a domestic
flight. The flights to Manila seem to be cheaper than to Cebu, that`s why the
travelers mainly prefer to fly through Manila. From Manila there are frequent
flight connections to all over the country.
Ninoy
Aquino´s International Airport in Manila differs from the international
airports of Europe in some respects. The
International Terminal has been renovated recently and look to function much
better than some years ago. What surprises a traveler are the long distances
and tricky connections between the terminals. There is no public transport from
the terminal to the other. So you have to pick up a taxi and note that you
might be stuck in traffic jam while transferring to the other terminal.
If you are
staying in Manila for some time and you are going to carry on by plane,
recommend to you to make a reservation at a hotel not too far from the airport.
Going back to the airport take your time and leave early. The traffic rush may
be very tough. In some cases to proceed 5 km by taxi will take even one hour.
Despite of
these troubles a taxi is for a foreigner the most practical way to go in
Manila. Taxi cabs are not of the latest model, mainly imported second hand
cars, but usually they are running quite well. The drivers speak ordinarily
English or then “taglish”, a mix of Tagalog and English. The cabs are not
outfitted with navigators. The drivers don`t always know the location of the
streets due to the huge size of Metro Manila.
So find the location of the place you are heading to from the map before
you pick up a taxi and ensure where you are going to. The street numbers don`t help so much,
because the buildings are not numbered in logic order. So you have to find out
the corner of the streets, where your destination is located. There might be sometimes slight flaws in your
taxi service, however you`ll be comforted by the cheap prices.
If you are
staying in Manila you have good chances for shopping. There is a large variety of shopping malls in
the cities of Metro Manila. The most famous are Mall of Asia, at Manila Bay, at
the South end of EDSA, Greenbelt`s mall, Glorietta`s, Landmark`s and SM`s shopping
centers in Makati City, SM Mega Mall on EDSA, in Mandaluyong City. Walking
around these malls you`ll find an endless amount of shops, the ones have a wide
range of different retail products and the other ones are specialized in
certain products or a brand only. The malls are not mere for shopping. The
filipinos spend their spare time often in the malls. The malls are leisure time
hubs with restaurants, cinemas and churches. In Asia Mall there is even an ice
rink with an option to rent the skates.
The most
popular credit cards are accepted by the big stores and the restaurants in the
cities. Cash you need you can raise from ATMs. All of them are not accepting
international credit cards despite a sticker of a brand on a machine. US dollars
are easy to exchange, euros instead are not all over accepted to change.
Intramuros
in old town of Manila, founded by the Spanish in 1571, is one of the most
prominent tourist attractions in South Luzon. It was built for the fortress to
protect the inhabitants with the high walls. Beside the military and
administrative function Intramuros served for centuries as a center for
business, education and religion. The historical buildings that draw attention
from the visitors are Manila Cathedral (photo), San Agustin Church and Museum
(photo).
The China
town of the Philippines, Binondo (photo), was built up within the range of the
Intramuros cannons in order to keep the control by the Spanish. It is
traditional business hub founded by Chinese immigrants. They yielded economic
growth, but on the other hand the Chinese were a threat for the Spanish rulers.
That`s why the location of Binondo was exactly dictated. Walking there you can be
in touch with Old Manila.
Wish to you
a good stay in the Philippines!
