The Rest of the Philippines

Sailing among the Philippine Islands is amazingly beautiful. Cities become smaller and the scenery can be breathtaking. We made 4 stops outside of Manila, mostly beaches. Since the Hubers aren’t “beachy” people, we just enjoyed the scenery!

Tagaytay is a resort area 60 km from Manila in the hills, where it’s cooler. Unfortunately, Manila’s pollution has reached there and it’s a constant haze. Picture 1 is a picture of Lake Taal, which is a volcano within a lake within a dormant crater. Since 1572 there have been more than 30 eruptions, the most recent in 1976, when lava reached Manila. Picture 2 is a close-up of the volcano in the lake. During eruptions of the original crater, seawater entered the crater and later eruptions created a lake, which has sea critters that have adapted to fresh water. It’s a really unique place.

Pictures 3 and 4 are from Coron, southwest of the main island of Luzon, although we saw fishing villages on stilts in other places too. The motorized outrigger canoe, shown in the forefront in Picture 3 is the main mode of water transport, although non-motorized canoes are also used, like the one used by the family in Picture 5.

Many of the islands have steep cliffs that tumble into the sea. Pictures 6 and 7 show examples we found leaving Boracay. If you turn up your zoom, you find that hidden at the bases of these remote cliffs are small private beaches, like the one shown in Picture 8.

Our final stop was in Puerto Princessa on Palawan Island. We wandered around the city and found Immaculate Conception Cathedral, shown in Picture 9. Like most public buildings, large louvers left it open to the outdoors to allow fresh air to circulate. Outside of Manila, we found little air conditioning.

Across the street from the Cathedral we found a grim reminder of WWII in Plaza Cuartel. There were tunnels built here for air raids. When the Japanese took over the island, they would send POWs into the tunnels, along with gasoline and toss in a grenade. Picture 10 is the monument describing what occurred and identifying the few who survived the conflagration. Picture 11 is a haunting statue that shows a skeletal man, wrapped in barbed wire, with flames forming below him.

Ending on a happier note, we found this lady rocking her 2 babies, a toddler on the right and a small baby on the left. A rope stretched horizontally near the ceiling and by gently pulling on the sling around one baby, she could rock both, who were contentedly asleep.

Life is slower outside of Manila, the skies are bluer and the scenery is gorgeous. But the only job opportunities are farming and fishing, so people are flocking to Manila, much to its detriment. There are 100 million people in the Philippines, spread over more than 7000 islands. 50 million people are on the island of Luzon, where Manila, with a population of 20 million, is located. While Filipinos are leaving these islands, however, tourists are discovering their beauty, especially in and under the water. One hopes this provides employment for the local people, without destroying the environment. Unfortunately, history shows that will probably not be the case….