I'm going to the Philippines in the fall and trying to squeeze as much time out of what little vacation I'm given. Does anyone have any advice for what to do/see there? How long do you recommend going? I will be visiting a good friend who is living there as a Peace Corps Volunteer, but if the country doesn't require a massive amount of time, might try to spend some time in one of my lay-over cities... or go to Palau - has anyone ever been there? Is it worth the trip? The jellyfish lake is enough to entice...

Thanks!

If you run into a strange, blond-headed expat woman that teaches English, run away.

I spent 6 weeks on the Philippines and limited my travels to the Visayas. It's a wide-spread archipelago and it takes time to get around. As a generalization, I'd say you can easily spend two months on the Philippines.

What to see depends on what sort of holiday/travel you like.

You can find more details about my trip to the Philippines in my Philippines Travel Log - there's also a map and a link to the images. Maybe that'll give you a better idea.

Depends on which island/island group you want to spend most of your time (Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao) and what interests you. That's because it can be rather costly to transfer from one island/island group to another.

I could suggest the following, though:

Luzon: Manila - nightlife at Ermita; Pampanga - Mt. Pinatubo hike; Sagada and Banaue Rice Terraces tour - backpacking, spelunking, cool weather; Visayas: Puerto Galera - odd nightlife, diving; Boracay - swimming (not great for diving, and tourists are generally misinformed about this); Bohol - diving; Mindanao - where natural sights abound such as waterfalls, etc. but this is where most troubles re peace and order originate, so you could probably pass on this one.

AngieBrown pretty much summed up what you can do various places in the country.

When will you be arriving? Rainy season has started, though no major typhoons yet. It doesn't rain everyday, but when it does, it only lasts for about an hour then stop.

Thanks for the advice everybody! And elAdi, your website is great. I'll be going in November (so not the rainy season!!). And I'm intrigued by the Phils, b/c I know it's not that touristy, yet still Asia, which I love. I think it'll be a good trip. I'll only be there for a week and a half though (limited American vacations), so what is reasonable given that time frame?!

Thanks everybody!

With only approximately 10 days in the country, it'd be better to concentrate on 2-3 places in one region/island group.

In Luzon, you can either go North or South. In the North, you might want to head up to the Banaue and Sagada area for some hiking and trekking. Down South, maybe you can take your chance in Donsol of spotting a whale shark or try the Camsur Watersport complex. Or hop to Puerto Galera from Batangas for some sunbathing adn snorkeling/diving.

In the Visayas, chose among the islands of Cebu, Bohol or Boracay. In Cebu, you can go to Moalboal or Malapascua. Bohol, I heard has awesome diving, chocolate hills and cute tarsiers. Boracay is.. Boracay. There are other Visayan islands you might want to look into (I've only been to these 3, so they's the ones I'm recommending). Most of the islands have an airport, so you can hop from one to another by plane (fares are cheap these days), or brave the seas.

I haven't been to Mindanao yet. Christina-in-brooklyn might have some recommendations.

Hi Bozrah82,

I've got lots of suggestions for cool stuff to see in the PH, but Nina is right, 10 days is not enough to do more than one region, so you'll have to just pick one.

Also check out this thread on favorite stuff in the Philippines. I have to add to that list:

1) DEFINITELY DEFINITELY go on a walking tour with Carlos Celdran, he is a one-man performance artist historical time capsule of Filipino history. And fricking hilarious.

2) Club Mwah for an over-the-top kitch drag show. VERY AWESOME. Think 14 drag queens in traditional gold Thai outfits lipsynching to Madonna's "Vogue" with Thai movements, followed by a dance number from "Chicago". Here is there website . It is a very mainstream type of club (my cousins even brought their 6 year old to a performance once, though the drag queens scared him, heh) and the club owner is really sweet and hospitable.

In Manila, I also hear there's good music at the Penguin Bar in Malate, and I'd recommend eating at Café Adriatico on the corner of Remedios Circle and Adriatico Street in Malate. It's a pretty cafe with good food + is an old Manila writer's hangout.

The most special thing I've ever done traveling anywhere was swimming with the whale sharks (they're vegetarians ) at Donsol, but I don't know if November is the season for it, which would kill the point of going all the way to Donsol. Also, November is not rainy season but with weird global warming patterns November last year was when a mega-typhoon hit that region of the Philippines (Donsol is in Bicol, off the southern tip of Luzon).

So other suggestions:

1. Palawan is incredibly beautiful. I didn't go north to El Nido, which I hear is stunning (and also a bit pricier on average than Puerto Princesa + other areas). But one thought would be to fly to Puerto Princesa from Manila, see the underground river + Honda Bay, travel up to El Nido and/or go to the Coron Islands, which I hear is also stunning, + there's kayaking you can do there.

2. Honestly, consider a circuit of eastern Mindanao. I LOVED Mindanao, because it had a subtle sense of indigenous identity to it, it's beautiful, and it's really untouristed. Ms. Leslie Perez on BnA has traveled more of the interior and says the best waterfalls in the Philippines are in Mindanao. Also check out this site for Mindanao culture.

You could fly Manila to Cagayan de Oro, bus to Davao, then fly back to Manila. Or go to CdO for nature stuff, then ferry to Camiguin, or ferry to Siargao instead (which is supposed to have stunning white sand beaches to rival Boracay, only empty) and back to Manila from CdO. Camiguin is tiny but has some nice (and underrated) diving -- think underwater volcano and giant clam nursery, also hiking and hot springs in the jungle interior. Some of my blog entries on Camiguin:
http://brklyn-christina.blogspot.com/2007/03/crumbling-...and-hot-springs.html
http://brklyn-christina.blogspot.com/2007/02/come-again-to-camiguin.html

Cagayan de Oro is a very unattractive city from what I hear (I just passed through the bus station) but there's supposed to be some very cool beautiful nature stuff, like a tree walk + good whitewater rafting.

Davao is not a swinging city per se but it has some nightlife and a local music scene at Matina Town Square, the Philippine Eagle Sanctuary, the excellent but small Davao Museum, and Samal Island for beach time.

They rarely perform, but Mebuyan is an example of one of many musicians who are part of the Matina Town Square scene. They have tribal-meets-rock-meets-world sound that I many Davao musicians share.

My only caveat with Davao is that, given the short trip time you have, you may find you want to spend "city time" in Manila + spend the rest of your time in nature/beaches/mountains, rather than another city.

Re. Mindanao travel warnings -- The travel warnings are overhyped because they are applied to the entire island (and sometimes when the US State Department is in the mood, to the entire country of the Philippines ) due to localized unrest in the west, and especially the islands of Jolo and Sulu. The east part of Mindanao -- Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Davao, I traveled without anxiety as a single female. Davao is widely considered to be a safer city than Manila, btw.

3. Northern circuit to hike the rice terraces of Banaue/Batad/Kalinga and go caving and hiking in Sagada. I don't know if you could squeeze it in somehow, but Vigan, farther north and west, is a very cool heritage site. They are also known for their longganisa (sausages). mmmmm.


My blog, which I still have to update with half my trip:
http://www.brklyn-christina.blogspot.com/

There is a tribute to Julia Campbell at the top, who I was priveleged to befriend. She was killed by a mentally unstable local in Batad (rice terrace region in the north) recently. It's awkward to say this, but for the record, it was a very random occurrence and atypical of the vibe and the people in Batad. Unfortunately there are crazy people everywhere in the world.

Batad is a very peaceful small town that probably sees about 30-40 tourists a day in high season passing through, and nothing like this happens to them. People there make their livelihood off tourism, and have a vested interest in protecting the safety of tourists. I traveled through just a few days before Julia, and felt no sketchy intentions towards me whatsoever.

Amazingly informative post.

Many thanks

Thanks so much Christina-in-Brooklyn. That's some excellent advice. Yeah, I'm not really worried about the "danger" of the Philippines. I will be spending some time with a friend who is doing the Peace Corps and she lives near Mount Mayon.

The drag queen play sounds quite interesting - I'll have to look into that more and will look at all of your links!

Thanks so much!

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Unfortunately November is off-season for the whalesharks, too bad because you'll already be in the area (near Mt Mayon).

But that's alright, there are lots to do everywhere else. You got great advice above. The other places I recommend visiting are Dumaguete, which is my favorite city in all of the country. ok ok, so I'm biased because it's my dad's hometown . But really, it's beautiful! And I feel it truly represents the Philippines in terms of culture, food, locals, abundant natural beauty, etc. Another reason I love it is because it's on that brink, that cusp of city and province. You get the best of both worlds.

You can read about my latest trip there in my blog here.

Hi Ms Gypsysoul!

Did you catch the lone query on Dumaguete in the forum here? For your tita's Sans Rival Cakes & Pastries alone it's on my list of places to visit *next* time.

I'm very jealous you did the treewalk in Cagayan de Oro BTW. Miss you + all the Pinay booties (ahem nina + leslie)