PHILIPPINES 2010-11 six months trip to Thailand,Malaysia and Philippines part three-revisited from memory after 12 years

From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I flew to Manila to begin my two-month vacation in this beautiful Catholic country (the only one in Asia together with little East Timor) of thousands of islands and over one hundred million inhabitants, some of whom came as immigrants to our country and they mainly work as domestic cleaners and nurses, but they are also excellent seafarers. Metromanila is the big Manila with the suburbs that has about 15 million inhabitants, a rather poor city as there are many who live on the sidewalks and in parks, but also rich areas such as the Makati district with luxury hotels and boutiques with western products, elevated galleries for pedestrians, then there is Intramuros, the old walled city where the walls, an old church and a few other buildings have remained since it suffered the bombings of the Americans to annihilate the hundred thousand Japanese soldiers who had taken refuge there. I flew to the eastern island of Palawan where I spent a couple of weeks between the capital Puerto Princesa, Sabang beach in the center with the Underground River, a river that you can sail by boat in a cave but the most beautiful part is in the northern top of El Nido a small tourist town with many excursions that take you to dream beaches, crystalline blue waters and outcropping black rock pinnacles. I continued with a very dangerous journey and rough seas inside a banka (outrigger boat) to the opposite island of Bushuanga, in the city of Coron which, like El Nido, has many other dream excursions; I was there at Christmas and I was staying in a family hotel that invited me to the Noche Buena, the Christmas party with dinner enlivened by music played by the grandchildren who arrived to visit their grandmother from various parts of the country. The next day I was invited on a boat trip to wonderful places , white beaches where they prepared an excellent lunch of fish, rice and vegetables, we snorkeled in some places where we saw turtles and non-dangerous sharks. I then flew to the most beautiful and famous island of the country: Boracay, long and narrow with white sand and clear waters, surrounded by palm trees and small hotels, cafes and restaurants. I spent New Year's Eve watching the fireworks that lasted three hours from three different locations off the beach, I made friends with a French from Dijon and a Russian from Moscow and we spent the night eating fish and seafood at a buffet restaurant on the beach while the fireworks went off Then I reached the second city of the country Cebu City with its colorful taxi-buses, its markets, surprised me with its religious processions towards an old church in the center not far from a very ancient walled fort. I then arrived on the island of Bohol that was another nice surprise, with the beautiful Alona Beach, second only to Boracay, where I spent a week and made loads of friends, I hiked to the rolling Chocolate Hills that change color according to the season and they look like chocolate when the vegetation darkens, then a park where the Tarsier monkey is protected, the smallest with enormous eyes, then a place where i traveled on a a restaurant boat with a musical group and choir who performed at the start on the pier and where I did one of my acts dancing with them. On the way back I walked for a long time among rice fields, small villages and palm trees, a bucolic landscape. The last stop was the northern island of Luzon where I went to visit the rice terraced fields in Banaue and Batad which are a tourist attraction as they are quite spectacular and there are also ethnic tribes in traditional costume; at the restaurant I met a boy who was my guide during the trek between the two villages walking along green paths in the middle of the rice fields until we reached our panoramic hotel. Finally I went back by bus to Manila for my return flight to Italy, but before leaving I visited some parts of the capital, the China town, Intramuros, a park with the statue of a Philipino Indian considered a heroe, the national museum, some shopping centers, one particular outside the center and enjoyed the city meeting some young guys playing basketball on the street, swimming in a local swimmingpool. I really enjoyed the Philippines, her friendly people, beaufiful beaches on amazing islands and this country will remain in my heart forever.

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