the asian country i like most, phillipines.

out of almost 10 asian countries i have visited, phillipines, with its people , is the most lovely , friendly, westernized , open-minded and "NORMAL". by the way , the least liked asian country , by me , is vietnam , which possesses the opposite characters and which is amazingly situated not far from philippines.

by 6 boat trips and numerous long-distance buses, i roamed almost all the country.

hope you enjoy my photos.

day 1

took a red eye flight to save (a lot of )money. departure time 5am in the morning . suffered a miserable sleepless night in the airport.

my intended route, but later i prolonged it because i traveled fast and had spare time .

Waiting for updates bro

arrived in manila, mabe got ripped off by the taxi from the airport . but at least the driver, after ascertained my round-coubtry route, took me to one of the many bus stations, which running specific line buses to my next stop. taxi fee , after negotiation, 1500naira.

this slip was the "ticket" for the bus. puntuation as fare counting. strange way.

the surburb of manila. looked like industrial zones. but out of this metropolis, the rest of the country was paddy fields and rural scenes.

today i would take 11 hour bus ride. traversed approximately 600km. from manila to naga city.

the girl sitting next to me was very smelly. plus the fatigue after a sleepless night and the long bus ride, i wanted to VOMIT.

i shifted to another seat and felt better.

philippines was still a third world country. i needed to be open-minded and prepared to rough myself.

raining fitfully . it was cold in the bus for the AC was low.

first impression, philipinos were short and usually had a tummy in middle age.

the lunch meal, at the special eatery beside the bus stop of a small town.

sweet and tart fish with ginger slices atop. a pungent beef soup. 400naira. acceptable.

my dinner. sweet shrimps, roasted eggplant and a bowl of meat soup. 800naira.

not many photos on the road today. tired and in need of some time to adjust myself to a new environ.

following...

Signing into the class attendance

Following

Following Op please continue

arrived in naga city at 8pm. booked a room. 3000naira, a discount price, from 9pm to 9am.

i went to eat something and waited for the time

end of day 1

day 2

from naga city to matnog, the southest tip of luzon island.

the only one bus was due to leave at 11pm. so, i spent the morning climbing a nearby mountain.

i set off walking to the foot of the mountain, the city was not big

passed a railway track of disuse. there are no trains in pholilippines now.

it was high, this mountain, nearly 2000 meters.i intended to climb as high as i could. at least , i have paid the guide 3500naira . the guide was compulsory. not allowed to climb alone.


but the road , if any, was too slippery , full of rotten leaves. i slipped few times before i decided not to resume. i only ascended maybe 300 meter after 30 minutes.

they refunded my money. i changed to see the waterfalls, 1500naira.

the waterfall

it was down at the foot of the hill. a pool and two cascades

my guide

on our way down

the pond

me and my guide

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on my way back to the naga city, taking a jeepney. 150 naira ticket

jeepneey , the local feature of philippines. said to be adapted from the waste jeeps from us army in world war two.

in the afternoon, checked out the naga city. this was a mall. a bookshop in the mall.

the map section

i bought a map