Other sights in Philippines
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Donsol Visitors Center
The Donsol Visitors Center, situated 1.5km north of the river bridge (by tricycle from town), is the place to go. The experience is quite regimented – it has to be, given the well-being of the animals, the number of visitors and the need to rotate boat crews fairly – and access to the whale sharks is limited to a maximum of 25 boats. During the busy Holy Week, you will be lucky to get a look in; so it is best to avoid this time if you can. This is how the process went when we visited. First, pay your registration fee (Filipino/foreigner P100/300). Second, book a boat. This costs P3500 for a maximum of seven, and includes the services of a Butanding Interaction Officer (BI…
reviewed
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Makati
The business centre of Manila has also become its nightlife centre. The towers here house the nation's major corporations and most of the major hotels. It all came about after WWII when the Ayala family seized upon the destruction of the rest of the city as a chance to start building.
Makati, the former local airport (Ayala and Makati Aves were the runways), seems to have boundless growth ahead of it. But just when you think you're someplace like Singapore, a whiff of sewage will bring you down to earth. The excellent Filipinas Heritage Library is housed in the much-restored 1930s terminal for the former airport.
On the north side of Makati is the P Burgos St area, a once-…
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Philippine Eagle Research & Nature Center
To view one of the largest eagles in the world (in terms of wing span), head to the Philippine Eagle Research & Nature Center, which is dedicated to conserving these endangered birds. Around 35 Philippine eagles (also known as monkey-eating eagles) are here, 20 of which were bred through artificial insemination. The camp is set in a pocket of native forest near Malagos, 36km north of Davao. There are enough wild birds flitting around to keep even the least avid birdwatcher happy – other species of eagles and animals also call the centre home. You can watch an informative video about eagles in the wild – there are about 500 in the Philippines – and the threats they are fac…
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Chinatown
After centuries of suppression by the Spanish, Manila's Chinese population quickly rose on the economic and social ladder under more liberal administrations. Today the centre of the vibrant Chinese community is Chinatown , which straddles Santa Cruz and Binondo.
Chinatown is demarcated by Goodwill Arches. The main street is Ongpin St; walking its length - this is recommended - will take perhaps 10 minutes, but exploring the neighbourhood can take hours. As in any other Chinese enclave around the world, here you'll find dozens of goldsmiths, herbalists, teahouses and shops selling mooncakes, incense, paper money to burn for ancestors, trinkets and all kinds of curios. Ther…
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Lake Barracuda
This island, only a 20-minute bangka ride from Coron town, has an imposing, mysterious skyline that wouldn’t be out of place in a King Kong film. Flying over Coron, you see that what lies inland, on the other side of the fortresslike jungle-clad rocky escarpments, is only more inaccessible terrain pockmarked with lakes. Lake Barracuda is one of them and is one of Coron’s primary attractions. Lake Barracuda is of more interest to divers for its unique layers of fresh, salt and brackish water and dramatic temperature shifts, which can reach as high as 38°C. It’s accessible by a short but tricky 25m climb over a jagged rocky wall (good sandals are recommended) that ends di…
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Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary
The Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary takes in 1030 hectares of sand flats and mangroves on Olango’s southern shores. This is a vital refuelling depot for around 50,000 birds of 47 species (including the endangered Chinese egret Egretta eulophotes and Asiatic dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus) on the east-Asian migratory route to Australia. The birds, which prefer Olango to neighbouring islands because of the abundant food and ideal nesting sites, arrive in late September and leave in early March, but the best time for twitchers is between November and February. Tragically, you may also encounter organised hunting parties, which are imperilling shorebird populations.
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Lake Kayangan
This island, only a 20-minute bangka ride from Coron town, has an imposing, mysterious skyline that wouldn’t be out of place in a King Kong film. Flying over Coron, you see that what lies inland, on the other side of the fortresslike jungle-clad rocky escarpments, is only more inaccessible terrain pockmarked with lakes, one of which is Lake Kayangan, one of Coron’s primary attractions. Accessible by a steep 10-minute climb, the crystal-clear waters of Lake Kayangan are nestled into the mountain walls; underwater is like a moonscape. There’s a little wooden walkway and platform to stash your things if you go for a swim.
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Rajah Sikatuna National Park
The Rajah Sikatuna National Park is an immense 9000 hectares of native molave forest and grasslands, kilometres of haphazardly marked trails, more than 100 caves and a dubious camping area (per person P30) that is little more than a sign in a small, cleared zone. With assistance from foreign NGOs, the Philippine government is trying to protect the park from gradual destruction by providing alternative livelihood programs for illegal loggers – it’s potentially prime birdwatching territory and home to tarsiers, flying lemurs, civet cats, monitor lizards and monkeys. The crew at nearby Nuts Huts may be able to suggest walks.
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Basilica Minore del Santo Niño
This holiest of churches is a real survivor. Built in 1565 and burnt down three times, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1737. Perhaps it owes its incendiary past to the perennial bonfire of candles in its courtyard, stoked by an endless procession of pilgrims and other worshippers. The object of their veneration is a Flemish image of the infant Jesus, sequestered in a chapel to the left of the altar. It dates back to Magellan’s time and is said to be miraculous (which it probably had to be to survive all those fires). Every year, the image is the centrepiece of Cebu’s largest annual event, the Sinulog festival.
reviewed
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National Museum of the Filipino People
This splendid museum houses a vast collection, including the skullcap of the Philippines’ earliest known inhabitant, Tabon Man (said by some to actually be a woman), who lived around 24,000 BC. There are extensive displays on the major Filipino indigenous groups and a vast collection of Filipino painting and sculpture. A large section of the museum is devoted to porcelain plates, coins, jewellery etc recovered from the wreck of the San Diego, a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Luzon in 1600. Other treasures include a large collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts and musical instruments.
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Cagsawa Church
About 8km northwest of Legaspi, the remains (basically the belfry and tops of walls) of the sunken Cagsawa Church are a popular tourist attraction with a terrific view of Mt Mayon. Twelve hundred people who took refuge here during 1814’s violent eruption were buried alive, but this is no peaceful memorial. The site is bustling with ice-cream stands, souvenir stalls and restaurants, but – if you can get a moment away from the hawkers – it’s a strangely beautiful and eerie place. Next door, a couple of big clean swimming pools are refreshing before the return jeepney trip.
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Mt Isarog National Park
From Panicuason (pan-ee-kwa-sone), a steep, half-hour walk along a rough road (passable by some vehicles if it’s very dry) leads to the entrance of Mt Isarog National Park. There is an admission fee, which – depending on who is at the gate to collect it – varies between P50 and P100. To the right, a short walk leads down some very steep stone steps to Malabsay Falls, where you can swim with a view of Mt Isarog. Long-term locals reckon this is the experience not to miss!
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Victorias Milling Company
There’s historic paraphernalia on display at the huge Victorias Milling Company, in the town of Victorias, north of Silay. Victorias was the world’s biggest mill during the ’60s and ’70s and is the site of the Church of St Joseph the Worker, which features a claustrophobically dense liturgical mural by Alfonso Ossorio, a contemporary of Jackson Pollock. Jeepneys run all day to Victorias from Silay (P20, 45 minutes). No shorts, sandals or cameras are allowed at Victorias.
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Bulusan Volcano National Park
About 16km southwest of Barcelona is Bulusan Volcano National Park. Just inside the park, Bulusan Lake is a popular picnic spot, and there’s a 1.8km walking trail around the crater lake. When the mist is lying low over the surrounding forest and the birds are singing, it’s a lovely, peaceful spot and the clear, still water makes for an inviting swim or a relaxed hour’s fishing for tilapia. There are no visitor facilities of any sort apart from the track around the lake.
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Malasag Eco-Tourism Village
Set in acres of botanical gardens with a small wildlife collection of butterflies, birds and deer, the Malasag Eco-Tourism Village is a theme park of sorts, featuring tribal houses, a museum and an education centre. Locals who come here seem to enjoy themselves. There are camping, cottages (from P500), a swimming pool and a good restaurant. Take a jeepney to Cugman and get off at Malasag, then take a motorcycle up the hill to the eco-village. A taxi will cost about P250 one way.
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Site of Rizal’s Execution
To one side of the Rizal monument, in Rizal Park, you will find the Site of Rizal’s Execution; at the entrance is a black granite wall inscribed with Rizal’s ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ (My Last Farewell). Eight tableaux of life-size bronze statues recreate the dramatic last moments of the hero’s life; at night these statues become part of a light-and-sound presentation entitled the Martyrdom of Dr José Rizal (admission P50; in Filipino 7pm & in English 8pm Wed-Sun).
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Dizon Ramos Museum
If you’re interested in getting a sense of how the upper-middle class lived in Bacolod in the 1950s, you could go to the oddball Dizon Ramos Museum. Among the artefacts deemed worthy to preserve for posterity are immense collections of naff ceramics, glassware and religious knick-knacks. The real treat is upstairs, where the dining table set for Sunday dinner, phonograph, brown fridge, waterbed and cheesy family photos appear undisturbed since Elvis left the building.
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Tarsier Research & Development Center
Just beyond the attractive jungle-fringed town of Corella, near the village of Sikatuna, is the Tarsier Research & Development Center, a tarsier sanctuary open to the general public. This simultaneously crazy and cuddly looking little primate can fit in the palm of your hand yet leap 5m, rotate its head almost 360 degrees, and move its ears in the direction of sound, and it has huge imploring eyes, 150 times bigger than a human’s in relation to its body size.
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Santo Niño Shrine & Heritage Center
A must is the Santo Niño Shrine & Heritage Center, a palatial guesthouse built to Imelda Marcos’ specifications but never slept in. It houses an extraordinary collection of antiques and objets d’art, and in every room there is a diorama of Imelda in the midst of one beneficial act or another. The centre is sadly underfunded and crumbling almost before your eyes; kept open by a hardy bunch of committed locals, it’s well worth the entry fee for a guided tour.
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C
Palawan Museum
The Palawan Museum is worth checking out if you’re interested in the ethnological and archaeological history of the island province. Housed in the old City Hall building adjacent to Mendoza Park, it has two floors of exhibits, most with accompanying explanations in English. Items include Chinese- and Spanish-era pottery and relics, as well as prehistoric artefacts from Tabon Caves. Another exhibit upstairs identifies the various peoples who call Palawan home.
reviewed
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Dambana ng Kagitingan
Every 9 April, American and Japanese veterans gather at the Dambana ng Kagitingan on top of Mt Samat and pay tribute to the thousands of their comrades who fell in the surrounding jungles. The centrepiece of the shrine is a 90m-high crucifix with battle scenes carved around its base. There is also a memorial wall, an open-air chapel and a small museum of weapons captured from the Japanese when the Americans returned in 1945.
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Negros Museum
The lovingly curated Negros Museum houses displays that focus on the island’s rich history, from Spanish missions to cane plantations and revolution. Dominating the main exhibition hall are the sugar-hauling Iron Dinosaur steam engine and a replica of a batil (cargo boat), laden with bananas, bags of sugar and a few anachronistic items such as San Miguel beer and Tanduay rum. The museum also has a small art gallery and cafe.
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Museo ng Maynila
The Museo ng Maynila is in the former Army & Navy Club, a once-posh US officers’ retreat. It reopened in 2007 after being closed for several years. The museum’s ground floor has a modest photo exhibit of Manila during the American period, but the main reason for visiting is to check out the building, a classic piece of American-era architecture. The tennis courts and swimming pool at next-door Seafood Wharf were once part of the club.
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Negros Forests & Ecological Foundation
A zoo with a difference, the Negros Forests & Ecological Foundation is a ‘wildlife rescue and captive breeding centre’ that seeks to preserve endangered animals endemic to Negros. Staffed by volunteers, it houses about 15 different species, including deer, wildcats and birds of prey. Now that only 3% of the island’s original forest cover remains, this could well be one of the most precious pieces of land in the Philippines.
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National Gallery of Art
This proud museum, which reopened in 2008 after being closed for four years of renovations, contains many of the Philippines’ signature works of art, including Juan Luna’s stunning Spoliarium, which provides harsh commentary on Spanish rule. It’s in the old Congress building designed by Daniel Burnham, across the street from its sister National Museum of the Filipino People.
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