Philippines Travel

In keeping with the Department of Tourism’s logo, shopping is more fun in the Philippines. It’s here where you can find an original and in good condition Victoria’s Secret bikinis for less than a dollar, or The North Face shirt for a dollar and a quarter. Of course, you don’t …

Simply because it’s the height of tropical cyclone season doesn’t mean you can’t hit the beach for a well-deserved break from the monsoons. Even better, this time of the year is off-season, so you are likely to get cheaper lodging, better service, and fewer crowds. If you are truly lucky, …

Simply because it’s the height of tropical cyclone season doesn’t mean you can’t hit the beach for a well-deserved break from the monsoons. Even better, this time of the year is off-season, so you are likely to get cheaper lodging, better service, and fewer crowds. If you are truly lucky, …

Siquijor was once under the administration of Negros Oriental, so the best route to get to this small island is still via its old mother province through its capital, Dumaguete City. From Manila, you can take a domestic flight to Dumaguete City (Siquijor’s airport is closed to passenger flights as …

There is a compelling reason why Sibuyan Island should be on the radar of every eco-traveler: It is one of the rare islands in the Philippines where primary growth forest can still be seen fringing the coast. Population pressures and clearing of the land for agriculture use have markedly reduced …

If there’s one thing that has become very rare in the Philippines, it is its rainforests. Rarer still is primary growth forest fringing a coastline, which have all been cleared in the past to give way to human habitation and agriculture. This sorry state of environmental affairs in the Philippines …

As with any culture that is not your own, certain behaviors, practices and habits may be considered odd, weird and even downright bizarre. Filipinos have a fair share of them, and often the source of endless fascination (and even annoyance) by the same people whose culture Filipinos would surely likewise …

As with any culture that is not your own, certain behaviors, practices and habits may be considered odd, weird and even downright bizarre. Filipinos have a fair share of them, and often the source of endless fascination (and even annoyance) by the same people whose culture Filipinos would surely likewise …

In a separate post, we named Siquijor as one of the top 10 beach destinations in the Philippines. While Salagdoong Beach in the town of Maria is a strong contender, it is not as long as the beaches in the town of San Juan. The latter is not only significant …

“Laci” is synonymous to heritage. Inferring from the sheer size of its convent to the remarkable interior architecture of its church, I could tell that this place must have been one hotbed of religious activity. As it turned out, the Lazi convent was the retreat center, in the late 19th …

Baguio City is known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines. Its location high up in the mountain regions of the Cordilleras gives it a much cooler climate that the surrounding lowlands, making it a favorite destination of many Filipinos to escape the sweltering heat. Most of Baguio’s visitors know …

Preserving a place for the benefit of both man and animal, local and visitor, is a nascent concept in the Philippines. Conservation efforts have only seen a lot of action in the late part of the 1990s and early 2000s, and even then, it was slow going. The process that …