My most recent trip to the Philippines departed from the norm of AC and Manila and to the unchartered provinces of the Visayas. If you are looking for the creature comforts that AC has to offer, I advise you to stay there! My trip was two fold, one was to see the "real" Philippines and the other was to take my girl to visit her parents, whom she had not seen for 2 years. I rang in the New Year with Korean Airlines over the Pacific. They did not acknowledge this with any merriment or champagne, just another flight with most of the announcements made in Korean or unintelligable English. After a 15 hour flight from Atlanta to Seoul, it was a three hour layover and a short 4 hour hop to Manila. Do not believe any bullshit you have been reading about the Manila Airport being revamped and upgraded. Same airport, different lies. After a 10 round bout with the airport taxis, I finally won a round and got the driver to use his meter. Meter price P77, asking price P400! I stayed at the Tiara Oriental for P1700 a night, which is a nice hotel with a less than caring staff. My girl was there to meet me, and the look in her eyes made me forget about the long flight. Next day we kicked around Manila, ate lunch and visited the Glorietta Mall. For those of you that have never been, it is amazing, even by Western standards. Next morning it was back to the airport for a 7:30 flight to Legazpi in Southern Bicol. This was a small town, which was just a port of entry for us, although I have read there are actually some things of interest there. From the airport we hopped a trike to the town proper and rented a van for P500 for the 2 hour trip to Sorsogan, where we hopped a jeepney for the 1 and a half hour trip to Matnog. This is where the ferries leave for the island of Samar. The ferries are called RORO's (roll on, roll off) because that is what the buses and trucks do. There is a passenger area upstairs. The ferries arrive in a town called Allen, which is nothing but a port town. From there we caught a jeepney to Catarman, the capital of Northern Samar. This was a tired little burg, which did not cater to tourists. We checked out half a dozen hotels, each grubbier than the last. We happened upon an oasis called Aileen's boarding house which is owned by a woman who spent many years in Toronto. The room was nice with cable TV and aircon. It had a private bath, with no hot water, although they were happy to boil some for me. The restaurant was excellent and it even had a little bar to boot! We visited my girl's family, and it made me appreciate the things we take for granted. No electricity, no running water, no bathroom, no mattress,just a bamboo rack to sleep on, and a dirt floor. A table and a few chairs were their furnishings. As we arrived, so did the entire neighborhood. There were over 50 adults and kids who came to see the "kano". I felt like a star! Most of the people in Samar speak Waray, which is totally different than Tagalog. Little Tagalog was spoken and even less English was heard. We spent three days there, too long for me, but I did it for my girl and her family. By the way, I have always heard that the most beautiful girls in the Philippines come from Samar, but you can bet they are already in AC, since I did not see anything that came close to tempting me!
Next stop was Tacloban in Leyte. This was a 7 hour ride in a Toyota mini van. They crammed 14 passengers, full luggage and the driver into this van. It was the Filipino version of how many college students can you stuff into a Volkswagen! The van left at 11 PM, so there was not much to see during the ride. What we rode on was a series of bumps and potholes, with a little road thrown in for good measure. There were times I was sure the van was going to break apart. We finally arrived in Tacloban at about 6AM and they took us directly to the Hotel Alejandro. This was a nice little establishment that has been around since WWII and was supposedly occupied by the Japanese. They had a small WWII museum, that was a nice touch. The restaurant was good, the water was HOT, and cable TV and aircon were in place. This cost P900 after a 5% discount was allowed. Tacolban is a good bit bigger than Catarman and offered some restaurants and choices of lodging. The real treat was the MacArthur memorial. This is at Red Beach, where one of the fiercest battles in the Pacific was fought. They have a beautiful bronze statue of MacArthur and several of his men as they took the beach. They also have a casting of MacArthurs footprints as he stepped on to the beach. It was very moving. From the Jollibee take a jeepney to the Government Center, then a short trike ride.
After one day in Tacloban, we were ready to move to Ormoc, where the SuperCat ferry would take us to Cebu. The only thing we saw in Ormoc was the pier, but they had some pretty nice food stalls and restaurants set up around the pier. The SuperCat is a work of art. I have been on my share of ferries in the Philippines, and the SuperCat outshines them all! This boat was more like an airliner, with quality seating and room to roam. They had a snack bar and it was a smooth 2 hout trip to Pier 4 in Cebu. We made arrangements with the Waterfront Cebu City Lahug Hotel. 562 rooms and 13 restaurants! Plus a Casino Filipino on premises. Great place, certainly a 4 star. The room was huge with a king bed and all the amentities. The breakfast buffet was awesome. www.lakbaytravel.com offered a package for P2800 a night which included the room, breakfast buffet and round trip transfers. It was a good deal. Cebu has plenty to do as far as nightlife, not on par with Manila or AC, but you won't have trouble finding a girl or a nightclub. During the day, there is Fort San Pedro to see and two huge malls (Ayayla and SM). During our stay in Cebu, we took a bus trip with a friend of mine to Bogo,which is 3 hours North of Cebu City. I read about how nice it was, but the town itself was a dump. I heard if you go further up North, there are some beautiful resorts. After 4 days in Cebu it was a 55 minute plane ride to Manila for a one night stay. We stayed at the Bayview Park Hotel on Roxas Blvd., and it was a dump. Next day off to AC for 4 days to visit some expats. I didn't know any mongers there at that time. AC hadn't changed much since November. The Pick Up bar opened, which I did not visit, but I heard is way nice. The tourist trade seems to be WAY off, even the expats were commenting that it was unusually slow. All in all, I am glad I took the trip, since I got to see alot more than the usual, but I won't be doing it again anytime soon!

Nice report and welcome back... Is your girl still living in AC?

I've done similar trips to the one you described and you hit the mark on all the observations about the country and culture. If it wasn't that the Filipina was so lovely, there would be no reason to go that that country because much of it is so dumpy! Right, the Supercat is a true marvel! Damn taxi drivers, 99% of them are trying to rip you off. You surely were dedicated to stay three days at her parents place 'coz I've see those living conditions before too and geez, talk about poverty!

Hold on there Bingo. Where, in Archie's report, did you read where he said the place was not worth visiting? Sure, we sex-mongers love the girls but it's still a beautiful country full of many great traditions and values. Yes, so much of it is poor but so are most of the other beautiful destinations in the world. The Filipino people are some of the friendliest people you will ever find!

...(prog)

I am glad I visited all the places I did, and in spite of the poverty, the lack of creature comforts and poor infrastructure, I was made to feel like a king, and had an excellent time. The admiration for Americans was obvious everywhere. I have traveled extensively in the Philippines on several previous trips, so there were no shocks or suprises. Bingo, I am not sure I agree with your statement about the Filipina being the only reason to visit the Philippines. I have been able to experience a truly different culture with only a minimal language barrier, a true admiration for my nationality by the Filipinos, a friendliness toward foreigners, and a happy culture even though they have little more than the roof over their head and the clothes on their back. All this was enjoyed by me without any fear for my safety!