My wife and I are off for a 4 week honeymoon in the Philippines. As we’ve never been and the STW collective knows all I wondered if any of you could recommend amazing/cool things to do/places to visit while we’re there?

We’re the adventurous sort so we’re mostly backpacking around and interspersing it with moments of luxury (a nice hotel/spa here and there/excursion etc). We’re planning on flying into Manila on the 23rd Dec and back on the 15th Jan. Current plan is to head to Palawan and take a boat boat tour with Tao Philippines which we’ve heard amazing things about.

Any other things that people would suggest?

Thanks!

Any other things that people would suggest?

Don’t take drugs when you’re there 😯

I lived there for years and have a set email to send anyone who asks. Like it forwarded?

my user name ^^ @gmail.com

Here’s a post I made on STW a while ago. Not specific enough to help but maybe has some ideas.

I lived there for 7 years and am still in SE Asia. I’m sure I’ve posted here before extolling its virtues. A good google search with m username will find it I’m sure.

So, the pros:

The people. Never met anyone like them. Friendly to a fault, fascinating and fascinated by foreigners in equal measure. There’s an interesting statistic (can’t find it) but The Phil. have more expats who stay until they die (of old age) than any other country.

Beaches.

Mountains.

Scenery in general.

Diving. World class is a little of an understatement.

Hotels. Should you be a little less budget conscious then the fancier hotels are some of the best I’ve been to.

Manila, whilst “a hole” is amazing. There are malls where you won’t be able to afford to buy anything, rows and rows of watch shops with each piece worth more than your car. 5 mins down the road there is the red light district. 5 mins the other way are homeless people sleeping in graveyards. 5 minutes the other way is a gated community where minimum rent pcm is $7,000. It’s a dirty smelly third world city to be sure but I loved every second of it.

Cheap. Very.

Some food. The chefs are fantastic and western food tends to be cooked amazingly. A handful of Pinoy dishes are superb. Most aren’t.

Karaoke bars (not a euphemism for coke and hookers). Until you’ve been singing cheesy 80s ballads in a shit hole local bar where a round of shots for every local in there was £5 at 3 in the morning you haven’t lived.

Easy to travel around. Part of this is its cheapness as paying someone to drive you anywhere is realistic and easy.

It isn’t typically SE Asia although it’s a massive continent so lets not generalise here.

Safe. I never felt unsafe. Not once.

San Miguel Pale Pilsen

There is culture and history and when you find it it’s fascinating.

Christmas lasts for at least 4 months. In the most cheesy, glittery and flashing multi-coloured-light way possible. Accept it and you’ll love it!

Cons:

It can be Westernised. This has its benefits. Thainess makes me want to bang my head through a wall most days. Amazing service in fancy hotels makes me smile.

A huge amount of culture has been lost in the urban areas. WWII was horrific in the Philippines and hugely unknown in Western society.

Most of the typical food isn’t especially nice. Garlic rice and fish isn’t a bad breakfast when you’re used to it.

Travel can be a little more difficult than other places more on the beaten track. That means there are undscovered gems waiting for you.

Nothing prepares you for seeing children living in absolute poverty.

//———————————————————————

Really it depends what you’re after. It can be fantastic and I’d be happy to anser any questions and give any specific details. username ^^ @gmail.com
Burma last Christmas was amazing too. Different to a lot of Asia and somewhere we’re glad we visited before it became more touristy. Again, glad to help with info there.

We left Makati (Manila) 4 years ago and my wife would be surprised to know (keep it quiet for family harmony) I’d move back there tomorrow! Rose-tinted specs perhaps but it holds a place in my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNgEHFDYzo

Stay away from the hookers.

Amazing! Thanks @makecoldplayhistory have sent you a quick email.

@gears_suck and @Boardinbob. I have noted that down. If I have to resort to that on my honeymoon then clearly something has gone wrong 😉

Taroko Gorge – both the mountain road & coastal approach road.

LOL. Good luck mate. Have a wonderful time.

Mac – Member
My wife and I are off for a 4 week honeymoon…could recommend amazing/cool things to do?

Lots of sex?

I have been there a few times as a backpacker and holiday and taken a 5yr and 2yr old.
If you can make it to the very north end of Cebu there is a tiny traffic free island called Malapascua where my BiL owns Evolution Diving where you can dive with Thresher sharks.

We found it ok to get around on a shoestring and most people are very honest, even in the back of beyond, you could get on a local bus and if the fare was 13p for the locals that is what you would be charged too. The Ceres Line inter-town busses are a bit scarey to ride on, they just dont slow down for anything. We had an HGV that was trying to race the bus roll-over infront of us on a mountain hairpin.

We did go out for a stag-night in Cebu where i managed to get my credit cards stolen and then returned to me (unused) with an apology.

its a fun country but the local food is mostly rubbish

N

Small world Doh1nut!

I saw the threshers a few years ago with them. Aside form the early morning start it was amazing.

The diving is indeed world class, note I have only snorkeled there but you may consider doing your Padi pool work here in the UK first. Researching dive lcoations and quality operators is important and to understand diving season and also beginner suitable locations.

I have to say I enjoyed Vietnam more (food is much better ref Doh1nut above) but I am not a beach person. Like many SE Asian countries there is generally a dodgy bar scene where ever there are tourists but you can just ignore that.

It’s very cheap and the locals live on very little.

Be prepared for the whole country to be on the move the day before Christmas. We has a very busy time trying to travel to the islands down south on the 23rd/24th Dec to spend Christmas on the beach (cannot remember which date).

Essentially everyone rushes back to be with family on Christmas day. Good to see it happen but we had some of our journey hanging off the back of buses.

@ Makecoldplayhistory

Glad you enjoyed it 😀

Nick