-- Trip in the Philippines

Introductory notes

Manille
Le 25 au 28/04, du 08 au 10/05, le 24/05

The cathedral dates back to 1951. Fort Santiago overhangs the river with a monumental gate. Walking my way I passed in front of Memorare Manila of 1945. The church San Agustin of 1587 was saved, its cloister houses an interesting museum of religious paintings and liturgical object such this virgin out of ivory with the Chinese face as well as a picture of the unloading of Lopez Legazpi in 1571..

Casa Manila is an ancient house entirely restored with pieces of furniture whose some pieces are of the school of Chicago.

 Bahay Tsinoy exhibts in diorama the important part played by the Chinese community in the city development. They are called themselves Chinoys or Tsinoys. Many Mestizos, interbreeding with Chinese, occupy of the governmental responsibilities. Cory Aquino is a half-caste by her Chinese mother.

I strolled in districts of the city in the search of vestiges. Only the frontages of church were rebuilt with scattered materials the other parts are modern.

Metropolitan Theatre, Art Deco 1930, is in the state of a ruin occupied by beggars. City Hall. The National Museum of the Philippines has been closed for restoration for several years. Rizal Park, in memory of Dr. Jose Rizal was executed by Spanish in December 1896. The architectural revival saw emerging from the concrete buildings such Cultural Center of the Philippines by Leandro Locsin.

The island of Corregidor is located in the bay of Manila at approximately 48 kilometres. It was the theatre of engagements in 1941 during the Japanese invasion and in 1945 at the time of the second battle. I visited it with a packed tour. The General Douglas MacArthur pronounced a sentence become famous during his escape to Australia: “I shall return”. It was one day very instructive recalling me that the War of the Pacific was bloodier than the War in Europe.

At the time of my return from the North of Luzon, to see will infra, I remained two days in Manila to visit two remarkable museums. The National Museum of the Filipinos people was designed by the American architect Burham of the school of Chicago and was carried out by Pearson, of the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris, with an engineering and design department of Manila. The master piece is the wreck of San Diego, Spanish Galleon, sank off in 1600 at the time of a battle with a Dutch vessel. A floor is devoted to prehispanic art with in particular funerary objects.

 Ayala Museum is located in the business district at the crossroads of the Ayala and Makati avenues, old runaway of a local airport. It is a harbor of greenery with a small church in the centre of a raised park. On several floors an exhibition to topics, Crossroads of Civilizations exposes objects coming from tombs and excavations of origin Chinese, Indian, Thailand, Vietnamese, and Khmer showing that the Philippines were at the crossroads of important maritime trade route well before the arrival of Spanish. In addition sixty dioramas commemorate sixty major events from prehistory to the independence of the Philippines

La Cordillera de Luzon
Vigan, Ilocos

The architecture of the Vigan’s houses is a synthesis of Mexican and Chinese style with Philippines decorations. The windows are furnished not with panes but with capiz-shell. The ground floor is in masonry whereas the first floor is out of wooden teak.

Baguio, it took five hours by bus to go from Vigan to Baguio where I arrived at the end of the morning. In the afternoon I visited the district of the market. The city is polluted and noisy by jeepneys. In spite of the rational design with gardens by Burnham in 1903 the city extended anarchically on the side of surrounding mountains. Located at 1400 meters of altitude it was the holiday of the American troops until the Japanese invasion.

Mountain Province Museum exhibits dioramas of the tribes of Cordillera and a floor is devoted to the Japanese co-operation since 1903!

Tam Awan Village was created at approximately 4 kilometres away in the mountain as an open air museum with dwellings of mountain tribes. The project is creditable but the infrastructure of visit is not up to it. The St Louis University Museum is very interesting by the objects of the daily life of the mountain tribes.

Sagada, at 1400 meters of altitude, is at 145 kilometres away that to say six hours by bus where I arrived the 03/05 at the end of the morning to install me in Guesthouse. I was recorded at the DOT then I left to discover sites.

2 - Lumiang Burial Cave contains several hundreds of coffins of which the oldest would be old of more than five hundred years. They do not contain mummies, only the bones of the late ones.

3 - Sumaging Cave dug in the sandstone it communicates with a network of surrounding caves. I explored only the entry.

The following day 04/05 I undertook a long walk by beginning at St Mary's Episcopal Church then the cemetery at the top of a hill dominating the plain.

Consequently I reconsidered my steps to stroll on the driving path to Kiltepan Peak, 1636 meters of altitude. I lunched frugally in front of a splendid landscape of covered medium mountains of thorn-bush. I began again the track about 13:00 to try to find Bokong Fall. Alas I turned back not having any information nor map of the area indicating the tracks to be followed. I returned to the hotel much chagrined. Around 16:00 I went to the cybercafé at the corner. In short a long day of salutary walk with landscape resting out of any pollution.

The 05/05 I left Sagada to Bontoc by jeepney where I wanted to see the museum for its miniatures of mountain houses and especially for an extraordinary collection of photographs in black and white of the Fifties putting in situation the various tribes as head-hunters. It is one of the most enthralling museums of the area.

The following day 06/05 I took a bus jolting to Banaué where I arrived in the rain beating at 1400 meters of altitude. Moreover the city was in the clouds. Of course I paid a visit to the local museum which is interesting but without more. The exhibited objects are in windows deprived of lighting. It is necessary to want to visit it, it is true that the culture is deserved.

After midday I left in excursion to Hapao by tricycle in the rain to see the rice cultures in terraces. The road being crossed by a landslide I continued on foot; as I would further say it, it was ill omen, but I did not know it. The driver of the tricycle had omitted to inform me. The rice cultures in terraces are not the most spectacular, those of Batad, registered by the inheritance world, are completely in the clouds and require more than nine hours of walk outward journey and return. The 07/05 the rain persisting I decided not to go to Batad in spite of the malavized advice of the tricycle driver.

I spent the day by reading in the common room of the hotel awaiting the night bus bringing me back to Manila. It left around 20:00 in the rain, soon landslides appeared applicant the vigilance of the driver. Around 9 p.m. a landslide occurred in front of the bus which stopped without being able to cross it. The driver parked the bus to ensure the safety of the costumers; it moved it several times landslides occurred laterally. The night was long at the edge of the road. In the early morning we went in recognition, it was necessary to go obviously, the bus could not carry on its road. Villagers brought to us hot and soft drinks. About 10:00 the driver after phone contacts informed us that machines of civil engineering would spend several days to open the road. He advised us to leave with our luggage to find jeepneys beyond the landslides. It was indeed the case after approximately two kilometres of walk in the mud and the crossing over four to five landslides. Finally we travelled by a bus at the junction of the road from Banaué and from Siantiago shortly after Solano. We arrived in Manila the 08/05 about 19:30 that is to say nearly 24 hours for 340 kilometres, but happy to be safe and sound.

The visit of Cordillera in Luzon was finished.

Barocay Island

After the epopee of the end of the voyage in Cordillera I remained two days in Manila before moving again to go to have rest on the island of Barocay. The 11/05 was a transit day by bus to Batangas, then on ferry boat to Calapan, island of Mindoro, and finally by mini-van to Roxas where I arrived around 16:00. This city is the port of loading of trucks to the island of Panay. The following day was still a road day on ferry boat from Roxas to Caticlan, island of Panay, then a shuttle of small boats to the island of Barocay and finally a tricycle to the hotel where I arrived about 16:30. I rested at the edge of the beach until the 15/05. This white sand beach is pleasant but without more bicause very narrow. The part under palm trees is occupied by restaurants of the hotels. In fact it is only a succession of restaurants, shops for tourists and centre of deep-sea diving.

Panay Island

The 15/05 I turned again to Caticlan to take a bus to go in six hours in Iloilo which I visited in the afternoon. Sights are very few, Belfry Tower in front of the cathedral, old wooden houses and a small museum which exhibits a head of a skeleton with golden occlusions on the orifices. Golden occlusions found in burials belong to the exposition of the Crossroads of Civilizations of the museum of Ayala in Manila. The stop in Iloilo was justified by the visit of old Hispanic churches in the west of Iloilo.

The church of San Joaquin has a façade with a bas-relief representing a battle between Christians and Moslems, ancestral enemy.

The church of Miag-Ao is registered by the world inheritance of humanity with in façade a bas-relief of St Christopher strolling in a tropical forest with the infant Jesus.

Guimbal has a Roman sandstone church close to a very pretty place. At the village of Tigbauan a baroque church with remarkable bas-reliefs was the first Jesuit school founded in 1592. In this Saturday I attended a marriage. These visits took a small day requiring waiting of the passage of a jeepney to go to the following village.

Cebu Island

Cebu Island. The 17/05 I took a plane to Cebu City. At the security control it was necessary to deposit luggage, camera, to empty pockets but also to take off its shoes! Then I was palpated. From the 18 to the 20/05 I visited the city which does not require such a long stay motivated in having a seat on the plane to Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan.

Palawan Island

The plane was delayed of more than one hour. By Internet I had reserved a room at cast Linda Inn as well as a packaged tour to visit the Subterranean River of St Paul. The city is not of great interest. It is very polluted by the backfiring tricycles that follow one another as long cohort in the streets.

The journey in the Philippines ended by connecting two flights, the first from Puerto Princesa to Manila then by changing terminal the second from Manila to Kuala Lumpur where I arrived the 24/05 around 20:00. I turned again to the small hotel in Rawang where the truck was at MAN workshop.

Malaysia

I remained in Rawang to publish pages of my website concerning the journeys in Myanmar and in the Philippines as well as to transfer my two websites to a new provider offering a space without limited storage. Then I prepared the continuation of the trip round the world.