I was in the beautiful Philippines last year. You have seen a couple of my avatars that are from the trip. When I say beautiful I mean the regional areas outside of Cebu City .. where I stayed which was overcrowded and terribly polluted. View attachment 28875 View attachment 28876 feeding the fish View attachment 28875 View attachment 28876 View attachment 28877 View attachment 28875 View attachment 28876 View attachment 28877 pics did not process so had to delete.
I spent 10 days on this island in the Central Philippines last May. It is a mixture of beauty and extreme poverty, with pollution that you can almost touch. Some sites in Cebu City. Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. Fort San Pedro. Taoist temple. Datu Lapu-Lapu who killed Ferdinard Magellan. This small construction houses Magellan's Cross (below).. which some say has miraculous powers.
Me acting the goat on way to Mactan Island. Feeding the fishies. Mactan Island a local house. Cattle everywhere in the countryside. Our bus had to wait five minutes while this family crossed the road. ...and this was our destination. Cebu's tallest waterfall. It was a sweltering day so a dip was very welcome.
I mentioned earlier about the pollution in Cebu City. How you can almost touch it as it is so all pervading. On way back thru the outskirts of Cebu City after our waterfall day tour I honestly was close to passing out due to the cramped conditions and the outside pollution. As it is so hot.. day and nite there.. the transport has no windows. This is fine in the fresh open spaces of the island's interior but not in the city. They clearly have more modes of transport than the roads can take and no standards on exhaust emissions or age of vehicle and just about every local Cebuan thinks he is a Formula 1 driver. In short driving in Cebu is hectic, dangerous and extremely smelly and choking. If you suffer from claustrophobia I recommend you do not ride in the back section of a Jeepney. Every Cebuan and his dog (no dogs allowed of course) cramp themselves into and on top of (see pic) these leftovers from WW2. I do not know whether there is a passenger limit but the ones I rode in sure did not have one. A typical overcrowded Jeepney.
Yes, that juxtaposition of splendor and squalor is hard on the senses. I came upon that in India last year.....slums beyond belief butted right up against a former rajah's palace that is now a fancy hotel. Emaciated cows leaning against luxury cars. Dead bodies on the sidewalk. And air pollution that you could cut through with a dull butter knife.
Yours truly with my personal guide skylarking on the Bojo River. I also did this day tour. Breathtaking scenery. https://www.viator.com/tours/Cebu/P...ith-Bojo-River-Cruise-from-Cebu/d5172-33900P9 Plus this. Chocolate Hills/Bohol River Cruise.
My eldest son traveled to the Phillipines to get married @Craig Swanson he was horrified by the poverty there as well as the pollution in Manila His wife came out to Australia with him she then had to go back to sort out her visa ect they have three children now ,I dont know how she adapted from living in a green area to living in Broken Hill
How did your son meet his wife? I expect Manila is even more polluted.. larger population than Cebu. I have bad memories of Manila as that is from where I flew back to Australia. The airport was a shambles that nite. My flite was delayed by three hours. The airport lounge is not air conditioned.. so you can imagine the discomfort while trying to kill three hours.