Paradise Island. Part 1
This name is not a metaphor, but a translation into Russian of the name of the resort in which we rested in the Philippines - Paradis island. However, the island seemed to me really heavenly. But first things first. In many reviews, I read about how difficult it is to get to the Philippines. Well I do not know. Flying Qatar. The transfer in Doha, of course, is an hour and a half, but so what? On the way back, the transfer was 4 hours, again, so what? The flight there was 16 hours (including transfers), back - 19, but all this without much hassle. We took off, moved, on arrival we were met, taken to the hotel - as expected. The money was exchanged at the airport, despite the fact that it was around 11 pm. By the way, there was an announcement that if you want to make a reverse exchange - pesos for dollars, present a check for the last exchange. Apparently, this applies to those who want to make a return exchange at the airport. Since everything is VERY cheap in the Philippines, and we didn’t have much shopping there, the money remained. And we quietly changed the pesos back to dollars. True, not at the airport, but in the city.
The story of the Philippines should be divided into two parts: Manila and Paradise Island. Although we spent only three nights in Manila and 10 on the island, the experience is completely different. Since reviews about hotels are given here, I will say that we had three hotels: two nights upon arrival - the Traiders hotel, then - Paradise Island, and at the end one night - the Diamond hotel in Manila. First, about Manila hotels, and of Manila at the same time.
In general, I liked the trip very much, although Manila, of course, is a specific city and you should not linger in it. But day 4 can be spent quite. First, I liked the Filipinos themselves. More than other residents of Southeast Asia - Balinese, Thais. (But no more than Singaporeans, because Singapore is incredibly good). The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia and, imagine, the difference in mentality is felt great. In the sense that the Filipinos are closer and more understandable to us. They walk with dogs, with children, go shopping, study at universities. Imagine, we were passing by the Women's University! And there, on the outer fence, there was a shield with photographs of the holders of red diplomas (as we understood it) - all incredible beauties. And there was a cafe nearby where the students dined. Well, students, of course, because there were several educational institutions in one place. It happens to us too. In Thailand, it seemed to me that everyone was selling something - if not themselves, then some kind of food. And the Balinese simply, when meeting a tourist with their eyes, look for a button on it, which you need to press so that coins or banknotes fall down, like in an ATM. But what makes Manila unfavorably different from other cities seen is its widespread poverty. Literally ubiquitous, that is, in all places. You live in a luxury hotel. From one window - a view of the ocean and Rojas Boulevard (the most luxurious street in Manila), from the other - slums mixed with skyscrapers. You walk past a beautiful old university building with a patterned fence, well-dressed pretty students are visible in the hall, and around the corner a rickshaw washes his son from a jug. Outdoors and with soap! Of course, they have nowhere else to wash, since they live in this very rickshaw. While dad is carrying passengers, the child sits quietly on a pebble, when the rickshaw is free, you can sleep there. The usual thing. We also saw box houses (like a doghouse, only big). We go from the hotel to the shopping center - a modern huge building, on the square - a fountain, we must definitely pass by a huge number of beggars who went to work. And this despite the fact that our hotel was located in a tourist area, one of the best. In general, the ghetto system is not welcome there. In a shopping center, in a cafe - a very decent audience, and after ten meters - a beggarly freak show. But I must say that all Filipinos, including beggars, love children very much. Children are better dressed, not to say that they are exhausted. They carefully collect alms and give them to the mother sitting nearby. Prosperous Manila walk in parks, take children to playgrounds, sit with them in cafes.
About hotels. Traders liked more than Diamond, although outwardly he is more modest. Traders has better breakfasts. But in principle, both hotels are quite solid and prosperous: comfortable beautiful rooms, excellent plumbing, luxurious interiors, reliable security. I recommend both hotels.
About shopping. Some write how great it is to shop in Manila. I did not notice. Maybe it was written by ladies with small sizes. Personally, I wear the 50th and have not found anything for myself. Husband - too, almost. He did buy himself a nice shirt. What there are a lot of in Manila are bags. For every taste, size, shape and insanely cheap. So get ready. The same goes for suitcases. Not to mention the incredibly low prices for everything from food to clothing. For example, a bottle of Philippine rum, which tastes quite good, costs no more than 100 rubles in our currency.
Another original feature of Manila. Due to the very mixture of, let's say, the social strata of its inhabitants, all buildings for the "clean" public are equipped with serious security features. At the entrance to each (! ) shopping center, two guards pass you through a metal detector. Sometimes two metal detectors and four guards - one pair for women, the other for men. Since, if necessary, they feel the incoming. Not all, though, but only if something is suspected. When checking into a hotel - in both Manila hotels! Our luggage was sniffed by a service dog. That is, three armed guards with a dog meet you on the luxurious porch, and if you pass them safely, the porter in livery will open the door for you and the bellboy will carry the luggage upstairs. This is Manila.
Describing Manila, of course, one cannot help but recall the jeepney, but since everyone who has been there does this, I will not expand too much. See photos. In short, a jeepney is a Philippine analogue of a minibus, which is an old American military jeep and decorated by the owner to the best of his imagination. Manila Street is primarily a jeepney street plus rickshaws and cars.
As for the architectural merits of the city, this is not good, because although the capital is ancient - I think it is 500 years old, but several earthquakes almost completely destroyed the old colonial buildings. We saw one house with the number 1650 above the entrance. I'm not surprised that he survived - the walls are half a meter thick, two floors and without any architectural excesses - a kind of bunker. I don't think a cannon would have hit him.
But enough about Manila. I still need to write about the flight to Paradise Island. That is, the flight was to Bosuanga, and from there on a boat - to Paradise. Only European tourists flew on a small coastal plane for 15 seats, and at the airport - not at the international, but at the domestic, so-called Domestic airport, only when we dragged ourselves to the check-in desk we were taken aback by the message that the joint luggage could not be more than 20 kg! And they cannot accept an additional payment yet, since, perhaps, the airplane simply physically cannot take on board the entire weight. How! I tried to download the rights, but I realized that other tourists were in the same position. Only when all 15 gathered, they weighed everyone with their luggage, summed up the result, decided that they would pull such a net. We collected money for excess luggage and forward. I mean up. I want to reassure those who are going, for example, to Boracay. Larger planes fly there and their carrying capacity is different. And Bosuanga is not a place of mass tourism. And thank God, I think.
Finally in the air. Those who have seen my Philippine photos said that the photos of islands in the ocean taken from an airplane are the most beautiful. Fantastic landscape! In the turquoise sea, there are fabulous green islands surrounded by rocks and snow-white beaches. . . This incredible beauty must be seen, it is impossible to describe it.
