To put bluntly, the best part of travelling solo is that you do whatever that pleases you. So when I found myself enjoying the places I was travelling to and meeting interesting people along the way, it didn't take a lot to convince myself that I had to extend my trip or come back with regrets. Of course, there were some raised brows and scepticism from others, but I decided to trust my instincts and follow my heart.
And I have no regrets in the choices I made. I ticked off places on my bucket list, reveled in the fluidity and flexibility of solo travel, met interesting characters from all over the world and most importantly, made new friends whom I'd like to keep.
The PHP adventure will be split into 4 parts, 1) Manila, 2) El Nido and 3) Banaue/Batad and 4) Sagada.
xoxo
Manila, capital of the PHP, holds very little appeal to me. It is gritty, plagued by traffic jams and deserving of its bad reputation for dishonest taxi drivers and scams targeted at tourists.
Intramuros
Perhaps the only noteworthy attraction in Manila, I dragged myself there on my first morning in Manila to get it over and done with.
Had a nice early morning stroll at Fort Santiago.
The beautiful San Augustin church.
Other photogenic spots around Intramuros.
As the afternoon heat was getting unbearably hot, I succumbed to the offer of doing the tour around Intramuros by pedicab for 150ps (bargained down from 200ps). It was pretty enjoyable and took away the discomfort of walking in the hot sun. However, at the end of the tour, the pedicab driver demanded 1,500ps from me instead. An argument ensued, with the pedicab driver issuing empty threats of going to the police yadda yadda. After a heated negotiation, which attracted a few onlookers, he agreed to settle for 400ps but didn't have enough change for my 500ps note. He even had the gall to suggest we go to a convenience store and I buy him a drink. Of course, I refused! I went to the KFC restaurant, bought myself a drink to break the note, and handed him 400ps, nothing more, nothing less. The scumbag still had the nerve to ask for an extra 50ps but I ignored him and quickly walked away.
Taal Lake, Volcano and Tagaytay
By my 3rd day in Manila, I was already bored. I'd also given up the idea of going to the rice terraces as I was not looking forward to the long and back-to-back travelling involved. At J's suggestion, I headed to Taal with the intention of hiking up the volcano.
There are a few options to get to Taal/Tagaytay, which all sounded rather challenging to me. Being the spoilt traveler that I am (sometimes), I decided to hire a driver for the day to take me there and back. My driver "Emmar" arrived 30min earlier than agreed and was very genial and honest. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to Taal.
Once we arrived, I was bombarded with expensive tour packages involving a boat ride, a horse to take me up the mountain (the scare tactics cited were the difficult terrain and long distance that I'd have to hike up by foot), a guide, lunch, etc. As I'd done some research prior to this, I confidently rejected all offers except the boat ride, which cost 1,500ps to and fro (can be shared between up to 6 but since I was alone, I had to bear the entire cost).
Emmar had told me earlier that he had never been to Taal volcano as it was too expensive, so I invited him along for the trip.
Pampered tourists on horses.
I was glad to have Emmar with me as parts of the hike were rather slippery due to loose stones and sand. He was ever willing to lend me his hand and shoulder.
A volcano within a lake within a volcano.
View from our lunch spot (the food was pricey and forgettable).
Sadly, Tagaytay had little to offer. Emmar took me to the key attractions, i.e. an amusement park and picnic spot but I was not interested to explore. And so we headed back to Manila.
Eat, drink and play with new friends
What I liked best about Manila, were the people I met and hung out with during my short stay there. They were kind, generous, easy-going, funny and super fun-loving! I miss them already!
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