From Coron back to Manila

Today we journeyed back to Manila from Coron.

We started the day with coffee from the cafe, and then headed down to our hotel’s breakfast buffet for the final time. After enjoying our meal we took our shuttle to the airport, which was quite a small one with just four gates and one terminal. You could hear the planes right outside as they took off.

We had an uneventful flight back to Manila, and took a grab to our new hotel. Based on our experience in Manila last time, we splurged on a nice hotel in what we hoped would be a better part of town. The hotel was LOVELY, with kind workers and a beautiful rooms. Overall the hotel was one of the nicest we’ve stayed at- that said, the town around it was still very rough. There was armed security at the entry, and there were homeless children all around the block which made us very sad to see.

We wanted to really see Manila, so we took a grab to the historic old town, which is a walled city called Intramuros. This area is from back when Spain had colonized the area, and is essentially a massive wall fortification with moats and cannon ports surrounding a large historical city. Fort Santiago is at the northern tip, and this is where the soldiers were based. The whole area saw combat many times, and was originally built in wood before being rebuilt into the massive stone fortification.

To start, we explored Fort Santiago, which was very interesting to see. The fort had massive cannon placements, and guards the mouth of the main river. We explored the old dungeons, which were quite a crouch to get into, and looked at the remains of many of the historic buildings. Parts of the area were destroyed during world war 2, but it was incredible how much remained!

After the fort, we explored the larger intramuros area. There were tons of vendors, literally lining every open foot of space, and hordes of people walking. This was cool to see, but also overwhelming. We also walked around the massive centrally located church, which also had huge crowds surrounding it. The poverty of the area was very apparent, so we opted to grab home after an hour or so of exploring as we didn’t feel hugely comfortable.

Back at the hotel, we opted for an onsite authentic Filipino dinner which was absolutely fantastic! Following we got gelato at the onsite cafe, and called it an evening. Tomorrow we head to our next country, Taiwan!Baca selengkapnya