On my way to Tuguegarao
Before I took the domestic flight to Tuguegarao I went into Manila once more. There isn’t that much to see. Manila is a crowded place and there are jeepneys everywhere (old American army jeeps, nowadays produced exclusively in the Philippines), decorated with paint and amulets and all sorts of metal accessories. People call me Joe sometimes. From the other side of the road they wave to me and call to me: ‘Hey Joe!’ and ‘You’re tall bro!’
Manila has a park, Rizal Park, where people can relax. There are places where they can play chess and do gymnastics to popmusic. Later on people told me I was lucky I wasn’t robbed in Rizal Park. Unknowing I waved my camera to and fro to photograph the big maquette of the islands.
It doesn’t really matter that Philippine cities are a bit uninteresting, after all, it’s about the people living in them.
There are only few foreigners in Manila and even less in the countryside. Everytime I meet a causasian person, we greet eachother, knowing we are far from home. Yes I have met the first dutchmen. They are everywhere. But not many people visit the Philippines. I guess the islands are on the “wrong side” of the south china sea. You are never accidentally in the vicinity of the Philippines, you have to have a goal to visit them. They are isolated, a universe in themselves, which makes it all the more interesting.
One of the best moments so far was the domestic flight to Tuguegarao. The suburbs of Manila change into a beautiful, mountainous rural landscape. The crew did a little quiz with us and you could win Cebu Pacific goodies, but unfortunately I am not into all the different Philippine festivals.
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