Typical tourist or something a little different?Experiences om Pinas.......

[Tawi2]

Pinas has been described as east meets west,the american influence is everywhere,but its still got lots of wierd and wonderful experiences beyond the air-con malls and fast-food resto's,I just wonder how many hubbies see when visiting Pinas with their wives,several travel blogs I have read on this site revolve around malls...malls.....and a few mall visits more
Theres more to the country than that,lots more,thats a fact,but how many get to taste,feel,touch,smell them?Experiencing the true philippines isnt for everyone,some want nice hotels,aircon-rooms,clean malls and no hassle,others like to peel back the veneer and peek under it to see whats really happening off the beaten-track,so what sort of tourist are you?And what are your experiences?Exotic?Mundane?Unusual?Just curious as usual

[Jamesey]

I first visited the Philippines with my trusty backpack! I stayed for quite a while with a friend who was living in Cebu. He had local Filipino friends, so I got to experience the "real" culture, as well as learning to dive, visiting the tourist attractions, etc.

In subsequent years I enjoyed fanastic holidays all over the Philippines.

Now, with a wife and young son, I've traded in my backpak for a big suitcase! But now my visits to the Philippines mainly revolve around family visits, etc. but we still find time to see new places. Next time it's Palawan!

[Sim11UK]

I do like to get down in the dirt ...a bit.
My first couple of trips, were staying in hotels (budget, to quite swanky) nice resorts etc.

My happiest times have been just Ladybug & me, living in her boarding house, no aircon, + her 2 cats & all the street cats we feed... basic but just happy times...going to the market, which I love, all the sights & sounds, then cooking at home..Sure, the heat can make me a bit irritable at times & yes we often go to malls, to cool down, more often than not to buy cat food.

But yes I really want to experience more of the real thing. Have been right down Bukidnon Province near Kalilangan to the in-laws place a couple of times, but only for fleeting visits...would be nice to spend time there...Certainly don't have your travel credentials Tawi.

Good thread ...Hope to be back over in a couple of months.

[Tawi2]

Hope to be back over in a couple of months.

Me too Your right mate,often its the simple things that make the best and most lasting memories,cooking rice in a section of bamboo after being out chest deep in the sea for a few hours catching whatever appears in the glare of the petromax,fish,crabs,shrimp,small octopus all speared or netted and dumped in a pot to boil up on the beach,real food with real people,never understood the attraction of malls,might as well have went stateside if thats a holiday I was staying with a badjao family once down on sitangkai,excellent people,anyway Hadji asked did I want to go to sabah,been there before legally a number of times but this was different,a friend was taking someone in his small outrigger and there was room in the boat for me,incredible trip undertaken at night,the engine conked out,we drifted for hours,my lips blistered up in the sun and eventually arrived in a badjao village the next nightThe return trip was even better,speedboat,approx 30 pinays/pinoys all working illegally in sabah and moi,under a tarpaulin with several gun toting guards in case of pirates(at the time pirates were prevalent on that route,apprehending pinays going back home,heard several horror stories).Pity most will never get the chance to visit sulu and jolo,some pristine beaches and great people.

[Arthur Little]

I'd done my share of backpacking ... years before *going to the Pinas to meet my mahal for the first time *when I was almost 64. And nowadays - as an - I tend to be too fond of my "creature comforts" to venture off the "beaten track".

[laurel]

Im with you guys,
I went over there with the attitude of ' when in Rome '.
Spent 10 days or so up north in Sabangan, loved the basic way of life, but never felt as if I went without.
Small little shop had EVERYTHING, large pool table in communal shed, very quiet , everyone growing there own veg etc .............up in the middle of nowhere.....oh and a nice cold Red Horse or two.

My gf was a bit worried I would hate it..............been there twice now , i miss it .
Like you guys .........back soon!!

[grahamw48]

I'm happy sleeping in a henhouse or the Hyatt...long as I'm having fun.

I love to explore and get out there off the beaten track, ride the bumpy old buses, etc.

Some piccies needed !

[joebloggs]

you've never felt threatned or at risk graham ?
i have a few times in the phils, but never really in the uk

once on palawan in the middle of no where we were stopped at a check point by some soliders

[grahamw48]

Only maybe one time...a drunk on a train.

My ex wanted to stab him so I didn't get into a fight.

The mother and father-in-law lived a 6 hour hike up through the mountains...no road, and NPA infested, but the ex said I had permission to wander up there because half of the ex's relations were IN the NPA.

Had to dodge the odd helicopter gunship, that's all.

[joebloggs]

Only maybe one time...a drunk on a train.

My ex wanted to stab him so I didn't get into a fight.

The mother and father-in-law lived a 6 hour hike up through the mountains...no road, and NPA infested, but the ex said I had permission to wander up there because half of the ex's relations were IN the NPA.

Had to dodge the odd helicopter gunship, that's all.

nothing serious then

bit like a trip to liverpool

[grahamw48]

With the little Negritos ('Aetas').



They are visiting.
They don't live in houses.

[Tawi2]

in the middle of no where we were stopped at a check point by some soliders

Commonplace in some parts of Pinas,I used to go through checkpoints daily in Mindanao in certain areas,also had armed guards once or twice in sulu & Jolo(Involved with someone who finances several of the areas mayors development projects).
Nice pic of the negritos graham

[Terpe]

Interesting topic Tawi2.

My own input to your position is by way of, observations, experience, feelings from the heart and, although I'm ashamed to admit it from occasional value judgements.

My wife has close family ties and friendships spread all over the Philippines. In many ways I've been so lucky
to have been able to travel to so many different places, from the little fishing village in Mindanao where Carina's mother lives to Laoag City in the North of Luzon where a brother lives, and to many places, relatives and islands between.

My guess is that most people on this forum are, like me, not 'true' tourists. There is usually non-tourist reasons for our visits, and by it's very nature exposes us to many new experiences, taboo's and potential culture shocks.

I would say most people here have not travelled extensively around the Philippines on a regular basis.
Probably mostly limited by location of family, purpose of the visit and finding time to experience the best tourist attractions.

There are also issues relating to different languages (within Philippines) that will limit communication and may lead to misunderstandings.
Whatever we think we know is probably based on thought, Which I, for one, can’t really think without using words.(does that make sense?)

Tawi2, you may have been extra lucky, in that you have had opportunities to experience life in the Philippines to your own choosing.
That's great.
But please don't think that enjoying the experience of the regular tourist attractions or the fantastic Malls in Philippines is something less. It's not!
It's just another different experience, that can teach us something.
The shopping malls of the Philippines are another part of it's globalisation, much as technology and the internet.
All have become part of the present 'pop-culture' of the Philippines.

For me, the culture and traditions of the Philippines cannot readily be generalised. It's just too diverse.
I'm not suggesting there are no common cultural attributes. There are. Many good and some not so good.
Catholicism, family Values and Graft & corruption all highly embedded, pervasive common cultural attributes.

Even though the population is quite homogenised, it is actually made up of many different 'peoples' and many different traditions. The different people of the Philippines identify strongly with their own urban or rural region in having common sets of values.

What I’ve learned so far is that 'traditions' in the Philippines really vary a lot from location to location.
I would go so far as to say that if someone tells you 'the Philippines' is like this or like that, it's better not to
apply that to the whole country. It may or it may not apply to a certain area.

Be careful when peeling back the veneer of the Philippines. You’ll likely find a lot of things that are taboo to us westerners. But in the Philippines that is a normal way of life.
A way that most people find impossible to even consider changing.
We should keep that in mind when making judgements. It's really possible to open our minds and not only adjust,
But learn something different about what is important in life and what is not.