Philippines Planning

Lonely Planet Philippines is still on the way. A new edition, just published, which will be nice – just after I got to Morocco they published a new edition of Lonely Planet Morocco, and I had my sister send it to me. Publication date said May 1, but it’s delayed – I just hope it arrives before I leave! In the meantime, I’m getting a lot of use out of the Rough Guide to Southeast Asia. It’s an old edition, but it’s already come in handy – it had good Thailand and Indonesia overviews to help me plan those trips, and it was the sole book I used for the unanticipated trips to Laos and Cambodia.

Some of the highlights of the Philippines, per the Rough Guide (I hope I get a chance to see some! A letter from a volunteer in the Welcome Book mentions one weekend a month out-of-site - wonder if that is still the policy):
- Manila nightlife (well, I’m not really a nightlife person)
- Puerto Galera – jungle-clad hinterlands for trekking (or scuba diving, again not for me)
- The Cordilleras – mountain villages with upland tribes (might require warm clothes!)
- Banaue – rice terraces and trekking
- Boracay – first stop for sun worshippers, famous White Beach (this sounds like a must)

Highlights of Manila (I sense I will be writing about these after visiting them!):
- Intramuros, the old Spanish capital (cathedral, church, museums, fort)
- Rizal Park (memorial, museums, planetarium, orchidarium)
- Makati (park, museum, library, American cemetery and memorial)
- Manila Bay (a sight in itself, museum)
- Ermita and Malate (neighborhoods)
- Chinatown (church, stores, cemetery)
- Malacanang Palace (the shoes are gone but the part open to the public is a museum)
- Corregidor (a WWII entry is probably called for!)

And I found notes on the handicrafts! Jewelry, ethnic carvings, household décor, basketware, fabric, capiz-shell items, buri bags (I had to google those last two. Maybe they will grow on me), embroidery. Haggling is in order.

Now that I think about it, I wish there were a letter from a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in the Welcome Book. Maybe as I leave I will write one.