The Hindu Business Line : Island hopping

Tourist halts: (Clockwise from top) Manila bay; the banca or river boat doubles as a floating restaurant, complete with a live band; the Philippine tarsier; guitar making in Cebu.

Shalini Mitra

Say Philippines and the first and only image it conjured up in my mind was that of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady whose infamous collection of more than 3,000 pairs of shoes made headlines worldwide after her husband was deposed from his presidential post in 1986. But that was until I visited the magnificent republic comprising more than 7,107 islands, this summer.

Nature’s Unique Creations

Blessed with natural beauty, the Philippines has several natural wonders too. I was on my way to one of them — the Chocolate Hills located on the island province of Bohol. On reaching there, the guide pointed to a small green mound and said that was the chocolate hill. I was a bit shocked and unwilling to accept that we had driven 3½ hours just to see this. But we were asked to observe the area from a deck atop an elevated ridge and only then could we see the breathtaking work of nature lying before us. There were several green molehills, ranging from 30 to 50 meters high, scattered over a large area. These hills, according to geologists, are unusual weathered formations and there were 1,268 of them in all. But why call them chocolate hills? The haycock hills, now covered with green grass, turn brown during the dry season, making them appear like chocolate mounds, the guide informed. The Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen town and the Sagbayan Peak in Sagbayan town are the two best spots for viewing them.

Cruising the Loboc

We set out on a motorised banca (small river boat) for a cruise on the scenic and winding Loboc river. The cruise began at the Loay Bridge around noon. Soon the banca turned into a floating restaurant as we were served a typical Filipino lunch. There was even an in-house band that played Boholano songs. Murphy played us some beautiful foot-tapping songs on his guitar as we glided past swaying nipa and coconut trees. We then stopped at a place where another natural wonder awaited us. Philippine Tarsier, as it is called, is the oldest and smallest primate in the world. Estimated to be 45 million years old, the tarsier gives the appearance of a fusion between a monkey (for limbs), an owl (big eyes) and a mouse (long tail). We clicked furiously as three tarsiers clung to a tree in a row. At the end of the cruise, we disembarked at the docking area in Loboc. Bohol has several other attractions but we couldn’t visit them all for want of time; we next headed for another island called Cebu in the heart of the Philippines.

Sounds of Strings

A ferry ride of about 75 minutes from Tagbilaran city brought us to the city of Cebu, the oldest and second largest in Philippines; it is also called the ‘Queen city of south’. The guide had already told us about the locals’ passion for music and that the place was home to the best guitar craftsmen in Philippines. So, naturally, our first stop was the Alegre Guitar factory in Abuno, Mactan Island, which stocks the most impressive quality of guitars at incredibly affordable prices. While we went around the factory and watched the craftsmen at the different stages of making a guitar, in the background there was the melodious sound of a guitar being strummed by a young man in the showroom. The guide informed us that Abuno produces some of the best sounding guitars, as good as Yamahas, but for half the price. The factories here can also custom-make a guitar for you, suited to your body and hand measurements and using the wood of your choice. If all you want is a souvenir to bring home and adorn your living room, each factory also has decorative mini-guitars, bandurrias (mandolins Filipino-style) and ukeleles for sale.

Manila, the Madness

No visit is complete without taking in the country’s capital, and so we landed in Manila… I mean the city of Manila. Be sure to add the word ‘city’ if you wish to visit the Capital or else you may land up in some other area of Metro Manila (it’s that confusing), which consists of many cities. Manila, once known as the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ in the days of Spanish rule, is today an overpowering city and can certainly prove to be hectic if you are not prepared for it. A combination of the chaotic traffic, noise, pollution, poverty and often-shabby infrastructure makes the city seem intimidating. However, Manila’s energy and the good humour of its people become infectious very soon.

“The city’s chaos is also a reflection of the Philippines’ cultural diversity (there are more than a hundred cultural minority groups living in the country),” the guide points out. While we made a quick detour of the historic Intramuros or “walled city”, which was once the colonial capital, most of us were already dying to be in Makati — the city within the Metro Manila and the financial district.

Makati — Truly Cosmopolitan

Makati is a truly modern city like any other cosmopolitan city where locals and expats live and work side by side amidst bright lights and towering skyscrapers. Large multinational companies, luxurious hotels, massive shopping centres, busy offices, lofty apartments and hundreds of restaurants — all are found here. It is home to the Philippine Stock Exchange as well as to thousands of local and international businesses. Residing in Makati is the epitome of urban living in Philippines. The vibrant nightlife of Makati beckoned some of us who set off eagerly only to return in the wee hours of the morning — fully entertained.

Shop like a king

As the guide in Manila had repeatedly told us about the shopping delights offered by the city, we happily indulged an entire day in it. We found it was worth every penny, sorry peso. As the peso is nearly equivalent to (and at some places even weaker than) the Indian rupee and everything from shoes to bags, electronics, mobile phones, souvenirs and curios are reasonably priced, all of us shopped to our hearts’ content. SM or Shoe Mart is the biggest and most popular mall here, housing several international brands and many restaurants serving a range of cuisines. You can find Thai, Japanese and Korean restaurants almost everywhere in this country.