First day in the Philippines – Manila

Visiting Manila was neither my goal nor my dream, but it turned out that I had practically the whole day before the night bus to Banaue, so I decided to do some sightseeing

I usually prepare based on the places I am going to, this time I was completely new to it, I had no idea what there is to see in Manila, so I decided to go ahead and observe the everyday life of the locals.

The previous day, when I took a taxi to my hotel, I had already seen crowds of homeless people and terrible filth. So I was curious to see what it looked like during the day.

I stayed at the Sun Star Grand Hotel because the map showed it was quite close to Sampaloc Station, where my bus departed. The neighborhood was clearly not luxurious; homeless people were sleeping near the entrance. At least the room was large and clean. Around noon, I went out to explore. As soon as I left the hotel, I was hit by a terrible commotion. I decided to keep walking. On the way, I bought a Philippine phone card with internet, so I wasn't afraid of getting completely lost.

Crowds of people everywhere, shouting, music, honking. What bothered me most was the stench of urine; the homeless have to relieve themselves somewhere, and combined with the heat, it creates a lethal combination.

At some point, I stumbled upon a travel agency and stopped by to ask what I could see in the area. It turned out I was just a stone's throw from the historic part of the city— Intramuros .

Here, too, chaos, filth, and poverty reign. At first, I wandered around for a bit, then I was tempted to take a pedicab, a bicycle rickshaw. A guy talked me into this trip. He wanted 300 pesos for half an hour. I figured he needed the money more, so I didn't even haggle. Once again, it would prove that a soft heart requires a hard ass… Knowing we didn't have much time, I explored at a brisk pace, took a few photos, and then continued on. The distances between buildings were very short, so at least we didn't waste much time getting there. I didn't go into the churches because I wasn't interested in them at all. In fact, I set the pace, and the guy wasn't in a hurry. I didn't want to go into Casa Manila, but he convinced me. A quick glance and I left. He even stopped me to take pictures, which I didn't want to. It was the same at Baluarte de San Diego. I was about to give up, but he encouraged me again. I said I didn't think he had time for that, but he told me to keep going and that he'd wait. After leaving, he drove about 100 meters and stopped. He said it had been almost an hour and I could continue if I wanted, but the tour cost 600 pesos. I won't lie, it turned out to be almost an hour, but I think I was ripped off. Firstly, it turns out he had absolutely no chance of doing the program he showed in half an hour. Secondly, since I accepted the half hour, he should have told me after it was over and asked if we were finishing or wanted to continue. I don't have a watch, and my phone was at the bottom of my backpack. Thirdly, he extended the tour himself. 600 pesos is a lot of money, especially for them; the service wasn't worth it. As I mentioned, I didn't haggle because I wanted to give the guy a run for his money, but you give someone a finger and they'll take your whole hand. I've learned once again that it's better to help animals than people, and I'll stick to that.

In short, Manila is filthy, stinks, poor, and con artists. It's worth seeing, but I think staying longer than a few hours might be tiring. I was relieved to set off on the overnight trip to Banaue.