We spent 2 very full days in Manila. What a city! Many interesting places, but very crowded, dirty and very polluted. We were off the ship at 8:30 the first day. A friend from the ship joined us. She's had 4 joint replacements so we weren't going at our usual pace. It was fine though. We shopped at the market on the pier first, to see what is available. There were about 6 vendors set up, each with a huge tent. A lot to choose from.
Intramuros, or Old Manila, is in walking distance from the ship. We headed there to see what there is to see. We were at the wall of the place in a few blocks. To actually get in, we had to go all the way around, thru an arch in the wall. That area was the first Spanish settlement of Manilla and is totally surrounded by an old wall (Intramuros means inside walls). The Cathedral of Manila was right there so we visited that first. Very grand, but not as elaborate as many churches we've seen. After that we headed thru the area. We were walking on a back street, so passed by many little shops with kids all around. We saw a Community Center w/a large anti-drug statement painted on the fence. Across the street, there were 3 little kids, probably about 4 yrs old, playing with syringes! They were putting water from the gutter in them, to shoot at each other most likely. Sad to see. It was so dirty, as were they.
We found an Arts and Crafts store that had many wonderful things. We spent quite some time there before taking Ann back to the ship. All along our walk, there were men in horse carts and bicycle carts asking if we wanted a ride or a tour. We finally decided to do the horse cart to save Ann from walking. We were back at the ship by noon, so ate lunch there before heading out again.
Mel wanted to go to the National Museum, so we headed in that direction. On the way, we stopped at the Manilla Hotel, the oldest hotel in the Philippines. What a beautiful place! I found something in the shop that I wanted but figured we could go back to get it so we weren't carrying it around all day. It took another 15 minutes to get to the museum.
The museum building is quite large and nice. They wanted to collect our bags at the door, including my purse. I just held it low so she didn't see it. I really didn't want to relinquish my ID, money, etc! We decided to start on the top floor. There was nothing there, no exhibits, just empty space. Weird. The 4th floor was almost the same, with one small display of shells and animals of the area. On the 3rd floor was a large display of items recovered from a merchant ship that sank in the 1500's. It was just discovered in 2000. Wonder what was on that floor before then!? The 2nd floor had a few items, the ground floor had a room that said it wasn't open to the public. Not a very impressive museum. While we were there, it had poured outside, so good timing to be inside.
The traffic in Manila is awful, so it took about 25 minutes to go a short distance. The driver dropped us off on a wide street next to an overpass. The market stalls were under the overpass. They went out into the street where cars, even buses were passing. We had to be careful to not be hit! Everyone was very friendly and happy to see us. There was not another Caucasian in the entire area. Many people stared at me. We bought a few things, all the time, Mel was pushing our suitcase. Nice to have, we kind of filled it! Of course most of it was the bubble wrap.
It was getting dark so we figured we should head back. We flagged down 2 different taxis who had no idea what we were talking about when I asked to go to the port, the ship, the pier, no luck. A man standing there told us we needed to go to the next corner to get a taxi going the opposite direction. That was easier said than done. The main mode of public transportation is jeepneys. They look like a jeep in front, are open in the back with 2 benches along the side, you jump in from the very back. They were everywhere, and about 6 deep in several streets that we had to cross. It was taking your life in your own hands to do that. We followed locals, figuring they would know what they were doing. Pretty funny with Mel and the suitcase. We had to lift it over filthy puddles and up and down uneven pavement and curbs. Quite an adventure.
We were finally on the correct side of a main street. Several locals kept moving in front of us on the street to get a taxi before us. Took us about 15 minutes to finally get one, and that one passed the local and got us, nice. He knew exactly where we wanted to go. Of course I also mentioned the Manilla Hotel. If I had said that in the first place, we wouldn't have had a problem. Didn't think of it. We were back at the ship for dinner at 7. I had to wash my feet and legs before going though. The streets are very dirty, wearing sandals, my feet were black. Yuck.
Our second day we were planning to go to the Manila Hotel to shop and use the ATM, then grab a cab to go outside of town. Some friends came up to us at breakfast to ask if we wanted to join them for a tour doing almost exactly what we wanted to do, so we did. It was $25/person for 4 hours! Everything in Manilla is VERY inexpensive. The dollar is very strong there, the only country we've been to this trip where it has been. Another couple had asked to join us also, so 6 of us climbed into a nice van and off we went. I was thinking countryside, but Manilla has such urban sprawl, that you need to go for several hours to see that. We were stuck in traffic much of the time. We headed to a place called Las Pinas, famous for a bamboo organ. It was worth the trip. This thing was built in the early 1800's. It was restored in the 90's, so is in great working order. There was a wedding going on, so we got to hear it play. There was a museum, and a guide to show us thru. it was a nice visit.
We stopped next at a jeepney factory. Those things are put together by hand, piece by piece. It was just an open garage, not really a factory at all. Behind the place was a large garbage dump. We could see the trucks driving onto the pile of garbage and dumping their cargo. Immediately after dumping it, there were swarms of people there going thru it to see what they could find. They each had garbage pails to collect their "prizes" in. It was very sad.
We passed thru an area of Manila known as the New York of the Philippines. We saw mansions behind high fences and gates, the Philippine Stock Exchange and a number of luxury hotels. After sitting in traffic for at least 45 minutes, we arrived back at Old Manilla. Rather than return to the ship, it was 2:00, we were dropped off in Intramuros again. We had missed seeing a church that others had said was a must see. And it was. St Angus Cathedral (I think that's what it was called) was beautiful, with the ceiling painted to look like it was carved. Again there was a wedding going on, so we got to see it decorated with flowers. The bridesmaids dresses were horribly gaudy compared to what we are used to. The museum there was full of beautiful gold items, embroidered robes, old oil paintings and sculptures. I'm glad we didn't miss it. We also went to Casa Manila, a typical home from the 1800's that has been conserved with original furnishings. It was beautiful and interesting. They lived quite well back then! We walked out of Intramuros and back to the Manila Hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment