Samal Island
Davao's backyard island — but don't mistake proximity for ordinary.
Articles
Alice Springs, Northern Territory: Notes From Someone Who Called It Home
Most people who write about Alice Springs are describing a place they visited for a week. I am describing a place I lived in for nearly three years, from March 1987 through December 1989, and have never quite left, even ...
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Fort Santiago in Manila: Four Centuries of Power, Prison, and Survival
The approach to Fort Santiago never loses its effect, no matter how many times you make it. You cross the stone bridge over the moat, the Pasig River visible to your left, the bay somewhere behind the walls to your ...
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San Agustín Church in Manila: The Building That Refused to Disappear
I have been to San Agustín Church more times than I can count, and the approach still gets me every time. You come through the streets of Intramuros — past the walls, past the vendors, through the shade of the ...
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Manila Bay: A Senior Traveler’s Adventure Worth Taking
My mother-in-law, Rosaria, and father-in-law, Enrique, had a plan for my first day in Manila. They were going to show me everything. The bay. The boulevard. The neighborhood markets. The relatives — and there were many of those. By mid-afternoon, ...
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Rizal Park in Manila: Walking the Ground Where a Nation Was Born
From The Manila Hotel, Rizal Park is right there. Cross Roxas Boulevard in the morning, early enough to beat the heat and the crowds, and you walk straight into it. The Rizal Monument is visible almost immediately. A 12-meter bronze ...
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Intramuros in Manila: Where the Philippines Keeps Its Past Alive
The first time you pass through the gates of Intramuros, you feel the shift before you understand it. Modern Manila disappears. The noise doesn’t. This is still a city, but the register changes. Cobblestones replace asphalt. Walls that have absorbed ...
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Top 10 Tourist Destinations in the Visayan Islands
The Visayan Islands occupy the center of the Philippine archipelago. They cover three administrative regions: Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas. The major islands include Panay, Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Leyte, Samar, and Siquijor, along with hundreds of smaller islands ...
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Chiang Mai and Krabi: Two Sides of Thailand Worth Understanding
My first trip to Thailand came down to a single planning decision: which version of the country to see first. Thailand offers several wildly different travel experiences, and trying to combine too many of them on one trip results in ...
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The Senior Traveler’s Guide to Philippine Island Adventures
The Philippines is one of the most rewarding destinations in Asia for older travelers. The combination of warm hospitality, affordable costs, good English-language communication, and an enormous variety of island environments makes it well-suited for those who want genuine travel ...
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Best Island Trips in the Philippines: A Guide to the Top Destinations
The Philippines contains more than 7,000 islands. Most visitors reach three or four on a single trip, which means the first decision is not where to stay but where to begin. The wrong starting point is trying to cover everything. ...
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Natural Wonders of Negros Island: Volcanoes, Caves, Waterfalls, & Wildlife
The first thing you notice when you drive into Mabinay from the coast is that the ground is hollow. Not literally, not in any way you can see from the road. Mabinay sits atop more than 500 documented caves. This ...
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The History of Negros Island: From Ancient Kingdoms to the Sugar Republic
My family has a home in Mabinay, in the interior of Negros Oriental, not far from Mabinay Springs. When you drive in from the coast, the land changes. The sugarcane flats give way to karst limestone hills. Then the hills ...
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