The Selfie Capital with Thousands of Islands

She ended up in the Philippines by pure chance. Her friends and she chose the Philippines because of the pristine nature, high temperatures that could alleviate the cold winter weather at home, and activities they could do there. They swam with sharks on Cebu Island, came across the world’s smallest primate in Bohol, visited an underground river in Sabang, which was listed as one of the new seven wonders, went to the rice terraces in northern Luzon and met a 102-year-old local woman.

Tia tells a story of her trip to the exotic Philippines.

The world selfie capital

The Philippine society reflects the mixture of three cultures: the Asian culture, the Spanish Catholicism, and the American capitalism. Being dominated by the Spanish for a long time, namely from the mid-16th to the late 19th century, the Philippines is a mostly Catholic country, which means that instead of gold Buddha statues and magnificent temples typical for Asian culture, the country is dotted with Catholic churches built by western standards. My first impression of the Philippine was that they’re very religious, since one of the first questions they ask you is your religious affiliation. The second is: “Single or married?” There is no option in-between.

During our trip, we met quite a few locals with whom we spent the afternoons either at the beach or the waterfalls. They were very social, despite their poor English skills, and wanted to hang out, hold conversations and, of course, take photos with us. The latter is another characteristic of the Philippine – selfies. Every day, the locals stopped us in less touristy areas and asked us if we could take a selfie with them. I later read online that one of Time Magazine’s studies labelled Manila as the world’s selfie capital (the largest number of selfies per capita).

Four islands in 16 days

The Philippines are comprised of 7,641 islands. If you wanted to spend just one day on each of these islands, you’d need more than 20 years, but we only had 16. We decided to visit the four most popular ones. Bohol, Cebu, Palawan and Luzon.

Our first stop was Bohol. More than one thousand hills rise up in the central part of the island, their colour changing to brown during the dry season, which is also where they got their name. We also visited the Tarsier Sanctuary where we could take a look at the world’s smallest primate – the tarsier, a prosimian barely the size of a human hand. We also stopped at Kawasan Falls and then spent two days lying on the beaches of Panglao, which is connected to Bohol by a bridge. We agreed to go snorkelling in coral reefs at the Alona Beach.

The next stop on our trip was Cebu Island. The main reason why we also chose this island as one of our stops was the chance of swimming with the whale sharks. I was really looking forward to it before the trip, but the whole experience left a bitter aftertaste. After reading various blogs I quickly learned about the negative effects this tourist activity has on these animals. Each day, a group of tourists gathers at the beach in Oslobo in the town of Tan-awan who is very keen to take a swim with these gentle giants. The locals take tourist around in small boats (bangkas) from six in the morning until noon, allowing them a thirty-minute swim with the majestic animals. Hand feeding whale sharks has disturbed their biorhythm, as the animals are surrounded by thousands of tourists in orange life jackets each day, and they often even get hurt in the multitude of boats. The whole scene is more reminiscent of a zoo than of watching whale sharks in their natural environment. It was truly an unforgettable experience, but if I could choose again, I’d rather look for a more animal-friendly option.

Our next stop was Palawan Island, a place where I wished we could’ve spent at least another day or a week. El Nido, a famous tourist spot in the northern part of the island was scratched off our itinerary due to time constraints, and only drove to the small town of Sabang from Purto Princesa. We visited an underground river that was declared one of UNESCO’s new seven wonders of the world in 2012. The underground river winds right kilometres inland, but only the first one and a half kilometre is navigable. We continued through a cave, the pitch-dark abode of thousands of bats, in small boats.

We concluded our trip on the largest of the islands in the Philippines, Luzon. We went on a hike through the over 2,000-year-old Batad Rice Terraces and visited the remote village of Buscalan in Kalinga Province, arriving in the, for me, long-awaited part of our trip, the visit to 102-year-old Marie Oggay, better known as Whang-Od, the oldest mambabatok. Batok is the traditional art of tattooing, famous in the Kalinga region, and Whang-Od is known as the oldest and, according to some sources, as the last tattoo artist of the tradition. The thorn end of the pomelo is used for tattooing, serving as a needle that is attached to a bamboo stick, while a mixture of coal and water is used as ink. In the past, tribe members used to get tattoos to show off their courage. The Butbut tribe was known as the tribe of head-hunters and men earned their tattoos with each “catch”, while women had tattoos done mostly due to aesthetic reasons. The only ones currently doing the tattooing are the said lady and her two grandnieces. The art of tattooing can only be passed on through the women’s bloodline and Whang-Od never had children of her own because she lost the love of her life during World War II.

I was given the opportunity to have a tattoo done by all three female artists, so each one of them left their mark on my skin. Of course, the process was painful and there was a chance of an infection because no one really cares about hygiene, but it was a really emotional experience and one of the most beautiful in my life.

Slip-ups are unavoidable

I remember the ferry ride from the small island of Panglao to Cebu Island. We booked the “ferry” at the place where we stayed. The booking included a van ride to the gathering place and then a ferry ride to the other island. The price wasn’t the lowest, so we weren’t expecting anything to go wrong. Well, the ferry was actually a little more than a wooden barge that could hold a maximum of eighty people. It turned out that the Philippine take no heed of the restrictions and of course it so happened that the barge was packed full with around one hundred and twenty people and their luggage. While crossing the rough sea, the waves hit the deck and soaked everyone sitting on it. In the end, the barge was moored around one hundred metres off the coast and we were charged extra if we wanted to get to the shore.

A tip for flying to the Philippines

The Philippines is a large country and there are so many islands that it’s best if you know what you’re expecting from your trip. Whether it’s soaking in the sun on sandy beaches, swimming in heavenly bays, mountain treks or a visit to the rice terraces. With a good organisation, you can experience a lot, but experiencing everything is impossible.

Keep in mind that you also have to buy plane tickets at least a month in advance. Some of the plane tickets Tia purchased costs even less than 20 euros.

Almost all places frequented by tourists require either an admission fee, a guide or an environmental tax, though the rate of the tax is reasonable for tourists and makes life simpler for the locals.

Renting a scooter and exploring the island on our own often turned out to be the best and cheapest option. Apart from the intended sights, going about the island on our own helped us stumble upon a more desolate and hidden pearl.

It’s also good if you do some research to find the best and most ethical options before visiting safaris and wildlife reserves.