Asia
Philippines
Southeast Asia / The 7,000 Islands
The Philippines is 7,641 islands and the only country in Southeast Asia that was colonised by both Spain and America, a combination that produced a culture - Catholic, basketball-obsessed, deeply musical, extraordinarily hospitable - unlike anywhere else in the region. The Chocolate Hills of Bohol, the rice terraces of Banaue, the underground river of Palawan, the whale sharks of Donsol: the country produces natural spectacles in numbers that its tourism infrastructure has not yet caught up with, which is either a frustration or an advantage depending on what you came for.
Our guide is being written from the ground up, with the time this place deserves.
We are still gathering the notes that make a guide worth keeping: Palawan island-hopping routes, Banaue harvest timing, Manila's Intramuros quarter and the lechon traditions that differ enough between regions to justify crossing the country to compare them.
Guide in progress - notes are being gathered into a fuller country guide.
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