Philippines is really one of the most beautiful countries in the world! Blessed with beautiful white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, lush forests, stunning natural landforms, there is really no reason why you should not visit Philippines! Here are our top 5 things to do in Philippines.
1. Trek Mount Pinatubo (and enjoy a mud spa!)
We did a 1 day trek to Mount Pinatubo, dipped in the crater lake and ended the session with a relaxing mud spa! A 4×4 jeep dropped off us off at the start of our trekking point where we had to trek approximately another 1.5hours to the crater lake. (there is a shorter option actually, where they will drop you further in and you’ll only have to walk 30mins to the lake).
2. Caving in Sagada
This was by far one of the scariest thing that we’ve ever done (besides doing the bungy in New Zealand)! It was scary maybe because there were very limited measures taken to ensure one’s safety. As it was a real cave with lots of bats living inside it, the ground was mostly moist and slippery. Plus we were only wearing flip flops! But besides all that, it was really very exciting! It felt like an underwater themepark! There were times when we had to swing like Tarzan from rock to rock using a rope, wade through chest-deep waters (with no idea what funny creatures that could be living in the water) and cliff jumped. All these were done without any harnesses! One slip and that’s it…..
3. Trekking the Rice Terraces in Banaue
After visiting the rice terraces in Banaue, i came to realize why they have been referred to as the “eight wonder of the world”. It is sooo beautiful! Total about 6 hours trek (3 hour there and 3 hours back) You’ll also get to visit a waterfall along the way.
4. Enjoy the sunset at Boracay (and dive there too!)
Boracay, one of the most drop dead gorgeous beaches that i’ve ever been to in my life. Soft, fine white sand…crystal clear water ..amazing sunsets….it’s just indescribable! We took our advance dive certification in Boracay as well. Best decision ever made. We saw a wide variety of marine life and the corals were so colourful! A pity we did not have a underwater camera with us to capture those amazing creatures 🙁
5. Visit the Chocolate Hills at Bohol
They are called chocolate hills as these cute round hills are covered in green grass which will turn brown during the dry season, hence the name. There are even legends explaining the existence of these hills! You can check out the funny and interesting stories here.
The Philippines are beautiful and the people are even more beautiful! From Mactan, Lapu Lapu & Cebu City, there are beaches, resorts, malls & yummy street food like Ginobot & garlic peanuts! Boating to Leyte’s Maasin City & driving through the country gorgeous country side with vistas of rice terraces & tall green mountains, curtained with coconut & palm trees, stopping at parks that specialize in local dishes and eating in the outdoor tiki huts & stopping at Dongon for a night swim!! Eating at the outdoor eateries by the ocean in Maasin City like Niccole’s grill & listening to some amazingly talented local musicians play live!!
Hi J Math, yes…can’t agree more! Fillipinos are really warm hearted and friendly people! Plus their service is always excellent! We haven’t been to Mactan and Lapu Lapu, sounds really awesome from the way you describe it…hopefully one day we’ll get to visit those places! 🙂
yes many beautiful places like “isla de gigantes iloilo” :))
Hi Guys! How did you manage to visit these places in 10 days? What’s your itinerary and jump-off point? I would assume you traveled from SG – CEBU – BOHOL – CEBU – BORACAY then MANILA. but no CEBU pictures. It must have been very tiring but Im sure it’s worth it. 🙂
Hey JR! Actually our entire philippines trip was for 16 days. We started at Manila and travelled down south to Cebu where our return flight was. We stayed an average of 7 days in Northern Manila, 5 days in Boracay and 4 days in Cebu 🙂
You can do it in ten days but you don’t explore much all you can do is to visit the most popular place and only stayed in a day or two.From Manila stayed 2 days fly to Boracay stayed 2 days fly to Cebu stayed 2 days sailed to Bohol Stayed 2 days and fly back to Manila
I was glad you enjoyed your stay in the Philippines! I hope you guys can visit us again. God bless! 🙂