All Albums Philippines
Two weeks is of course too short for a country with so many islands. Also after life was a bit stressful in this fall of 2022, focus was supposed to be on relaxing on the beach. To add a little variety, we added a stop in the Cordillera, to view UN protected rice terraces. They are still passed down to the oldest sibling, and are just about enough to feed a family. The sheer size of the Batad fields is mind blowing. It takes hours to cross for inexperienced people, and a few drops of sweat to conquer the elevation in this tropical climate. Then, of course, one day was spent in Manila, that has some history and a couple of interesting spots for visitors. The island stops were Coron town, from where you can do boat tours for swimming and snorkeling, then beautiful Nacpan Beach somewhat away from the crowds in El Nido, and lastly Las Cabanas Beach, nice but a bit too crowded with backpackers already.
- Rice fields in Ayangan are harvested twice a year hence expose lush green in November
- Ayangan: Fast growing rice crop needs only few months, with harvest in July and December
- Houses in Ayangan rice fields can only be accessed on foot
- Batad village in the midst of its vast rice terraces: Currently fields expose water, as here a crop is used that yields only one harvest a year
- Batad: After harvest in July, fields are cleaned by November, walls cleaned by December, seedlings planted by January
- Batad: Walls need to be cleaned from the shrub that will otherwise house rats that would destroy the rice seedlings
- Seemannia sylvatica is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus Seemannia, primarily found in the Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann.
- Mountain flowers around Banaue
- Asclepias curassavica, known as tropical milkweed, is native to the American tropics and has a pantropical distribution as an introduced species
- Hydrangea macrophylla is native to Japan flowering in summer and autumn. Common names include bigleaf or French or lacecap or mophead hydrangea, penny mac, and hortensia. It is widely cultivated in many parts of the world in many climates.
- Banaue: Most families have their own chicken for eggs and meat
- Banaue village kids
- Banaue house decoration
- Manila old town streets seem like a lively village
- Dance activity in Manila old town street
- Fort Santiago, built in 1571 by Spanish navigator and governor Miguel López de Legazpi for defense of the new city of Manila, located in the walled city, Binondo in the background
- Binondo, Manila, has some slums too
- Lively streets of Binondo
- Buddhist temple in Binondo, Manila
- Buddhist temple in Binondo, Manila
- Chinatown Museum in Binondo, Manila
- Chinatown Museum in Binondo, Manila
- Chinatown Museum in Binondo, Manila: Jose Ignacio Paua was the only pure Chinese to serve in the Philippine revolution and the Philippine-American war, and taught his soldiers how to make bamboo cannons, melt bullets and repair weapons
- Chinatown Museum in Binondo: Andrés Bonifacio (1863-97) was a Freemason and revolutionary leader, often called Father of the Philippine Revolution, and a national hero.
- Islands off Coron Island, Palawan
- Islands off Coron Island, Palawan
- Near Kayangan Lake, Coron Island
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan: The far end of the 4km beach
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan: Fishermen taking off for a night cruise from 6 pm to 6 am
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan: Fishermen returning from night fishing squid and cuttle fish using bright a bright light to attract them and speers and harpunes to catch
- Nacpan Beach, Palawan: Carrying the boat that is heavy with a small diesel engine
- In daytime, he aims to catch fish
- Nacpan Beach: Having caught only a couple of squid on his night cruise, he is still smiling
- Jonathan or O.J. is captain of a tourist boat that is out of the water for hull repair after settling on a rock when low tide came
- Jonathan in front of the boat carrying 22 people, the broken hull on the ground
- Boy is caretake of the far end of Nacpan Beach, and fisherman with one daughter
- Las Cabañas Beach, Palawan
- Las Cabañas Beach, Palawan
- Las Cabañas Beach. Palawan
- Las Cabañas Beach, Palawan
- This bangka has just delivered drinks to a bar at Las Cabañas Beach
- Sunset at Las Cabañas Beach
- Chillin for sunset at Las Cabañas Beach
- Sunset at Las Cabañas Beach
- Bangka taking off from Las Cabañas Beach
- Sunset viewing is popular at Las Cabañas Beach
- Nightfall over Las Cabañas Beach
