You’ll find plenty of natural wonders in the Philippines—dramatic waterfalls, beautiful beaches, ancient rice terraces, hills that resemble chocolate drops and reefs teeming with aquatic life. But you’ll seldom experience those wonders in solitude. That’s an experience few Filipinos would relish. The real natural wonder of the Philippines is its outgoing people, who consider loners a puzzlement and prefer company nearly everywhere they go.
Bayanihan is the term Filipinos use to describe the kind of communal spirit that holds them together, in good times and bad, and they extend it to visitors as well. Seldom will you meet people so ready to smile, joke, laugh and befriend Western travelers. If you believe that the most important travel experience is to make friends and to learn about people, rather than just touring temples and museums, then the Philippines is your country.
After a decade of near hibernation, following the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines has finally been discovered by Western visitors who are now arriving in record numbers. Although travel can be risky in the southern islands and in some rural areas, the majority of the Philippines—particularly the tourist areas—are considered safe for travelers.
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The government has made valiant efforts to stop dishonest taxi drivers, petty street crime and tourist cheats, and has had some success, but be on guard a bit more than in other Southeast Asian countries.
Philippine history has been summed up in the phrase “400 years in a convent, 40 years in Hollywood,” referring to the two very different eras of colonial domination—first by Spain and then the U.S. Both eras began with naval actions.
The first was in 1521, when the Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan came upon the islands during the first round-the-world voyage, but foolishly became involved in local politics and was killed by Lapu Lapu, a tribal chieftain now immortalized as the first Filipino to resist foreign rule.
The islands were governed by Spain until 1898, when the nation became the only official overseas colony of the U.S., following Admiral George Dewey’s victory over a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.
A U.S.-Filipino war followed and ended only when Emilio Aguinaldo, the Filipino leader, was captured by U.S. troops during the course of negotiations. Aguinaldo did, however, extract a promise for independence by 1946—a promise that was kept in spite of an intervening war and occupation.
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