We are here! Finally. We’ve always wanted to come to the Philippines and we’ve finally made it. We’re stoked. And Manila is stoked too – first (and only) time the ship will be here, so they have put out their best for us. The captain has said that they are giving the 300 Filipinos on the ship the day off (well, a portion of the day off)– and we’ve talked to lots of the staff who have their family coming to meet them – some are even flying in for the day to see them. It is so heartwarming (ok, tearfully so, but yeah, I cry at everything! And we are so excited for all the crew).
We are greeted with a band, music and traditional dancing on the dock as we pull in and come hard along side. So nice – even if it is 7 o’clock in the morning! No sleeping in today (and this is THE sleeping-in-est ship we’ve been on – think it is from all those drink packages, they are drinking their way through SE Asia all night and all day!).
We have no real plans for today. Initially we wanted to take a street food tour, but it started out in Quiapo, which was a good 25 to 30 minutes away in traffic. We were worried about making it in time, since we didn’t know when the ship would be cleared, and the Manila traffic is legendary. So, we nixed that. Next we thought about taking a ship tour (yes, yet another ship tour!) to Tagaytay – which is out in the countryside where the volcanoes are located. Unfortunately, the tour was sold out and we were 2nd on the waiting list – so when that didn’t come through – we punted – and decided to just walk to Intramuros (the old walled city) and tour around there. The Ship excursion staff said you “could” walk there, but it was “uncomfortable.” We are always suspect of what they tell us, and when we looked at the map, it didn’t seem all that bad – so – you know us – we’re on the move!!!
Outside on the pier, I am in tears. Families are all lined up on the dock waiting to see their sons, daughters, sisters, moms, dads. OMG. I should have never worn make up today. The mascara won’t last past the pier! It is so, so emotional seeing everyone, and they are so excited and waving and saying hi to us and telling us to have a wonderful day in their home . Yep, tear jerker.
Kleenex out, eyes wiped, we make our way past the joyous reunions and head out into the mayhem that is Manila traffic. Because it is so early, it truly isn’t all that bad. We actually manage to cross a huge major thoroughfare without any issue. Once on the Intramuros side of the street, there is a huge promenade we can walk down and around the corner – with good sidewalks – to walk into the walled city. I’m not sure what is “uncomfortable” about this. The walk is better than just about any place we’ve been so far – with the exception of the promenade around the lake in Hanoi. Hmmm…
There is a fenced golf course surrounding Intramuros, so we can’t cut across the beautifully landscaped fairways – but we can walk alongside, past the statue commerating Cory Aquino – one of the Philippines more revered Presidents (there was a festival for her here on Monday)…
…then onto the main thoroughfare entrance to Intramuros – replete with the famous Manila Jeepneys…
So, a little history before we begin our tour. The city was founded in 1571, and up through the end of Spanish rulle in 1898, Intramuros was the main city. The city walls were built to protect the citizens from attack. The walls form a pentagonal shape that encloses about .64 sq km of area, all considered the birthplace of Manila. Within the walls, the a city of stone was constructed – churches, buildings, palaces, schools, courtyard houses. It served as the capital of the Spanish West Indies and remained a Spanish city unti the US took control of the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American war.
Sadly, during WWII, Intramuros was bombed – almost out of existence. Many of the buildings we will see today are rebuilt replicas of the original structures. And of course, some are ghastly new builds that don’t match the city’s baroque architecture. But, even with all the destruction, there are still original standing structures where you can see the bullet holes and get a feeling for the fierce battle fought here in 1945.
On with the tour! Once inside the gate, we are on the main road into the old city. Here, just as in other Asian cities, you have to navigate between small, broken sidewalks, the road, scooters, pedicabs and cars. Nothing that we haven’t done a million times in this part of the world – and it is still early, so the traffic is relatively light. We make our way up the street, to our first stop, the San Agustin church. We had read that it was free entry – but apparently that info was old, because there was an entrance fee – and A) we have no Pesos, and B) it isn’t worth it to go inside a church. So we stay in the courtyard and settle for pictures outside.
It is here that we meet “Bong,” one of the ubiquitious pedicab drivers that are all over town. Bong wears us down and we finally acquiesce to take a city tour with him, after negotiating a fairer 30 minute rate than he first quotes! And off we go on the Bong tour.
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