The Philippines is made up of 7,641 islands.  The capital is Manila.

Puerta Princesa is 306 nautical miles southwest of Manila and is the capital of the island provice of  Palawan. They have the longest underground river in the world is located about 50 miles north of the city. You can hike, zip line and take a canoe through the caves. Pictures are from other passengers because I did not arrange a private tour. I have been through caves with Tracy (Kaui) and Kay (Spain).

 

City Bay Walk is on the river front. Several venders set up their tents with hand made goods and souvenirs.  You can get a city tour with a Tuk Tuk for $10 per person.  Our Tuk Tuk was very small but our 24 year old driver spoke very good english and made our trip fun.

 

Today we went to the mall and had a mani pedi for $20 which included the tip.  Our one hour swedish massage was $10 which also included tip.  The mall was extremely clean and had three stories full of local shops and eateries. One store in the mall had a wonderful selection of shoes.  I have already worn out two pairs so of course I needed three pairs to replace those. McDonalds has adapted their menu for the Philippines with rice bowels, fried chicken and spaggetti. I had a Big Mac and fries.  I never order this at home but I needed some American food.

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral was near our cruise ship. The Philippines are predominantly Catholic.

Pictures from the streets of Puerto Princesa while I was in the Tuk Tuk. There were no traffic lights or stop signs.

Boracay Island was a missed port due to choppy seas.  I had planed to go to White beach which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Manila is our last port in the Philippines which is on the island of Luzon. Technically sixteen cities and one municipality make up what is officially known as Metro Manila covering 636 square kilometres with 14 million residents. There is a mix of modern skyscrapers and spanish colonial architecture. The statues represent Jose Rizal’s execution, the national hero of the Philippines.

We took a ship tour driving along Manila Bay visitig the famous Manila Hotel where General Douglas MacArthur had his command post during most of World War II.

For part of the tour we rode in a Jeepney, a bus-like vehicle originally made from U.S. military Jeeps after World War. This is cheap transportation for many people.

The San Agustin  baroque style stone church and convent built in 1606 was beautiful. Ninty percent of Manila is Catholic.

Fort Santiago was in old Manila where prisoners were held and torured throughout the history of Manila.

The streets of Manilia on a Friday were extremely busy with food venders, markets and restaurants.

The four story mall was modern with several restaurants,  a street vendor style food court, an arcade and several stores. Malls seem to be the best place in the Philipines to people watch and buy shoes.  There were at least 20 different independent shoe stores.