Manila History

Our last day in the Philippines was spent on Manila and we had a city tour. This was by a father and son and took us away from the crazily busy parts of the city and showed us some of the history and quieter areas.

We saw the statues commemorating Jose Rizal, who was executed by the Spanish in 1896. Apparently he tried to overthrow the Spanish with a pacifist approach similar to Ghandhi did in India

We also saw the Fortress and details of the city during WW2 when it was controlled by the Japanese. There are some moving pictures in the fort dungeons remembering this. The city was then destroyed by the American bombing which defeated the Japanese but left very little of Manila still standing.

Strangely, for us, the guide still felt that Marcos was the best president they had ever had. He believed it was his wife and croneys who caused the problems. We weren't sure about this but kept quiet!

We had been confused why English was spoken after their own language rather than Spanish. Apparently unlike the other countries Spain controlled, here the Spanish never taught the language. When the American's took control of the Philippines they pushed English onto to the locals.

Early Start and Thrilling Manila

The next morning we got up at 3am for our 7am flight to Seoul. At 6pm we met the new group, who all seems good and after a quick meeting we got some dinner together. Our friend Liz has joined us from the UK for this and our Japan leg. Tea was a traditional beef or veggie dish, cooked at the table. We also had a spirit and local beer. The guide got us to try this mixed together, she did this by adding them together and banging a spoon in the glass. The drinks were nice but felt stronger than she said.

We finished the evening with a quick walk around the city. Really busy near the street food area but quieter a short walk away. We followed the Cheonggyecheon stream and took lots of photos of lanterns ready to celebrate the Buddha's birthday. Unlike other Asian countries we have been to before surprisingly cars are more popular than bikes/mopeds.

A good start to South Korea and definitely left us keen to see more.