Archive for the ‘Philippine tourism’ Category

MT ARAYAT: The Mystic and Majestic Mountain

Mt. Arayat is a 2000 ft. looming land mass that stands majestically against a stark-blue horizon in myhome province of Pampanga. It is known for its beauty as well as for its mystery.  Legend has it, that Mariang Sinukuan, the local goddess of nature, lives in the interior of the forest.  She is very beautiful as well as kind-hearted.  She is generous in giving gifts to the local folks, and she helps lost travellers find their way out of the mountain.  But she also punishes those who ravish nature.  Many inhabitants of the mountain see her bathing in the river on a clear moonlight.  Sometimes, she is seen prominading the hills and glens.

But aside from the legend, Mt. Arayat is often visited by local and foreign tourists.  The mountain is very beautiful.  A trek to its summit is a delightful adventure.  You can view the skyline of the whole province.  On its top, one can commune with nature to his heart’s content.  The many colorful florals and faunas, the chirping birds atop the branches on sun-drenched, emerald-green, trees, the swaying grass that dances in rhythm with the gentle breeze are a sight to behold.  The tranquil forest and the serene mountain lake send bliss to solitude.  So, if you want to escape the hussles and bussels of city life, Mt. Arayat is the place to be.  In this mountain, you can have everything that nature has to offer.

The goverment has also seen the potential of the mountain.  Plans are in the offing to develop it as a nature tourist spot.  To plant floras of export quality that will generate income and create jobs for the locals.  It will also be developed into a wildlife sanctuary.  If plans push through, Mt. Arayat will gain prominence as one of the foremost tourist destination in the Philippines.

There are a lot of ways and means of transportation to get around the Philippines. In Manila, there are 3 types of railways. The first one is the Light Rail Transit or commonly known as the LRT, which connects to major cities and municipalities around Metro Manila. The second one is the Metro Rail Transit or MRT, also connecting to various cities and municipalities in Metro Manila.

Nowadays, LRT’s and MRT’s are crowded with passengers everyday. Because it makes the traveling time way shorter than traveling in jeepneys and buses. The railways avoid the daily heavy traffic in Manila.

The third one is the Philippine National Railways or PNR. This has several stations in Manila. It offers daily trips outside Metro Manila. Like in Sorsogon, Davao, Pampanga.

Other public utility vehicles are the taxi, jeepney, mini-bus, tricycles, buses and pedicabs.
Taxis are mainly found in Metro Manila and are metered-operated. You can find jeepneys all over the Philippines, with a standard fare rate of seven pesos. But it also changes depending on how much gasoline is in the world market. Tricycles are only allowed in small roads, mainly inside villages and small districts. Tricycles are motorcycles assembled with a side-car. They can accommodate 4-6 passengers at a time, depending on how big or small they are. Pedicabs are bicycles assembled with a side-car. They are only allowed inside villages and very small roads.  Mini-buses and buses can be found in main in the Philippines.

Some of the major bus companies in the Philippines are Baliwag Transit, The Philippine Rabbit and Victory Liner. The bus fare depends on how many kilometers the destination will be.

The main ports and harbors in the Philippines are: The Manila International Cargo Terminal and Eva Macapagal Port Terminal. They’re both in the pier of Manila. Also frequently used port and harbors are the Batangas Port and the one in Subic.
There are also a lot of local airlines in the Philippines. But the most well-known is The Philippine Airlines which is also the national flag carrier.

Mounted naturally in the fields of Bohol Philippines is the well known a thousand hills in the Philippines that is the Chocolate Hills of Bohol. Yes, so far as the latest survey, the hills are estimated 1,776 in numbers. That is really a thousand hills on a 50 square kilometer terrain.

The Chocolate Hills is actually the third National Geological Monument of the Philippines and is being proposed to include at UNESCO World Heritage list. This is so because the Chocolate Hills is one of a kind in the world and it is naturally formed not like the Pyramids of Egypt which are man-made only. For every one who views it personally were really amazed that these hills were not man-made or were done by nature.

The hills are cone-shaped like hills with mixture of brown (the chocolate-color ground) and green (The grassy parts) color. However, its chocolate-colored ground stand outs more that it grassy part, thus they are called Chocolate hills, that is because of their chocolate color. Some who personally visits it says that their shapes are almost relatively symmetrical, thus every tourist has the reason to exclaim “wow” about their beauty. The Chocolate hills are a rolling haycock hills and said to be compose of limestones within them. Their grassy parts have a grass species like Imperata cylindrical, Saccharum spontaneum, and some ferns.

The Chocolate Hills are said to be like the Karst Hills similar to Slovenia and Croatia, however, the Chocolate Hills does not have caves. Their existence is being compared or studied in accordance to Karst theory. You can google about the Karst theory if you wanted to know about this theory. However, there are also legends about their formations, that is it is said that a two feuding giants throw mud, hurled rocks, sand, etc to one another until they finally exhausted and end up their feuding issue.

The flat land in between the hills is being used for vegetation purpose where rice and other crops were planted on it. For these hills were distributed throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan, and Sagbayan in Bohol Philppines. However, it is mostly concentrated at the town of Carmen. Actually, there is a government owned resort at Carmen Bohol where you can view the Chocolate Hills that is the “Chocolate Hills Complex” where you can view the hills. But, you can also view them at Sagbayan Town at “Sagbayan Peak”,a resort at Sagbayan Bohol.

The “Chocolate Hill Complex” is originally a two hills which were developed into a resort and viewing facility. The higher hill has viewing deck which you can view the Chocolate hills in a 360 degree view. Similarly, the “Sagbayan Peak of the town of Sagbayan also offers similar viewing angle with the exception only that at Sagbyan Peak you can also view the sea coast of Cebu city Philippines.

The Chocolate Hills is already a famous tourist destination long before the popularity of white sand beaches in the Philippines come into consciousness of the world about Philippine Tourism. It is already then the flagship Philippine tourist destination.