General information about the Philippines
The Philippines comprises over 7000 islands and is surrounded by turquoise blue, clear water, making it a great destination during the dry season from December to May and therefore a great place to escape the winter. The average temperature is around 30°C. In the months from June to November, the rainy season begins and the possibility of floods and typhoons increases.
The people here are super friendly, honest, hard-working and helpful. Sometimes they try to get higher prices, but if you remain stubborn and friendly, they will deal with you. So don’t be afraid to ask for help or direction. If they notice that you are looking around for help, they sometimes come straight up to you and offer support.
Karaoke and basketball are very popular.
Language
Tagalog and Filipino are spoken here.
You will often notice a mixture of English and Spanish, as the Philippines used to be occupied by American and Spanish colonies.
You will also notice this in the ambience. There is a lot of American food, signs in general and English music.
Since it is important to us as travelers in a foreign country to immerse ourselves in the language, we like to look at the most important terms in advance and use them in everyday life, so you also build a good relationship with the locals because you show interest in the culture and the country. They are also always happy to help you with pronunciation and teach you other words. Here is a small list of words in Filipino for beginners.
- Kamusta – Hello
- Salamat – Thank you
- Paalam – Goodbye
- Hindi – No
- Oo – Yes
- Pakiusap – Please
- Paumanhin – Apology
- Kumusta ka? – How are you?
- Magandang umaga – Good morning
- Magandang hapon – Good morning
- Nasaan ang…? – Where is…?
- Magkano ito? – How much is it?
- Masarap – Tasty
- Tubig – Water
- Pagkain – Food
- Banyo – Bathroom/toilet
- Walang – Without
- Karne – Meat
- Isda – fish
- Vegetaryano – vegetarian
Time difference
The time difference to Germany CET is 7 hours ahead in winter and 6 hours ahead in summer.
Visa
With a German passport you do not need a visa and are allowed to stay in the Philippines for 30 days. 24 hours before arrival in the Philippines you can fill out the electronic entry document for registration. In Manila at the airport you also have wifi and can fill it out there. When you get off the plane, you have to join a long queue, which can sometimes take up to 1 hour.
The visa can easily be extended on site, even for 59 days, but you will need proof of departure upon entry. If you want to extend your visa, you can book an onward ticket in advance or try to apply for a longer visa at the Philippine embassy in Germany. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for us and the consulate wanted our email and the application 3 times, and then we were already in the Philippines.
Currency
In the Philippines, you pay with Philippine pesos.
60 pesos is approx. 1€. There are numerous ATM machines everywhere on the streets or in stores, often guarded by cameras or even a security service. You can even withdraw money there 24/7 in some cases. The ATMs charge a fee of 250 pesos per withdrawal.
Food
A lot of meat is eaten in the Philippines, which is why vegetarians sometimes find it difficult. Most people keep chickens as pets and there is also a lot of fish thanks to the sea. But if you ask around and search, you will also discover delicious food in the local eateries (small stalls on the street). Prices there range from 15 pesos for rice to 50 pesos for the main course. The bakeries are extremely cheap, for example only 3-5 pesos per roll and very tasty. If you go into a bakery, you will often find purple pastries. This is called ube and is made from a sweet potato, which gives it a natural color. There are small wooden huts or tables along the streets where hot meals are sold in pots. Food to take away is packed in small plastic bags and even drinks such as water or juices.
Overall, you notice the American influence in the food in that they really put a lot of sugar in everything. After a long time, you sometimes long for a bread roll, which wouldn’t pass for a sweet pastry.
Means of transportation
There are many different means of transportation. The choice usually depends on where you want to go and how long the journey is.
App Grab: It‘ s best to download the app in advance and then call a cab from anywhere. Comparable to Uber. The difference to regular cabs is that the price is already fixed in advance and is paid directly when booking via the app. This means you don’t need cash and the price doesn’t change during the journey. You get the verified name of the driver, the license plate, the type of car and can share the location or the ride with someone, so you feel really safe. Unfortunately, there is no Grab on islands like Bohol and Siquijor and the app is not supported on Cebu to MoalBoal.
Cab: There you will find a taximeter and the actual price will only become clear at the end of the journey. Unfortunately, these taximeters are often manipulated and the previously discussed price is far exceeded. Once we took a cab at the port of Manila because there was no grab even after a long wait. We fixed the price with the driver beforehand and only got into the car after a difficult negotiation with him.
Jeepneys: These are small open buses that show the direction on the front windshield or on the sides. The special thing is that there are no fixed stops, so wherever you are on the route you get on at the back by waving and calling out to the driver where you want to go, then you pay and get off accordingly. On Bohol, you tell the driver where you want to get off by knocking on a ceiling pole with coins and then pay. The prices are only a few pesos. We paid on average between 20 and 50 pesos for two people. There are also jeepney stations where they only leave when the jeepney is full. Our fullest jeepney was able to take 25 people. The windows are usually open, as is the door for getting in and out.
Tricycles or tuk-tuks can be found everywhere. They drive up and down the streets and you wave when required. Then a tricycle stops right in front of you and the destination is best communicated via Google Maps. Usually only short distances are covered. For example, from the port in Siquijor and Bohol to the accommodation. Prices vary from up to 50 pesos to 500 pesos depending on the route and location. They should be avoided at night in cities like Manila as they are completely open and prone to robberies. Tricycles are the best and fastest way to get from A to B and can be found everywhere.
Buses: Buses are very popular in Bohol and also on Cebu. They have a bright yellow color and are easy to spot. On Bohol, we used the bus to get from Tagbilaran itself to the Chocolate Hills. There is a bus station and the destinations are written on the ceiling or in the bus window. There was also a guide who helped us to find the right place. However, there are no exact times that you can follow. So you just go and wait until the bus is full enough for the driver to decide to set off. On the bus, you then pay the ticket seller and are let off directly at your desired destination on the route. The windows and often the door for getting on and off are open during the journey. You should allow plenty of time for this, because depending on rush hour, a 10-minute journey on Google Maps can quickly turn into 40 minutes.
You get a sightseeing tour, especially in Bohol, but there is no toilet and it is often uncertain when it will leave and when it will arrive.
Vans: Similar to due buses, they sometimes have fixed stations or can be found at the ports to take guests directly to their destination. We have never used them.
Ferry: To get from island to island, you can either take a plane or a ferry. We usually bought ferry tickets in advance from 12go.asia to be on the safe side, as they are also used by the locals and are therefore often booked out quickly. Alternatively, you can also buy tickets in small offices. In Coron on Busuanga, for example, there is a ferry to Manila and from Manila only on Sundays. You should therefore book in advance and pay attention to your travel plans. If you decide to take a ferry, you should allow plenty of time, as you should be at the port at least 1 hour before departure. You have to pay a terminal fee at the entrance and wait in the waiting room until the ferry departs. There are overnight ferries from Coron to Manila, for example. This takes 13 hours and you get a bed instead of a seat.
Flight: The quickest way to get from one island to the next is by plane. If you have a fixed schedule, you should book the flights in advance, as prices can rise sharply at short notice. We tended to book them at short notice but were usually not time-bound and were therefore able to choose the cheapest one, although the times were not always the best and we often had to leave at night or arrived at night.
On foot: To save money and work on our fitness, we wanted to walk as much as possible. This quickly turned out to be difficult, as some destinations looked very close on Google Maps, but there are virtually no sidewalks in the Philippines and this makes walking very difficult, as you always come to a standstill and have to walk on the street. On average, we walked to our destinations in the range of 1h to 1h20 and if we couldn’t do any more, we usually took a Grab or tricycle.
Scooters: In some places, especially on smaller islands, scooters can easily be hired for a few hours or several days. Especially on Siquijor, Bohol and in Coron there is little traffic, so you quickly feel safe driving. When we rented our scooter in Siquijor from a fruit stand by the road, all they wanted was a name and the money. We always recommend asking for helmets and wearing them, because even if you quickly feel safe and driving without a helmet is tempting, you shouldn’t forget that the locals don’t have to take a driving test like in Germany and that children often drive and there are chickens, cats and dogs on the roads, which are difficult to see at night as the street lighting is weak or non-existent.
Sim card
You can buy your sim card at the airport for a higher price, with an eSim app like Airalo or we bought it ourselves via Nomad with 5GB for 30 days.
Excursions and activities
Klook is an app that allows you to book various activities at a lower price. It is particularly well known and popular in Asia.
GetYourGuide is also a globally known and popular app for booking excursions. These can almost always be canceled free of charge up to 24 hours in advance. We ourselves have tested GetYourGuide in several countries, including France, the Netherlands, Tenerife, Turkey, Egypt and the Dominican Republic, and have never been disappointed.
Excursions can also be booked the day before in most accommodations or small street stores.
Accommodation
We usually book our accommodation either via Booking.com or Airbnb. If you make several bookings with Booking.com, you get different Genius levels and therefore discounts or other benefits. These often include free breakfast and special offers. However, we have often compared the prices with Agoda.
Unsere Reiseroute
Manila →✈️
Cebu →⛴️
Bohol →⛴️
Siquijor →⛴️
Cebu →✈️
Coron →⛴️
Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines and most journeys begin at the airport there.
Manila is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. There are different districts, but Makati and Parañaque are among the safest places. We also walked a lot there and never had the feeling that we were in a dangerous place. Of course, as everywhere in densely populated regions and wherever there are a lot of people in poor countries, you should take care of your valuables and not wear a lot of jewelry so that you don’t stand out from the crowd.Manila is the capital of the Philippines and most journeys begin at the airport there.
Manila is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. There are different districts, but Makati and Parañaque are among the safest places. We also walked a lot there and never had the feeling that we were in a dangerous place. Of course, as everywhere in densely populated regions and wherever there are a lot of people in poor countries, you should take care of your valuables and not wear a lot of jewelry so that you don’t stand out from the crowd.
Cebu
Cebu is relatively centrally located in the Philippines and you can book many tours and day trips there. Ferries to the well-known islands of Siquijor and Bohol also depart from there. MoalBoal is definitely worth a visit, as you can find sea turtles and large schools of sardines right next to the beach, which is perfect for snorkeling.
Bohol
Bohol is the 10th largest island in the Philippines and a popular tourist destination. Among other things, it is home to the second smallest primate in the world and the Chocolate Hills, which are world-famous among geologists. In Bohol, the use of the popular means of transportation Grab is prohibited, so tricycles, buses and jeepneys are definitely in the foreground here. Which means of transportation is best depends on where you want to go and how much you want to pay. Next to the Island City Mall is the South Station, a train station with buses, jeepneys, vans and tricycles. The trick here is to find out who is going where. It is best to always ask the driver directly and then you will be helped.
Siquijor
A fantastically beautiful island with few tourists and the perfect place to switch off. It is worth hiring a scooter here and exploring the island on your own. As there are only limited means of transport here too, the roads are free. We were often the only ones on the roads until someone came up to us. The beaches all charge an entrance fee, so it’s always a good idea to have a few pesos in your pocket. The Tubod Marine Sanctuary is definitely a snorkeling gem. It is home to colorful coral reefs and beautiful fish. The entrance fee is 100 pesos per person and we spent the whole day on the beach and went snorkeling several times.
Coron
Coron is located on the island of Busuanga and has a lot to offer. There is also a small airport here or you can take the ferry from El Nido or Manila. Coron itself unfortunately has no direct access to the beach, but there are countless tours and excursions on offer everywhere. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can choose between typical tourist excursions where you are one of over 20 people on a boat, or private tours where you can hire your own boat and driver to view nature from the sea and explore beautiful bays.
There are also numerous shipwrecks from the Second World War, which can be viewed while diving with or without a license.
Here, too, it is worth making a kind of round trip around the island, as scooter driving is also quite easy here. From Coron, there are even tours to the so-called Apo Reef, which is the second largest in the world. The perfect place for nature lovers and divers.
Statement of costs
We always keep our costs up to date in an Excel spreadsheet and divide them into 6 different areas. This means we always know exactly what we have spent and when and can work out retrospectively how much we have spent on what. For 4 weeks in the Philippines, we spent a total of €2733 including the outward flight for 2 people.
Our conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that we really enjoyed the Philippines. Both the country and the people are great. 29 days is not nearly enough to do justice to the wide range of the Philippines and yet you would gain a lot of different impressions in just two weeks. Especially for us beach and sea lovers, there is still a lot to discover.
Our highlights were the sea turtles, the whale sharks, the tarsier, the jeepneys and the diving in Coron.
When we come back, we would like to do a 3-4 day boat trip with overnight stays from Coron to El Nido and visit the Apo Reef, which is the second largest in the world, as divers. On Busuanga Island you even have the opportunity to see dugongs and when we have the Advanced Open Water Diver, we would like to explore the numerous shipwrecks near Coron.
The way to travel between the islands can be expensive and should be booked in advance if you only have a short time, as prices can be expensive at short notice or ferries can be fully booked. Especially on small islands without an airport, there is no way to get to the next island quickly.
Although the search for food as vegetarians was sometimes nerve-wracking and long, we always found something suitable and cheap.
Philippines we’ll be back!In conclusion, we can say that we really enjoyed the Philippines. Both the country and the people are great. 29 days is not nearly enough to do justice to the wide range of the Philippines and yet you would gain a lot of different impressions in just two weeks. Especially for us beach and sea lovers, there is still a lot to discover.
Our highlights were the sea turtles, the whale sharks, the tarsier, the jeepneys and the diving in Coron.
When we come back, we would like to do a 3-4 day boat trip with overnight stays from Coron to El Nido and visit the Apo Reef, which is the second largest in the world, as divers. On Busuanga Island you even have the opportunity to see dugongs and when we have the Advanced Open Water Diver, we would like to explore the numerous shipwrecks near Coron.
The way to travel between the islands can be expensive and should be booked in advance if you only have a short time, as prices can be expensive at short notice or ferries can be fully booked. Especially on small islands without an airport, there is no way to get to the next island quickly.
Although the search for food as vegetarians was sometimes nerve-wracking and long, we always found something suitable and cheap.
Philippines we’ll be back!