#54 best destination in the world
Vigan
- City whose old structures have remained mostly intact
- Architecture fuses together Native Philippine and Oriental building designs with colonial Spanish construction
- UNESCO World Heritage Site
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- 1,000 year old complex of stone or mud walls carved into the natural contours of the hills and mountains in order to make terraced pond fields for rice
- Shows human adaptability in adjusting to climate pressures
- UNESCO World Heritage Site
Batad Rice Terraces
- Terraces that were carved into the Ifugao mountains by ancestors of the indigenous people
- Thought to be over 2,000 years old
Milea Bee Farm
- Farm dedicated to maintaining honey and stingless bees offering tours of the farm
Living Museum
- Type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period
Casa Gorordo Museum
- Built in the 1850s, this former residence of Juan Gorordo offers guided tours, a cafe, and a gift shop
Tubbataha Reef
- Uninhabited island and protected area of the Philippines located in the middle of the Sulu Sea, covering a total area 239,800 acres; 374 sq miles
- It is located 93 miles away from Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan province
- The site is an excellent example of a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 328 foot perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands
- Contains 40% of the world’s reef fish
- The area is under a grave threat due to overfishing and destructive fishing practices
Hinatuan Enchanted River
- Deep spring river on the island of Mindanao
- The first exploration to the cave of the Hinatuan Enchanted River was made by Alex Santos in 1999
- Major exploration in 2010 led to the discovery of a hidden cave opening at 98 feet of depth
Waterfalls Restaurant
- Restaurant in a shallow river where diners can enjoy their meal only feet from the base of an artificial waterfall
Asik Asik Falls
- Waterfall that rushes down a green covered mountain and wasn’t discovered until 2010
- The residents of the nearby village had only come across the site two years earlier, after a series of floods and forest fires destroyed a significant chunk of the forest that was hiding it
- The most likely sources of the water are thought to be springs deep within the mountain or an underground river
Vulcan Point Island
- An island in the middle of a lake, in a volcano, in a bigger lake, in a bigger island, in an archipelago, in the ocean
- Highly active volcano that has taken thousands of lives and has been roiling since 1991 after a dormant period following its 1977 eruption
- Largest crater lake in the world
Hanging Coffins of Sagada
- The people of Sagada follow a burial ritual where the elderly carve their own coffins out of hollowed logs
- If they are too weak or ill, their families prepare their coffins instead
- The dead are placed inside their coffins, sometimes breaking their bones in the process of fitting them in, and the coffins are brought to a cave
- The Sagada people have been practicing such burials for over 2,000 years, and some of the coffins are well over a century old
- Eventually the coffins deteriorate and fall
- The reason the coffins were hung was due to the belief that the higher the dead were placed, the greater chance of their spirits reaching a higher nature in the afterlife
- During summer, it will take you about 12-13 hours to reach Sagada
- Do not touch or walk under the coffins
Costs
all flights $3,273
food $9/day x 18 days = $162
hotel $25/day x 15 days = $375
tickets (all attractions) $41
TOTAL for whole itinerary $3,851