#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