5 Heritage And Natural Parks To Wake Up To In The Philippines

 

The Philippines, a gem sitting in a tropical region has vast natural resources ranging from beaches to grasslands, and rich vegetation ranging from hills to mountains--- making it a superb topography for those wanderlusts who seek true adventure.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A tiny country of more than 7,000 verdant islands situated in the Southeastern part of Asia is a tourist mecca for both local and international travellers alike. Our country is strategically located just above the equator and surrounded by seas and the mighty Pacific Ocean, which makes it a perfect hub for beach-lovers who wanted their skin tanned and die-hard surfers who longed for a colossal wave ride. 

Not removing the fact that the Philippines had been in trade relations with neighbouring countries in the earlier times, and with its 300+ years of Spanish Crown colonisation, this country has a lot of cultural and heritage sites to offer scattered around Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, its three main big islands.

              

                                               (Video credits: ASEAN Analytics / Department of Tourism Philippines)

With all our country’s natural landscapes and cultural sites to visit to--- first-time tourists like you might have a hard time deciding which places need to get prioritised first. That is the reason why we are here, to help you out roll a travel plan and ideal itinerary around our tropical island nation with our 12 must-see tourist spots to visit to as your guide. Here is our list of a perfect Philippine getaway that starts from the north island all the way to the south island:

①  CALLE CRISOLOGO (CITY OF VIGAN, ILOCOS SUR) 📍

     (Photo credits: Akarat Phasura / Shutterstock / KKday)

✪ Vigan (officially: Historic City of Vigan) located in the northern Philippines is the most Hispanic town in the northern part of the country as evidenced by its rich structures, culture, and history. With its establishment in the 16^th century by the Spanish Crown, it now boasts old-world glamour and Hispanic colonial architecture. The people has preserved this beautiful town and that was the primary reason why it has been awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site, a testament to the fact that its edifices are well-preserved, a perfect example of a planned Spanish colonial town that is unique anywhere else in East Asia (UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 2023). By this accolade, you can relive the charm of this town and travel back in time as you set your foot along the historic cobbled streets of Calle Crisologo which is the classiest thoroughfare in the district. The street is lined up with souvenir shoppes selling products of the local craftsmen like pots and jars, “abel” Ilokano weaves, wood carvings, and many more. While marvelling the old backdrop of the area, you can also have a taste of their local food, the famous and delicious Ilocos “empanada”. When you do not feel like walking, there is a solution. You can take a leisurely ride in a horse-drawn “kalesa” through the streets and still have a glimpse of this charming Hispanic town.

✪ Some of the historic sites within and near the area include: (1) The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, (2) Crisologo Museum, (3) Padre Burgos National Museum, (4) Syquia Mansion Museum, and (5) The Bantay Bell Tower.

✪ Best time to visit this place is on the first week of May upon which The Viva Vigan Festival of Arts is being celebrated annually which promotes awareness of the worth and virtue of the town through arts.

②  BAGUIO CITY (BENGUET)  📍 

    (Photo credits: Nelson Domerez / Igorotage)

✪ Baguio (officially: City of Baguio) is the highest among the other major cities in the Philippines. It is a highly-urbanised city that is tucked away and nestled in the mountainous region in Luzon Island. Although an urbanised metro, it is so intimate, timid, and reminiscent of a cottage-type mise-en-scene perched in the mountainous southwestern part of the Benguet province and of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Sitting pretty at an elevation of 1,540 metres (5,050 feet) above sea level with its endemic wild orchids, mossy plants and ferns, and rich pine trees and forests, Baguio is attributed as the “City of Pines”.  And also because of its subtropical highland climate and cooler temperatures, the American soldiers and Thomasites who arrived in the city during the American Colonial Period in the country fell in love with its cool environment, thus baptising her with the moniker--- “Summer Capital of the Philippines”. Local tourists all over the country (and international tourists, too) never miss the chance of going up to Baguio during the dry, hot, summer season to spend their vacation, unwind from work, and feel the cool breeze and chilly weather of this pretty city.

✪ Some of the places of interests within and near the area include: (1) Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral, (2) Burnham Park, (3) Camp John Hay, (4) Baguio Botanical Garden, (5) The Mansion House, (6) Wright Park, (7) Mines View Park, (8) Bell Church, (9) Tam-Awan Village, and (10) Asin Hot Springs.

✪ Best time to visit this place is February to May upon which The Panagbenga Flower Festival (usually whole month of February) is being celebrated annually which showcases the locals’ flowers in bloom parade.

③  BANAUE RICE TERRACES (BANAUE, IFUGAO)  📍 

    (Photo credits: Jay Tindall / Travelogues / Remote Lands, Inc.)

✪ Banaue (officially: Municipality of Banaue) is a major town in the province of Ifugao in the northern Philippines. With a towering elevation of 2,689 metres (8,822 feet) above sea level, no wonder it owns and showcases The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the gigantic emerald padded stairs to heaven that are an agricultural wonder in the north central side of the country. The “Banaue Rice Terraces” as it is popularly known, are tagged as a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines, and considered to be the “Eighth Wonder of the World” internationally (Omondi, 2017). These monumental green steps are believed to have been hand-carved into the mountainsides and slopes more than 2,000 years ago, in the pre-colonial Philippines according to tradition. The series of living cultural landscape of unparalleled elegance in Ifugao that make up this magnificent ancient architecture include: (1) Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces (in Banaue) which are protected UNESCO World Heritage Sites, (2) Hungduan Rice Terraces (in Hungduan), Nagacadan Rice Terraces (in Kiangan), and Mayoyao Rice Terraces (in Mayoyao) are all stunning examples of epitomic unadulterated blending of the economic, physical, political, socio-cultural, and religious environment that reflects a mastery of both engineering and ingenuity still appreciated up to this day.

✪ Some of the places of interests within and near the area include: (1) Banaue Ethnic Village, (2) Banaue Museum, (3) Banaue Viewpoint, (4) Bogyah Hotspring, (5) Hiwang Village, (6) Mount Amuyao, (7) Mount Napulawan, (8) Tam-An Village, and (9) Tappiya Falls.

✪ Best time to visit this place is between February and March-- when the cleaning and planting time occurs and between June and July-- when the harvesting takes place.

④ HUNDRED ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK (CITY OF ALAMINOS, PANGASINAN) 📍 

    (Photo credits: See Pangasinan / Pangasinan Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO))

✪ Alaminos (officially: City of Alaminos) is a popular city in the province of Pangasinan in the north-western Philippines. It is a coastal urban community fronting the Lingayen Gulf and best known for being the home of the spectacular group of more than a hundred islands sprawled near its coastline. These lush islands floating into the gulf like beads of a rosary is named “Hundred Islands”, aptly called because of the number of islands total to be more than a hundred, when counted. The local government unit proclaims that the area covering a total of 16.76 square kilometres (6.47 square miles) consists of exactly 143 during high tide and an extra island come low tide (Pangasinan Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO), 2021). On the 14^th of January 1940, the then Commonwealth President, Manuel L. Quezon, declared this area as the “Philippines’ First National Park”, because of its natural beauty and compelling charisma. The Hundred Islands is presumed to have evolved into existence some two million years ago with ancient corals that actually extends further well inland. This green park offers some fully-developed islands especially made for tourism, where you can rent a boat going to the open-islands and enjoy your holiday swim. These islands: 1) Children’s Island, 2) Governor’s Island, 3) Marcos Island, 4) Pilgrimage Island, 5) Quezon Island, and 6) Virgin Island, possess their own charms and wonders.

✪ Some of the places of interests within and near the area include: (1) Cathedral of Saint Joseph, The Patriarch, (2) Lucap Wharf, (3) Bolo Beach, and (4) Dead Pool.

✪ Best time to visit this place is between March and April— come to witness the “Galila Hundred Islands Festival”, the most anticipated summer event in the city, particularly on March 18-19, where the people get together and offer festive and vibrant thanksgiving celebration in honour of the city’s patron, Saint Joseph, The Patriarch.

⑤ RIZAL PARK (CITY OF MANILA, NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION)  📍 

    (Photo credits: Benson Kua / SmugMug+Flickr)

✪ Manila (officially: City of Manila) is the capital and the chief city of the Republic of the Philippines for the last five centuries, situated at the heart of Luzon, along the eastern shore of Manila Bay converging to the mouth of the ever-famous Pasig River. Manila’s location is one of the finest and most captivating, sheltered harbours in the world. It is a bustling, mighty concrete jungle of non-stop activity attributing to it being the hub of industrial progress as well as the hive of international ports of entry for land, sea, and air. Based on globalization standards, Manila (and the metropolitan) has been awarded by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network as an “Alpha” city in the year 2020, in respect to the external relations of world cities that include international business, logistics, sustainability, and urban policy (Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network, 2020). Not only because of its accolade, but also because Manila is an urban sprawl teeming with hustle, bustle, motion, enterprise, and natural beauty— it has a lot to stuff to offer full of life and action. You can hop in to its famous modes of cheap transportation, the “padyaks” (local pedicabs) and tricycles, the “kalesas” (two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages), and of course, the “jeepneys” (twin-benched jitney bus) with their colourful art renderings, while touring around the city’s top attractions. You have never been to the City of Manila if you did not visit its top attraction, the Rizal Park (formerly known as Luneta Park, or simply Luneta). This park is not only a historical urban park, but also considered as one of the largest in the Philippines. Why historical? Rizal Park is adjoining the historic Walled City of Intramuros (Spanish Empire’s whole City of Manila). The park is probably the most popular park in the country for it is where Jose Rizal, the Filipino patriot who later on became the national hero of the Philippines, was executed by the Spaniards on the 30^th of December 1896. It is also the same spot where the flames of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Kingdom of Spain took place. The declaration of Philippine Independence also happened in this area on the 4^th of July 1946. This place known for its original name as Bagumbayan, was later changed to Rizal Park, as a tribute and in honour of the greatest Filipino who has ever lived, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, a patriot and martyr Malay race in defence for his beloved land and countrymen against tyranny brought by the colonial Spain. Today, a monument stands still in the middle of the park, a symbolic focal point of Filipino nationalism.

✪ Some of the places of interests within and near the area include: (1) Walled City of Intramuros, (2) Fort Santiago, (3) The Manila Cathedral, (4) San Agustin Church, (5) Plaza de Roma, (6) Casa Manila, (7) Baluarte de San Diego, (8) Bahay Tsinoy, (9) National Museum Complex: Anthropology, Fine Arts, National History, Planetarium, (10) Binondo Church (San Lorenzo Ruiz Basilica Minor), (11) Escolta, (12) Quiapo Church (Basilika ng Nazareno), (13) The Manila Ocean Park, (14) Cultural Centre of the Philippines Complex: CCP Library and Archives, Folk Arts Theatre, Manila Film Centre, Philippine International Convention Centre, The National Theatre, (15) Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Museum, (16) Malacañang Palace, (17) Paco Park and Cemetery, and (18) University of Santo Tomas.

✪ Best time to visit this place is between December and June— come to witness this place, meet a fascinating mixed culture of old and new— the park and its surrounding areas offer so my exciting stuff like historical and heritage immersions, nature park visits and sightseeing tours, food and culinary trips, and more!

So, are you up to waking up with these magnificent UNESCO heritage sites and National natural parks in the Philippines? Well, these are just some of them, and there are still a lot to discover when you are already in this paradise island!

Dream. Believe. Fly.

________________________
Written By: Felipe III Q. Gali
(Philippines Correspondent)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

#blog #blogger #travel #traveller #travelogue #travelholic #globetrotter #wanderer #wanderlust #dreamdestinations #holiday #vacation #fly #unesco #vigan #baguio #banaue #terraces #hundred #islands #rizal #park #itsmorefuninthephilippines

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reference List:

Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network, 2020. The World According to GaWC 2020. [Online]
Available at: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/geography/gawc/world2020t.html
[Accessed 26 February 2023]. 

Omondi, S., 2017. Banaue Rice Terraces - The Eighth Wonder Of The World. [Online]
Available at: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/banaue-rice-terraces-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world.html
[Accessed 26 February 2023]. 

Pangasinan Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO), 2021. Hundred Islands National Park. [Online]
Available at: https://seepangasinan.com/places/hundred-islands-national-park/
[Accessed 26 February 2023]. 

UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 2023. Historic City of Vigan. [Online]
Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/502/
[Accessed 26 February 2023].