Philippines - Filippinerna

Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia.

Planning before the trip

The easiest way to get to the Philippines is with scheduled flights. Domestic flights are advantageously booked on the Internet, as each airline has its own website. If you are staying in the Philippines for more than 21 days, a visa is required. Then contact the Philippine Embassy. Should it turn out during the stay that the trip will be longer than 21 days, it is possible to arrange a visa on site. The larger tourist resorts have Immigration offices, where you can get help. It is much cheaper to get the visa there, but if you want to be on the safe side, you should arrange a visa before departure. Review the vaccinations before the trip. Contact the health center for information, because it varies a bit depending on where in the Philippines you are going to spend your holiday.

To take with you to the Philippines

It is a tropical climate, which means heat even during the rainy season. Thin cotton clothes are preferred. However, it is cheap to shop on site, the problem may be the sizes. This applies to both shoes and clothes.

To bring with you from the Philippines

Facts about the Philippines

History

The locals

Climate

The climate in the Philippines is subtropical and it therefore has heavy rain half the year and dry season the second half. The rainy season begins at the end of May and ends in November, then it is the dry season from December to the beginning of May. But of course it is not the case that it starts to rain at 12.00 on 25 May and that it does not end until 30 November. Just because it's rainy season, it's not really raining all the time. It can be a break for several days, and it also happens that it rains even during the dry season.

Holidays

Regions

Cities

Getting to the Philippines

The Philippines is most easily reached by air. There are five different international airports to choose from, these are located in Manila, Clark, Cebu, Davao and Laoag. Manila is by far the largest airport in the Philippines and consequently it is easiest to find flights here. If you are going to the southern Philippines, it is much nicer to travel via Singapore and Silk Air from Singapore to Cebu or Davao.

It is also possible to fly to both Manila and Cebu from Hong Kong.

Flights to Manila take about 3 hours from Bangkok. Total travel time from Stockholm, depending on the company, should vary between about 14 and 18 hours incl. stopovers.

Relocation in the Philippines

It often takes a long time to get between different places in the Philippines. The biggest reason for this is that many changes are often required between taxi, tricycle, boat and bus. In addition to this, it is sometimes the case that boats do not leave the port until they are full. All communications within the Philippines are cheap. Example, 4 hour bus ride from Cebu about 60 pesos.

Movement between the islands is most easily done by domestic flights.

Driving a car yourself in the Philippines is not recommended. The traffic rules are nothing like we are used to in the western world and the traffic can be experienced as chaotic. However, foreign driving licenses are valid for 90 days of travel.

The recommendation is to always make sure that the taxi drivers turn on the taximeter at the start. Many taxi drivers take the chance and take big overprices. Feel free to bring banknotes in smaller denominations as you can not count on the taxi drivers having gear.

Lifting is a good way to meet the locals, but is not recommended in the southern parts.

Payment

Payment is most easily made with cash. In restaurants and large shops, it is possible to pay with large banknotes, but a recommendation is to have a lot of change as small shops do not necessarily have change.

The easiest way to pay is in local currency that is withdrawn via ATMs. The most common foreign currency is the US dollar. Nowadays, EURO also applies

In shopping centers and department stores, it is excellent to pay with a credit card without any extra fee.

ATMs are available in most major villages and towns, usually a fee of 200 php (about 4 USD) when using foreign bank cards.

Accommodation

Accommodation in the Philippines is relatively expensive, but by European standards very cheap.

Food and drinks

To see

Boracay is one of the major destinations where many tourists travel. The beach is wonderfully long and there are many restaurants along the promenade.

To do

The biggest activity in the Philippines is diving. Good diving is available all over the Philippines, well-known dive sites include Dauin outside Dumaguete, Malapascua Island, Busuanga (Coron), Moalboal, Panglao outside Bohol. Most diving schools can be found at Boracay and in Puerto Galera. For those interested in wreck diving, Subic Bay is perhaps one of the better resorts in the Philippines. The Philippines is perhaps best known in the diving world for its large population of whale sharks off Donsol in Luzon and Thresher Shark off Malapascua Island. At Donsol, today WWF handles the interaction between man and whale shark and only snorkeling is allowed. Around Busuanga there are many wrecks from World War II (mainly Japanese) and in Subic Bay from both World War II and the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century.

In addition to the obvious sunbathing and diving / snorkeling, there are opportunities for other activities such as sailing, golf and quad biking to name a few. The biggest activity is probably Boracay Island, which is the largest tourist resort.

Work

Communication

Security

At the moment, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel to most parts of Mindanao in the south and also includes the Sulu Archipelago.

In addition to this, security in the Philippines is good, but weapons are widespread. All major hotels have at least one armed security guard at the entrance. This also applies to bank branches. Other security risks have been bombed and planned bombings in the Manila area, these have been carried out by the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The most recent attack was carried out in the Gulf of Manila in 2004. Today, all major ferry connections have security checks with metal detectors similar to a simpler airport.

In addition to this, natural disasters occur to a certain extent, typhoons hit the Philippines every year and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes also occur, albeit to a much lesser extent.

Respect

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