A month in the Philippines 🇵🇭

Philippines Fun Facts...

1. The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of 7,641 islands which are divided into different regions such as Cebu or Bicol. Only 2,000 of these islands are inhabited and more than 5,000 are yet to be officially named. 🏝️

2. Seasons in the Philippines are divided into "wet and dry" seasons. The wet season is from June - November and the dry season is from December - May, however I found that when I visited (November / December), some regions were experiencing wetter / drier weather than others and this seemed to be local knowledge for when is best to visit specific regions. Overall the weather was great when I visited. 🌤️

3. The Philippines is the only Christian nation in Asia with 85% of people in the country practicing Catholicism. ✝️

4. On some smaller islands, power outages are a regular occurrence and some restaurants / accommodation may not have the generators to keep up with this, so be prepared for lack of wifi or Air-conditioning for some moments. 🪫

5.  The local currency is the Philippine Peso. It is worth carrying a fair bit of cash on you as most places don't accept card, some islands may not even have many ATMs or with the occasional power outage it may be hard to get cash out. ATMs will mainly give you cash in 1,000 peso notes, and most will allow a maximum withdrawal of 10,000 peso with a 300 peso charge for international cards. Your best bet is to use the ATMs in international airports such as Manila or Cebu where they have a variety of different ATMs to try that are less restrictive. 💸

6. The local food is delicious! My favourite meals were the Pork Sisig and the Bicol Express. I found that the majority of the meals are very meat and rice heavy with limited fresh vegetables, and this often left me feeling very sluggish, however I met many other travellers who were worried about getting food poisoning and this never happened, I felt very comfortable eating the local food. If you take part in the common island hopping tours with lunch included you'll try typical Filipino dishes, however if you're craving a taste of home there are plenty of restaurants offering other cuisines. I also found that drinking a normal can of Coca-Cola with each meal and staying hydrated with water or fresh coconut water can risk the chances of getting sick. 🥥