Philippines - General Geographical Breakdown

If you plan on traveling to the Philippines to meet your Filipina penpal then it is important that you understand the geography of the Philippines before booking your vacation and hopping on the
plane. The Philippines has 3 island "groups", approximately 79 Provinces, and over 7000 total islands that make up the country. The Filipina lady you are writing to should be able to tell you what province she lives in and what is the nearest city to her house. All vital information when planning your vacation to the Philippines.

Luzon is the northern Island group which has the major city of Manila. Visayas is the central island group which contains Cebu City. And finally we have the Mindanao island group in the south which contains Davao City. Within these 3 island groups you have 17 regions and about 79 provinces.

Luzon
Metro Manila is the 7th largest city in Asia and has almost 10,000,000 people sandwiched in only 626 square kilometers. There is never a dull moment in Metro Manila! If you go to Metro Manila it will seem like New York City on steroids. I think the cab drivers in Manila would eat the cab drivers in NYC for lunch. While everyone should experience Metro Manila I would not spend my whole vacation there because you will miss out on so many beautiful things in the Philippines.

Some popular tourist attractions in Luzon include Mount Pulag (the second highest mountain in the country) and the famous Mayon volcano. Other attractions include Rizal Park, Intramuros, San Agustin Church, Banaue Rice Terraces, National Museum, Malate Church, Corregidor, Malacanang Palace, Manila Cathedral, Paco Park, Binondo, Echo Valley, Asin Hot Spring, Central Market and the Chinese Garden just to name a few attractions.

Manila Airport Details - NAIA (MNL)

Visayas
Cebu City is the capital of the Province of Cebu. It is also the oldest city in the country and it has a population of about 700,000 and it is often referred to as the "Queen City of the South". You will find Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay in the metropolitan area of Cebu City. The city is politically subdivided into 80 barangays which are too many to list here :)The University of San Carlos is found in Cebu City and it is the oldest school in the country.

Unfortunately when I was in Cebu City I was sick and unable to visit many of the great places there are to see. When I go back I plan to visit the White Beach Path, Willy's Rock, Casa Gorordo Museum, Baclayon Church, Magellan's Cross, Fort San Pedro, Santo Nino Basilica, Rizaliana Museum, Punta Cruz Watch Tower, Sumilon Island, Quijano Museum, Guadalupe Cave, Boracay Island, and the Sinag Village. There are just a few of the attractions you may want to see on your trip to the Philippines.

Mindanao
Davao City is actually the largest city in the Philippines in area, and includes about 2,400 square kilometers. It is also the most important city in Mindanao. The population of Davao City is about 1.1 million. This is a city I have never been to, but countless tourist visit this city every year. Some people have told me it is the most beautiful city they have ever seen. Davao City is politically divided into 180 barangays. I think I would feel safe making this one of my destinations spots on my vacation.

I think it would be safe to say that Davao City is very diverse and different than any other part of the Philippines. It has gotten a bad rap in the recent passed do to some unfortunate incidents that manly involved more remote regions of Mindanao. I have an advisory below regarding a small portion of the Mindanao area. Some attractions of note you can visit on a vacation to Davao City include the Davao Museum, San Pedro Cathedral, Philippine Eagle Centre, Samal Island, Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague, Mt. Apo, Lon Wa Temple, Crocodile Par, Malagos Garden Resort, Marilog District.

TRAVEL ADVISORY - I am not here to tell you that every single place in the Philippines is a safe place to spend a vacation. Like any other country, including the USA, there are probably certain trouble spots I would avoid. You have to do your own research to make sure you are not going to a problem area. Having said this, there are a few areas in the Philippines I would not go and that is the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). If i had a penpal from those areas I would have her meet me somewhere else. This is just my personal preference due to past and current unrest in those areas. Having said that, if someone asked me to spend 2 weeks in Compton in Los Angeles I would not go there either. For me it is all about minimizing risks.