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About Philippines: The Land

The Philippines is an archipelagic nation made up of 7,107 islands spanning 1,840 kilometers north to south. It is part of the East Indies, a vast island group lying south and east of mainland Asia, with Taiwan at its northernmost coast and Borneo on the south. The three main Philippine island groups are Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Luzon is the island of contrasts. The most modern districts in the Philippines, including the capital city of Manila, are in Luzon, but so are some of the oldest tribal communities in the nation like the Ifugao of the Cordilleras.

Luzon is also where a visitor can see the latest model luxury cars overtaking a carabao sled or modern skyscrapers within driving distance of primordial volcanos.

The Visayas is famous for its charm, a trait shared by many other southern regions in the world, but here seems to run deeper among a people who are intrinsically connected to their sun soaked island home.

The Visayas is also famous as a seat of history, being one of the earliest landfalls of western voyagers.

It has also gained a reputation as being a cradle of the nation's future, if the unprecedented economic growth of Cebu City continues.

Mindanao is our offering to the Guinness Book of Records with the world's largest clam, the world's largest Eagle, the nation's highest peak and the world's largest city. Mindanao is also home to the Philippines' Muslim population.

With a land mass of 300, 780 square kilometers, the Philippines is considered a medium-sized nation, about two- thirds the size of its first colonizer, Spain, and a little larger than the British Isles. Manila is only one hour and 40 minutes from Hong Kong by jet; Sydney only 7 1/2 hours away. Flights to Europe take 17 hours and to the American west coast 15 hours.

The Philippines has many things to offer the visitor: a mixture of the old and the new, a diversity of art and culture and a warm, friendly people. Blessed by nature, the Philippines has something to offer every sportsman too . . . extraordinary dive sites, forests to roam, mountains to climb, caves to explore.

Travel Quotes:

Traveling, you realize that differences are lost: each city takes to resembling all cities, places exchange their form, order, distances, a shapeless dust cloud invades the continents. Italo Calvino

To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. Aldous Huxley

Philippine Cuisine Island Philippines

Philippine cuisine consists of the food, preparation methods and eating customs found in the Philippines. The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from its Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine of Malay, Spanish, Chinese, and American, as well as other Asian and Latin influences adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate. More details at Philippine Cuisine Island Philippines

Northern Philippine Cuisine

For festive occasions, people band together and prepare more sophisticated dishes. Tables are often laden with expensive and labor-intensive treats requiring hours of preparation. In Filipino celebrations, lechón (also spelled litson) serves as the centerpiece of the dinner table. It is usually a whole roasted pig, but suckling pigs (lechonillo, or lechon de leche) or cattle calves (lechong baka) can also be prepared in place of the popular adult pig.

More details at Northern Philippine Cuisine