Manila
The next day, the weather improved, allowing a trundle around town. Manila was
an immensely populated city (20 million) and, consequently, plagued by traffic and
pollution. Manila further had a massive contingent of homeless people. They,
however, seemed friendly and content living on the pavement amidst the fume-
belching trucks and Jeepneys. I ventured along the seafront, past Rizal Park, to
what was known as Intramuros, the old Spanish capital. A crumbling wall still half
surrounded the area. Even though mostly destroyed in World War II, the area
remained interesting.
Upon returning to the guesthouse, my path led past Robertson’s Mall. It was
convenient shopping, seeing they had a well-stocked supermarket. Once at the
guesthouse rumours were doing the rounds of a boat departing to Coron Island
the following Wednesday.
Manila
A stroll with Bjorn from the guesthouse to the National Museum turned out
fascinating and the Butuan boats’ discovery intriguing. The boats were excavated
in 1997 and date to 320AD. These boats are evidence that early Filipinos were
seafaring and relatively technologically advanced. In addition, the discovery
revealed they had contact and traded with areas outside the Philippines, as shown
by the archaeological artefacts. Even more exciting was that the largest sailing
vessel of its kind yet discovered was unearthed in Butuan City in Mindanao.
Estimated around eight hundred years old, the wooden boat may be centuries
older than the ships used by European explorers in the 16th century when they
first came upon the Philippines.
Nibbling on street food, we wandered off in the direction of the Palace to see if we
could glimpse the 3,000 pairs of shoes, ha-ha. In the process, we passed a Sikh
Temple celebrating the 544th birthday of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, founder of the
Sikh religion. Inside, we were issued headscarves, invited to partake in the
festivities, and served the best Indian food since leaving India. What a wonderful
experience.