Anyone been to or from the Philippines?

[Stealthdriver]

Just bought my airline ticket a few moments ago. I am so super stoked to go to another country so far away! Gonna be leaving in February for about 2.5 weeks. A friend lives out there so I will mostly be staying with him (in Manila), but because he has a life I may be doing some adventures on my own as well. Any personal experiences out there and do's and don't of this tropical Asian paradise?

[Telionis]

Watch out for MILF. (Seriously, there is a terror group called MILF in the Philippines).

I shouldn't have to tell you that you should be extremely careful with any drugs you take into any third world nation. I don't mean illegal drugs (which you obviously shouldn't even think about taking), I mean prescription drugs. In some of the middle-eastern nations, even OTC melatonin is considered contraband and will get you jailed (no idea why). I know the Philippines are no where near the middle-east, and are mostly Catholic rather than Muslim, but I'd still be super careful.

I'd buy a Manny Pacquiao shirt and wear that around. He is a national hero there.

Also according to the CIA,

Major infectious diseases:
>> degree of risk: high
>> food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
>> vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis
>> water contact disease: leptospirosis

Get your Hepatitis shots up to date and take lots of care to protect yourself from mosquitoes! Crackers like us don't have the same resistance to malaria that most locals have (SCD heterozygotes are 6x less likely to catch malaria if bitten once).

My doctor likes to prescribe a super low dose of broad-spectrum antibiotic as a prophylactic against diarrhea and the common cold. The local bugs are so different from American bugs that I'd bet money that you catch a cold if you don't take one. Happens to me every single time I go further than 5,000 miles.

It should be a cool trip! But if this is your first time outside the country, prepare yourself for serious poverty. The Philippines has an HDI of 0.638. That makes it considerably less developed than Mexico, poorer even than Bolivia. In fact, the only nation in the Western Hemisphere that is less developed is post-quake Haiti. Manilla must be cool, and there must be tons of very wealthy people there, but if you've never left the USA, I bet you'll be surprised by the amount of poverty mixed in with the skyscrapers and BMWs. Not just the number of poor folk, but the degree to which they are poor. The inner-city ghetto American poor are wealthy compared to most 3rd world poor.

[Stealthdriver]

Wow, thanks for the great info dude. I recently took a trip to Jamaica which was fairly poor as well, but I heard that's its much safer for tourists in the Philippines vs Jamaica.

[Telionis]

F_CKING 3SGTO. Anyone else lose posts when you hit "post reply"? Grr.

[skater334]

Watch for the Adams Apple!!

[Stealthdriver]

Leave in a week from today! Got all my shots and rx meds, etc. Got money and clothes for warmer weather. Just wanted to see if there are any areas, activities, or cautions anyone else recommends or wants to add

[jacob666]

I was in the Philippines last summer with the Navy (Even though I'm in the Army ). Great place, but my one recommendation: dont bring back a wife! It will probably end up sounding like the best thing possible at the time but dont

[Stealthdriver]

I was in the Philippines last summer with the Navy (Even though I'm in the Army ). Great place, but my one recommendation: dont bring back a wife! It will probably end up sounding like the best thing possible at the time but dont

Lol, ur not the first person to tell me that. I think I'll he careful but thanks!