Part I- Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines

We took a vacation to the Philippines, on July 16th through the 23rd. We landed in Manila the night of the 16th and got up the next morning to catch a flight to Cebu. We had an interesting time. The Philippines is a beautiful country. I imagine if you live there and get to know the people you can really appreciate it. However, as foreign tourists at a nice hotel located directly next to a slum, we were mere walking dollar signs to the locals. I can't blame them, our modest salary could go a long way for one family there. But, the constant begging did make some days a bit unpleasant.


I would like to tell you about our time there in no real particular order. 
 

One of the days at our stay in Mactan Island on Cebu we decided to go to the capital which is Cebu City. We walked around the city after we were dropped off at Magellan's cross. Being that it is a tourist destination you can't really cross the street without being hassled to buy something. When I saw this in action I couldn't help but take a picture. It describes about 75% of our experience in the Philippines.

"100 pesos please"

At this point his eyes are glazed over. She's said "no" but he isn't going to take that.

"2 for 100 pesos" says the salesman. The husband doesn't look too happy. He's like "not again". I think they were Korean

"Hey" says the dude in the background  "I'll give you 3 for 100 pesos." says the salesman.  "Maybe if I frown real hard he'll stop asking us...."
All the other people in the picture are taxi drivers trying to sell you "island-hopping tours" or a trip to a massage parlor.

Those tourists were really strong. They kept on walking and didn't give in. Although I am most certainly sure at some point on their visit they bought something from someone like this. 


After this we saw some school children crossing the street. It was amazing to me how you could see such a contrast between wealthy and poor. These children probably come from families with at least some money. 

If you turn the street corner you will see some of the not so privileged people who live in Cebu City.

We honestly didn't know what to do, so we just wandered around. We saw Carbon market, which was partly a very interesting outdoor market for locals. We didn't get hassled there at all, since its not so much a tourist destination as the beaches.