The Philippines is still a relatively unknown and undiscovered destination for tourists.The country is seen by many as an unsafe place to visit, but this is far from the truth, although some of the far southern islands are best to avoid due extremist occupation. The Philippines has 2 main international airports, Manila, the capital city and Clark, situated north of Manila. Both of these airports are easily accessible with international flights from the UK with connecting flights from Hong Kong or Dubai. If your looking for a beach holiday you can fly from Dubai to Cebu, the flight then goes onto Clark (return flights can cost less than £400 from London airports). Manila is a large city with a mixture of poverty to extreme riches. It is polluted, congested, overcrowded and pure mayhem, but well worth the experience of a visit. We found the city safe during the day but would not advise wandering around after dark. Local transport is cheap but it will be quicker to walk for shorter journeys! The Manila Hotel is what you would expect of an old British Colony, wood and marble interior on grand style. It is also situated in the bay, a couple of minutes walk from the cruise ship terminal, if you can find a cruise ship that travels there.From Manila or Clark you can take an air conditioned coach to Alaminos for minimal cost (approx 5 /6 hrs from Manila, 3hrs from Clark). From the coach station in Alaminos take a tricycle to Lucap (about 3 / 4miles and cost around £1.00). A good place to stay in Lucap is Nautilus Islands View Lodge. No view of the Islands but only a 5 minute walk to the bay and the hotel can arrange a boat for the day to save you queueing at the Tourist Board office.The hotel is clean, comfy beds, good affordable food and has friendly staff who speak English. 100 islands are just a day or 2 attractions. For the adventurous traveler, you can take local transport to almost any location although road travel takes time and ‘local’ sign on coaches means no air conditioning. Finding out the route that coaches take is still a mystery. One thing you can be certain of in the Philippines is that you will be greeted by the most friendliest people in the world.”Hotel near 100 islands”:http://nautiluslodge.com
