Fuming at dawn, Taal Volcano on the Philippine island of Luzon has three calderas. Fumes rise from smallest caldera on a little lake on island that is the second caldera. The big lake is the third caldera. On its rim is the city of Tagaytay. Copyright FilipinaTravels 2023.

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EXPLORE THE PHILIPPINES WITH US!

Here we visit various places in the Philippine Islands in alphabetical order.

Antipolo is located in the southern end of the Sierra Madre mountain range on the island of Luzon, Philippines. In addition to an oft visited cathedral, the town features Manila views and the wonderful Pinto Art Museum, a treasure-trove of galleries filled with diverse filipino artworks.

Baguio is situated amidst pine-covered mountaintop at the southern end of the Central Cordillera mountain range. A well maintained highway gets you up there and back down with spectacular views of steep mountain valleys. As it is located at high altitude, Baguio is often comfortably cool, often in the mist of clouds, and downpours. Flowers flourish in the city. Golfers enjoy games on greens amongst pines. There is a presidential retreat and a former U.S. R&R base, Camp John Hay. Among the features there is the We Shall Overcome statue, a likeness of the Statue of Liberty.

Banaue Rice Terraces, also considered as the eighth wonder of the world. An engineering marvel, this "Stairways to the Sky" was constructed by the Ifugaos.

Batangas The resort village of Anilao, pictured below, is at the southern tip of the Mabini Penninsula municipality that forms one side of Batangas Bay. It and other resorts in the Batangas region are a draw for divers due to their location along the marine environments of the Verde Island Passage between the West Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Among other features, the City of Batangas has the ferry terminal for trips to and from Verde Island in mid passage, as well as to and from Puerta Galera across the passage on the northern tip of the Island of Mindoro.

Bohol is famous for its "Chocolate Hills" that look like they could be chocolate drops resting on the landscape. Bohol has accompanying Panglao Island that has varied resorts along its wide white sand beaches a short boatride away from well-known dive locations reached by PADI certified diving vendors.

Boracay Island: Widely known for decades as one of the finest swimming destinations in the world, Boracay is blessed with fine talcum powder-sand beaches. Beware that flights land on the island next door, so the final negotiation of a trip from the airport to the airport island's port awaits visitors before they step foot on Boracay. All the island's beaches are open to the public and the hotels bordering the beach are now wall to wall. The island's rapid growth had not been able to be accomodated by the island's sewage system, resulting in it being closed to tourists a few years back. All seems well now.

Camiguin Island, known for its lanzones festival, offers white-sand beaches, spring resorts and magnificent caves.

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the country and the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in the central and southern parts of the archipelago. It has five-star hotels, casinos, white sand beaches, world-class golf courses, and convention centers.

American in Manila during time of former Philippine president Duterte's drug war killings.

EXPLORE THE PHILIPPINES WITH US!

We continue our visit to various Philippine places in alphabetical order.

Manila: Manila is the Philippine capitol, with the presidential house, Malacanang, along the Pasig River that bisects the city. The city's past is seen in the national museum, and a variety of historic monuments, in its century-old churches, and in robust fort Intramuros, It is a city with exasperating traffic snarles that new flyover routes completely avoid, for those who can afford the toll.

Palawan boasts white-sand beaches, scenic rock formations, an underwater river and magnificent caves. It is home to Tubbataha Reef, on the list of World Heritage sites.

Puerto Galera (Galleon Port) is a popular beach and dive resort on the Philippine island of Mindoro. Featuring a marine reserve, Puerto Galera is endowed with coves, shallow coral reefs ideal for snorkeling with drops off shelves ideal for scuba diving.

Tagaytay Tagaytay sits along the rim of a massive volcanic caldera filled by Taal Lake amid which there is a volcanic caldera filled by another lake, in which sits the fuming new cone of Taal Volcano. Filipina Travels photogaphers strive to capture stunning images of the Philippines, such as the image of the fuming Taal Volcano at dawn which welcomes guests to our website.

Vigan, in the northwest of Luzon, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as it is the most intact example of a Spanish colonial town in the Philippines.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Philippine archipelago was known as Maharlika, which may have come from the Old Malay language meaning "noble creation".

The official name of the islands, however, changed throughout the course of Philippine history.  The name Philippines and its Spanish counterpart Filipinas are derived from the name of King Philip II of Spain. Despite the presence of other names, the name Filipinas was eventually adopted as the name of the entire archipelago. In the Philippine Revolution , the Philippines was officially called the Republica Filipina, or the First Philippine Republic. From the time of the Spanish-American War until the Commonwealth, American colonial authorities referred to the Philippines as the "Philippine Islands", a translation of the original Spanish. It was in the Commonwealth period that the name Philippines began to appear. It persists as the official name of the nation.