Tomorrow I will be taking a bus out of Manila, and last night I was hoping to figure out the bus schedule and get my bus ticket, so I made my way out of Malate to another neighbourhood called Sampolac. Google made the transit there seem simple, but I found it extremely confusing. Still, thankfully everyone in Manila seems to speak English, so once I found my way onto a bus I got to where I needed to go, the bus station for the Florida bus company.
There I again found it confusing to know where to buy tickets, but eventually figured that out as well, only to be told bus tickets are not sold in advance. I did confirm the schedule--buses leave every hour from 03:00 to 12:00.
With that accomplished, or at least accomplished as much as it could be, I was able to relax today and just enjoy Manila. Which, surprisingly, I have not found to be an especially enjoyable city. In fact, I would have to say that my experience of Manila has given me a fairly negative impression. There appears to be tremendous income inequality; the air quality is poor, and garbage everywhere; and traffic and transit are chaotic and overwhelming. Given my experience of Filipinos in Canada (i.e., as often extremely happy and positive and hard working), I have been taken aback by Manila.
All that being said, I did have a nice day exploring, as I made my way by foot northwest from Malate. I escaped the chaos of the traffic-clogged streets and dirty sidewalks by entering Dr. Jose P. Rizal Park, which appears to be one of Manila's largest parks.
I did a bit of a loop of the park before continuing on, including past these huge birdhouses (mostly populated by pigeons, it seemed).
The most historic neighbourhood of Manila is called Intramuros and that is where I was headed. It is still surrounded by walls.
In many ways Manila reminded me of Lima, and Intramuros especially so, with its Spanish colonial architecture and easily-mistaken-for-Latin vibe.
The gem of Intramuros in terms of historical buildings is the San Agustin church.
San Agustin is one of four UNESCO world heritage churches in the Philippines, and dates from 1607.
After visiting San Agustin I enjoyed lunch and a coffee in a courtyard nearby.
I wandered around Intramuros some more, mainly looking for the post office, although taking in the sights along the way.
I walked by this gas station with the nozzles hanging from the roof--never seen that before!
The post office proved troublesome to locate, but I was very impressed with it once I found it!
Once I had my postcard mailed, it was well after noon, and I was extremely hot. I made my way back to my hostel through a different part of the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Park.
I spent the rest of this afternoon on my hostel's rooftop terrace drinking cool beverages and relaxing.
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