Hideaways!

The Beach
With 7,107 islands, and a coastline twice the length of that of the United States, the Philippines can claim to be Asia's Beach Capital. Enjoy the warm crystal blue waters of both the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Mention the Philippines and images of long, white sand beaches and bodies of water blessed with a variety of marine life come to mind.

Scuba Diving
The Philippines is to scuba divers what Switzerland is to skiers, Hawaii to surfers and Nepal to mountaineers: is a place you must visit at least once, to get the real heart of the sport. The country is a veritable smorgasboard of world-class dive sites set in a lush tropical environment with all the trappings you could wish for. Statistics from the Philippine Department of Tourism indicate that divers visiting the Philippines return for an average of 10 trips each which speaks volume about the quality of the dive sites and the professionalism of the operators. Lifted from the book, “Action Asia Adventure Travel Guide to the Philippines”.

Wildlife
There are not many mammals found in the Philippines.  The carabao, which is a domesticated water buffalo, along with pigs (both wild and domesticated), the mongoose, several deer species and numerous humped cattle are the most important animal species in the Philippines.  There are many reptiles as well as about 760 bird species on the islands, one of which is the parrot. 

The Philippines is noted for it's abundant marine fauna, in particular the mollusks.  The famous Sulu pearls with their deep luster come from pearl oysters around the Sulu Archipelago in the extreme southwest. Almost one fourth of the Philippines is covered with forests.  The trees range from those with rubber, various palm trees, banyan along with indigenous trees such as mayapis, apitong, lauan and camagon, to name a few.

Heritage
"The Ifugao Epic"
The UNESCO World Heritage List has recognized the Ifugao epic ""HUDHUD,"" citing it as among the ""Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of the humanity."" The HUDHUD Epic is the only Southeast Asian Cultural Piece selected in the UNESCO list. This was the first time that the UNESCO gave the awards. It was the second time that UNESCO honored Ifugao, after the province's famous rice terraces was included among UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1995. The HUDHUD, once chanted, will go on for two to three days. The epic is chanted by Ifugao women, usually at harvest time, funeral wakes, and wedding time. There used to be many versions of the HUDHUD but the advent of Catholicism in the province has helped dilute this heritage. The late anthropologist Fr. Francis Lambrecht, CICM brought HUDHUD to the international scene, which he claims has been sung by generations of Ifugaos since the late 17th century and still is a central part of the Ifugao life. The social characteristic of the ancient Ifugaos as seen in the HUDHUD showed a strong matriarchal society. An annual Hudhud chanting competition is conducted every May 1 in Kiangan, Ifugao (Kotad Kiangan).

Facts

Did you know... Palawan bearcat is neither a bear nor a cat. Known in Southeast Asia as binturong, the bearcat is a species of its own, with population in the forests of Palawan, Borneo, Burma and Vietnam. It belongs to the family of Viverridae (civets). The Palawan bearcat has a long body and a pointed face leading to the nose. Its head and body measure 61 to 96 centimeters in combined length while its tail is almost as long. It weighs 9 to 14 kilograms and lives up to 20 years.

Did you know...The world's largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in a giant Tridacna (mollusk) under the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the "Pearl of Lao-Tzu", the gem weighs 14 pounds and measures 9 1/2 inches long and 5 1/2 inches in diameter. As of May 1984, it was valued at US$42 million. It is believed to be 600 years old.

Other Hideaways