The San Diego Filipino

I just came back from a quick visit to the homeland. What a beautiful country. I stayed mostly in Tagaytay where the view from the ridge is one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen. Tagaytay is just a 90 minute drive from Metro Manila. I was able to go around the city with a tour guide (very reasonable rates) amd then travel south towards Calatagan in Batangas.

Our guide was quite accommodating and he is able to get folks around Luzon up north to the Ilocos region and even as far south to Bicol.

He shared what it was like to make a living in the Philippines and also his hopes to keep Tagaytay beautiful .

As a tourist destination it shares the same problems as other beautiful places (overdevelopment and environmental degradation). I hope we can put in our energies to keep these places beautiful by supporting smart growth policies and ecotourism.