Random: fishing in the Philippines? Hard travel case for AT Pro?

Trip pictures

Looking forward to seeing any pictures you wish to post from the trip as soon as you get the chance to resize them. Never been to that area of the Philippines yet. Bet every where you went you saw possible future detecting spots just loaded with history and undetected.
 
Found some pictures of that bell tower

Hey all, thanks for the interest. The trip was great, but now I'm back to reality and working like crazy to get caught up.

I only went fishing once, in Anilao, Batangas. I had my ultra light travel rod, and swam it out to a little floating dock about 100 feet from shore. I tried spinners, jigs, and some top water lures, with no action. Then I put on a weighted fly and just lightly jigged it vertically, and caught about a half pound, brown and white fish. No idea what it was, but fun to catch.

I visited the Bantay bell tower in Vigan, which was built in the early 1500s by the Spanish. I noticed that right next door, about 100 feet from the tower, was a small patch of grass (about 200 ft by 100 ft) that was privately owned and only used for grazing a couple cows. If I had my detector, I would have tried to seek out the owner to strike a deal for me to detect the land.

I'm happy I chose to rent a car and drive myself. Outside of the major cities, driving was easy. The only real challenge was in Manila, where traffic is the worst I've experienced, and drivers are aggressive. Overall, renting the car saved me money and a ton of time, and I always find it more convenient to travel on my own time and not be subject to the schedule of others.

The food was amazing, and I put on 10lbs while there. I tried balut (Google it). The flavor is good, but the visual and texture are very offputting. I probably won't eat again. Also, one bite of the fruit durian was enough, it's absolutely horrible. Some highlights were pork sisig, kare kare, and the dessert halo halo. Hands down, my favorite was pork sinigang with lots of okra.

The people in the Philippines are very warm and friendly, and always willing to strike up a conversation, or to offer advice, or any kind of help. Great people.

Anyway, some pics attached of my Filipina love and I. I tried to upload a bunch more of the food and sights, but most failed to upload. I think the size is too large, and I'm too lazy to go through and resize them right now. I'm already planning my trip next year, and I will bring the detector and try to get more fishing in. Thanks for reading!
It was used as a watch tower before being a bell tower by the Spanish , must have seen a lot of history taken place close by. A link to pictures of it ,looks like a great place to detect. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...ationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=134134776 I did get to quickly hunt the ruins of a old watch tower on a small island there the locals were using it to raise chickens . Didn't find anything in the short time I had but want to hit it again and the rocky beach around it on a future trip.
 
Bagelbites dude glad you made it back ok and had a good time. Your filiapina is gorgeous.
Hope your luck will continue to hold out if you pursue driving there. With a driver, you tell him where you want to go and when you want to so I am not sure how you can claim to derive benefit from driving yourself in a high risk situation but your gonna do what your gonna do. Anyways thanks for the report and the photos, excellent.

What is this high-risk situation? Driving there was not bad at all. I think most westerners are just stuck in their driving bubble and can't recognize local driving rules, and therefore have a tough time driving. Well, I don't, and I found the driving to be easy and enjoyable, everywhere outside of Manila.

On my trip, some of the places I visited and stayed do not have any type of transit, or even internet/phone connection for that matter. What if I spontaneously want to go to the market, or the store, or the beach, just for a couple hours? I would have had to spend my time booking a driver beforehand, and who knows where I would find him? What if I want ihaw ihaw at midnight? Get a driver for that? What about the lack of privacy for my girl and I, spending 4 or 6 hours with a stranger on a long drive?

Drivers don't just appear out of thin air when you need them, especially in some of the out of the way places I stayed. All Airbnbs, by the way. Driving in the Philippines is not hard. There is no high risk situation that I ever saw. Self driving was an easy decision and I'll do it again next year.
 
Driving in the Philippines

What is this high-risk situation? Driving there was not bad at all. I think most westerners are just stuck in their driving bubble and can't recognize local driving rules, and therefore have a tough time driving. Well, I don't, and I found the driving to be easy and enjoyable, everywhere outside of Manila.

On my trip, some of the places I visited and stayed do not have any type of transit, or even internet/phone connection for that matter. What if I spontaneously want to go to the market, or the store, or the beach, just for a couple hours? I would have had to spend my time booking a driver beforehand, and who knows where I would find him? What if I want ihaw ihaw at midnight? Get a driver for that? What about the lack of privacy for my girl and I, spending 4 or 6 hours with a stranger on a long drive?

Drivers don't just appear out of thin air when you need them, especially in some of the out of the way places I stayed. All Airbnbs, by the way. Driving in the Philippines is not hard. There is no high risk situation that I ever saw. Self driving was an easy decision and I'll do it again next year.

Glad that worked out for you I know Ken Ward (Dirthknees )keeps a car over there to use when he is there. His place is in the rural area outside Manila . Fist time I went over back in 1989 we depended on the local jeepnies which I found rather interesting. Of course then I doubted you could find a decent car to rent. And there were no cell phones to call a Uber for a ride. We would go down to the edge of the road and wait for a jeepney to come by hoping he wasn't overloaded. When in town we would go to the main plaza and find another jeepney going where we wanted to go. Some times we would use the little motorcycle with the side cab on short trips. All in all was a cheap way to get around. Now we usally just hire a driver often one of the wifes cousins for the whole day. Some of our drivers have also doubled as tour guides knowing some of the best places to see and eat. Not driving I think I get to see more of the country side as well and observe day to day life there. You are a lot younger so I am sure your reflexes and nerves are a lot better than mine. But as long as you are comfortable driving over there I say go for it.
 
Philippines trip next year

What is this high-risk situation? Driving there was not bad at all. I think most westerners are just stuck in their driving bubble and can't recognize local driving rules, and therefore have a tough time driving. Well, I don't, and I found the driving to be easy and enjoyable, everywhere outside of Manila.

On my trip, some of the places I visited and stayed do not have any type of transit, or even internet/phone connection for that matter. What if I spontaneously want to go to the market, or the store, or the beach, just for a couple hours? I would have had to spend my time booking a driver beforehand, and who knows where I would find him? What if I want ihaw ihaw at midnight? Get a driver for that? What about the lack of privacy for my girl and I, spending 4 or 6 hours with a stranger on a long drive?

Drivers don't just appear out of thin air when you need them, especially in some of the out of the way places I stayed. All Airbnbs, by the way. Driving in the Philippines is not hard. There is no high risk situation that I ever saw. Self driving was an easy decision and I'll do it again next year.

Any idea on when you will be going back over next year ? Are you going to check out some diffrent areas next trip or stay close to Manilla ? Think you will have time to do some detecting next trip.:detector::tropical::sun::trip:
 
It was used as a watch tower before being a bell tower by the Spanish , must have seen a lot of history taken place close by. A link to pictures of it ,looks like a great place to detect. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...ationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=134134776 I did get to quickly hunt the ruins of a old watch tower on a small island there the locals were using it to raise chickens . Didn't find anything in the short time I had but want to hit it again and the rocky beach around it on a future trip.

place looks older than sin!..gotta be somethin' there!
i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
What is this high-risk situation? Driving there was not bad at all. I think most westerners are just stuck in their driving bubble and can't recognize local driving rules, and therefore have a tough time driving. Well, I don't, and I found the driving to be easy and enjoyable, everywhere outside of Manila.

On my trip, some of the places I visited and stayed do not have any type of transit, or even internet/phone connection for that matter. What if I spontaneously want to go to the market, or the store, or the beach, just for a couple hours? I would have had to spend my time booking a driver beforehand, and who knows where I would find him? What if I want ihaw ihaw at midnight? Get a driver for that? What about the lack of privacy for my girl and I, spending 4 or 6 hours with a stranger on a long drive?

Drivers don't just appear out of thin air when you need them, especially in some of the out of the way places I stayed. All Airbnbs, by the way. Driving in the Philippines is not hard. There is no high risk situation that I ever saw. Self driving was an easy decision and I'll do it again next year.

You are kano. Look it up. You've been warned and choose to not take the advice. I wont say anything more about it. Do as you please, again I hope you don't get bit on the ass.
 
I bet just about every where he traveled he saw old buildings built by the Spanish , historic sites , places where battles were fought , very old churches all just calling for a person with a detector to search. Very few people over there have detectors so a great place to explore and with over 7000 islands most of it never detected . Hopefully he will post more pictures from his trip when he gets the time.
 
I could be wrong, but I am guessing you might have more pics from your last trip to the Philippines and were probably too busy to post more when you first got back, so any more pics, maybe some of places you'd like to detect over there ?
 
You are kano. Look it up. You've been warned and choose to not take the advice. I wont say anything more about it. Do as you please, again I hope you don't get bit on the ass.

traveled to the phils 5 times, and it is a "gigantic" pain in da ass to drive there!
definitely would advise ANYONE "not" drive there for any reason!..period! maniacal, insane,drivers! ..i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
Driving in the Philippines

traveled to the phils 5 times, and it is a "gigantic" pain in da ass to drive there!
definitely would advise ANYONE "not" drive there for any reason!..period! maniacal, insane,drivers! ..i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
I guess it all depends where you are at while there , wouldn't think about driving in Manila totally crazy there . Might not be so bad in the more rural areas away from the big city. On the other hand wouldn't want to drive in some of the big cities here in the states as well. We normally hire a driver usally a relative that does it for a living that way I get to relax and enjoy the scenery and see a lot more. Age and reflexes might also affect driving over there , I was a lot more daring when I was younger then I am now days. If some one is comfortable with it and knows the risk that is a personal choice . Hope I can get back over there in next few years really like exploring the islands so many places to explore and see , and so much history , and of course there is the detecting and possibility of finding a lost stash of silver or gold coins ,or jewelry from the war. No mater what I find it is always hot but fun.
 
You and me both Dave! I've been to just about every war memorial on Bataan including mile marker 0 of the death march. I've read that every piece of vegetation was blasted off of Bataan during the most vicious fighting there. Considering the density of jungle that is saying something. Would be fabulous to be able to detect there. Corregedor too. I know Cebu had major action but know little of where it was. Need to find out.
Spent a year of Guam in 1972 and lived at invasion beach in Agat for awhile. I pulled up linked 50 cal ammo, a browning machine gun and shell fragments from the lagoon while snorkling, eyeball finds. Spent the night in a Japanese pillbox on the naval station, talk about creepy.
 
World war II relic hunting in Philippines

You and me both Dave! I've been to just about every war memorial on Bataan including mile marker 0 of the death march. I've read that every piece of vegetation was blasted off of Bataan during the most vicious fighting there. Considering the density of jungle that is saying something. Would be fabulous to be able to detect there. Corregedor too. I know Cebu had major action but know little of where it was. Need to find out.
Spent a year of Guam in 1972 and lived at invasion beach in Agat for awhile. I pulled up linked 50 cal ammo, a browning machine gun and shell fragments from the lagoon while snorkling, eyeball finds. Spent the night in a Japanese pillbox on the naval station, talk about creepy.

With all the heavy shelling going on I would imagine a lot of stuff got covered up and never recovered.
 
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