Intramuros, Manila {Deetour}

My friend Gay’s wedding was held in Intramuros, Manila (Philippines), so I had a chance to explore the place for the first time.

Intramuros (Spanish for “within the walls”) is the oldest district and historic core of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Also called the Walled City, it was the original city of Manila and was the seat of government when the Philippines was a component realm of the Spanish Empire. (via Wikipedia)

So why, then, have I never explored it before if it’s so historical and all? Well you know how it is. If you live somewhere, chances are, you take it for granted and don’t explore its touristy stuff. We noticed a lot of tourists in the place, either rolling through on their guided segway tours or riding through the cobblestoned streets in a horse-driven carriage. I would have liked to go on a horse tour if we had time.

The day before we explored the place, we attended the wedding ceremony in the San Agustin Church which was built in 1607. It looks majestic both outside and in.

 

Meanwhile, the wedding reception was held at White Knight Hotel, where we also stayed for a couple of knights – sorry, I meant nights.

The room itself looked nice enough, but the hotel’s amenities were a bit outdated, like they had no wifi, for example, and the corridors had an old musty smell that is characteristic of ancient buildings.

If you wanna check this place, I would recommend booking a guided tour that includes this and “the place where that guy was shot,” as an Irish Indian guy once told me. I seriously wondered what he was talking about at first, and wondered why they should go to such a place, before he mentioned that it was a park and I realized that he was talking about Rizal Park, where the Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal had been executed by a firing squad in the 1800’s.  😕

I wouldn’t recommend going during the Philippine “summer” months (April & May), though, when it’s so hot you just want to do the ALS ice bucket challenge all the live long day! You’d be better off spending that time on the beach or resort, which I also went to a week later. Blog post about that to follow. Stay tuned!  😉