11/01/2010 Philippino History

Moved to a new hostel as Friendly’s was a bit too dirty for our liking and found a perfectly clean hostel with it’s own bathroom up the road for only a few extra pesos. It seems that a recommendation by Lonely Planet means that a place goes quickly downhill, drops their service and hikes their prices!

Went to the Intramuros today – a walled city built by the Spanish that contains Fort Santiago, Casa Manila and the church and monastery of San Augustin. The church turned out to be an amazing museum in itself and we spent a few hours wandering around and learning about the history of the spice traders and the Spanish monks-come-explorers.

The fort was also interesting and an oasis of peace and quiet after the business of Manila. That night we treated ourselves to some fantastic tapas in a Spanish restaurant – Casa Armas.

1632 Hostel – Manila Philippines