Holy Week in the Philippines: Travel Tips

Holy Week is one of the longest holidays in the Philippines - next to Christmas / New Year.
It's that time of the year when every Filipino tunes out of the hustles and bustles of city life and try to reflect and be with their families. Most embark on a pilgrimage from 5pm of Holy Wednesday until 6pm on Easter Sunday. This year, Holy Wednesday will be on April 1, 2015 and Easter Sunday will follow on April 5, 2015. Expressways (NLEX / North Luzon Expressway and SLEX / South Luzon Expressway) on both sides of Manila are expected to clog up on those dates with fleets of vehicles bound to leave and return to the Metro. Travelling on these dates is not for the impatient ones - staying in Metro Manila is highly recommended if you hate crowds.

For those needing tips on how to pull of a trip in the Philippines during the Holy Week (or on other long weekends), here's my advise:

1. Plan the trip ahead of time.

• Give yourself 2 months to plan during your free time.
• Refer to blogs online for help on how to go about your vacation, especially if it's your first time to visit a place.
• Read a lot of reviews about the places you will visit, these will help you decide on your final itinerary.
• Include plans on where to dine.
• To stick to your schedule, you need to have your itinerary mapped out. Warning: 2 hours on google map's estimate might take you 4 hours in reality. Travel time computation of google does not consider the heavy traffic involved.

2. Finalize your accommodations and other bookings 1 month before the trip.

• Finalizing bookings a month prior to your scheduled trip will help you dodge the holiday rates because hotels and other establishments have not adjusted their published rates just yet. If possible, close the deal 2 months before.
• The most common mistake when going on a trip during holidays in the Philippines is to proceed with no plans at all. Trying to pull off backpacking with a carefree attitude on your pocket will render you homeless and hungry for the rest of your trip. If you're a foreigner, I guarantee 100% dissatisfaction because all the best accommodations will be full by the time you arrive at your destination. Please do not expect street food to be pleasant ANYWHERE. There are very limited streets in the Philippines that offer a pleasant street food experience - that would be in UP Diliman (look for "Mang Larry's isawan & the surrounding vendors), Maginhawa Street in QC (also near UP Diliman), Binondo (Manila), Nepo Angeles City (Pampanga). If you're not near these areas, please do not ever attempt to eat "street food". Even Filipino tourists do not attempt to eat street food if not recommended by a local.

3. Prepare for a very LONG ride.

• Arm your mp3 player / iPod with lots of music or audiobook that will keep you company while sitting out traffic.
• Read a good book - that is if you can read in transit.
• Think about other activities to fill in your free time
• If you're not driving, you can deprive yourself of sleep the night before to enjoy a good sleep while en route.
• Bring lots of stories and bond with your travel buddies.

4. Be EARLY - Arrive early, leave early.

• Leaving for your destination early (before the crack of dawn) will lessen the chances of encountering heavy traffic on the way because others are still at home sleeping or they're still preparing for the long travel.
• Leaving your destination early (also before the crack of dawn) will help you avoid the barrage of cars going back to Manila.
• If possible, be 1 day early so you can avoid the crowd going to and leaving from your destination of choice.

The Philippines is a very nice country filled with beaches and nice historical and picturesque landscapes EVERYWHERE. You just need to research well and plan ahead to enjoy the beauty it has to offer. Cheers! :)