Doha To Manila: From The Pearl To The Grit

It’s around 5am each day that the mosque closest to our hotel commences the day’s first call to prayer, the deep baritone of “our” muezzin chanting gently through the darkness, joined within seconds by several – possibly dozens – more, as the haunting pre-dawn chorus drifts through the high rise buildings and echoes off stark stone walls.

On our final morning in Doha, an early onward flight means that we are up, showered and fastening the clasps on our backpacks as the call commences, as evocative as ever. Outside in the chill air, there is little in the way of other sound at this hour; Doha is for the most part yet to start its Sunday.

An 8-hour flight coupled with a 5-hour time difference means that we “lose” the whole day and it’s just before midnight local time that we settle in to our next home, deep in the heart of the Philippines capital of Manila. Even at this late hour the air is sultry and heavy, the night thick with humidity. Gaudy neon, lively bars and a busy red light district pass by the taxi window. In the course of those hours we have been transported to a different world; Doha and Manila are at very different points on the spectrum.

Manila is the 18th largest city in the world in terms of population with nearly 15 million inhabitants: by way of comparison London weighs in at number 38. We have a bit of admin to do first – as Brits we are visa exempt here, but we need special permission to stay longer than 30 days. Obtaining that permission at the Bureau of Immigration, a frantically busy office where there is no sign of a computer system and several million pieces of paper being conveyed from point to point and back again by manic staff, takes just a little under three hours. But it’s done, and now we’re free to explore this new country until late March.

It’s clear very quickly that Manila has the grittiness of big cities around the world, the pristine and calm feel of Doha replaced by an altogether different kind of stark reality. The walk from our base in the Malate district to the original centre, Intramuros, takes us through some of the ripped backsides of the city – congested streets rammed with tuk-tuks, tricycle taxis, cars and buses, sidewalks filled with street food vendors, hawkers, beggars, sleepers and maingy dogs, the whole city sweating in the sultry heat. 

Intramuros, which translates literally as “within the walls”, is precisely that, the old city bounded by the well preserved dark stone walling. Well, the stone is dark now, but so are the exteriors of the churches and cathedrals which show white in old photographs, nowadays almost black beneath the city grime of decades. As you would expect though, the interior of these places of worship is absolutely splendid in every case. Beautiful, peaceful, cavernous churches.

Once inside those walls, Intramuros is well worth wiling away some time, with several places of interest as well as the two major churches. An ethnological museum, the appealing Casa Manila with its lovely facade, a number of attractive older buildings and a traditional restaurant, Barbara’s, which is something of a time honoured Manila institution, where it’s worth a look around the interior even if you don’t eat there – staff are happy enough to grant you a look inside. Intramuros is also home to an excellent craft shop with work created by the different people around the islands. For the Manila visitor, Intramuros is where to aim for – a very welcome oasis in this sometimes challenging city.

Fort Santiago stands in its own grounds within Intramuros, having been a military base at different times for Spain, Britain, USA and, during WW2, Japan. This is the site of one of Asia’s most terrible World War 2 stories. During Japanese occupation 1942-45, many alleged dissidents were imprisoned, tortured and slaughtered on this very spot. When Manila was liberated by the Allied forces in 1945, over 600 rotting corpses were found in the dungeons, all ordinary civilians. But there was worse – as liberation came closer and the Japanese realised in February 1945 that their days of occupation were numbered, they went on a rampage which became known as the Manila Massacre, slaughtering more than 100,000 civilians as they tore through the city in four weeks of unfathomable depravity. It doesn’t matter how many times we visit places like this, we will never understand how war can bring humanity to sink so low.

If you’re thinking of spending time in Manila, lower your expectations a little before you come. This is an earthy, gritty city where the humid atmosphere and the overcrowding make it a fairly oppressive place, with precious few places worthy of sightseeing outside of Intramuros. As we have now discovered, Manila is more than the 18th largest city in the world, the centre is in fact the number one, by some measures, for population density, with almost 120,000 people per square mile. It is, though, a “proper” city, know what we mean? There’s no escaping its dark sides, and there are many….errrr….unpleasant corners, but here’s the thing – its absolute saving grace is its courteous, polite people, always helpful and always ready with a smile. It may be gritty and earthy, but even in its darkest backstreets it doesn’t really feel threatening or unsafe. There always seems to be a kind person when you need one.

The most amusing and unique sight of Manila is the unusual vehicles known as jeepneys. More or less the equivalent of the collectivo in Mexico or the dolmus in Turkey, these jeepneys look terrific and are full of character. They are obviously a big part of society here too, being extensively used by the city dwellers who cram into the seats as their preferred mode of transport – but to visitors like us these buses have an exciting look about them. How could you not love something that looks like this….

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years until the late 19th century and, even though it’s now more than 125 years since the end of that period, there remains obvious elements of Spanish influence. Place names, street names and architecture bear the hallmarks, and maybe surprisingly the locally brewed and dominant beer is still San Miguel all these years later – equally, there’s no mistaking the remnants of Spanish influence in the cuisine. After the Spanish, the USA held colonial control over the islands until WW2, and their influence is visible too, not least in the startling number of American fast food outlets – Manila must score very high on the McDonalds-per-square-mile register. (Other fast food chains are also readily available).

And then there’s China, with whom the Philippines has shared a close tie for 50 years. Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown, is reputed to be the oldest Chinatown in the World and, as it happens, we are here for the Chinese New Year celebrations. For that day, Wednesday 29th, Binondo is utterly rammed for the afternoon procession and there is much animated excitement on its streets. We join the huge crowd and wait to see the traditional dragon costumes snaking through the throng – but, as it happens, we are to be disappointed in that respect. There are none, even though we’ve seen impromptu performances elsewhere in the city this week.

Instead, the procession is a succession of truck mounted floats from which the occupants throw handfuls of sweets, biscuits and T-shirts into the crowd, which triggers a remarkable scramble. Grown men and women push, shove and baulk each other to grab a couple of sweets; people hold open pillow cases to catch as many freebies as they can. We can only think there is some belief that good fortune is attached to being a recipient, otherwise why the unseemly bundle for something of such little value? It’s all a bit hilarious. Michaela emerges from the scrum with pocketfuls of sweets and 2 T-shirts. She’s irrepressible sometimes.

We think it’s fair to say that Manila is never going to win any beauty contests for cities. The more we wander around, the more we find ourselves in downtrodden areas with dodgy corners. With a world high population density, it’s perhaps no wonder that it feels the way it does. Michaela has probably found the right terminology, when she says that this isn’t a city you would easily fall in love with…..but it is a “real” city, and spending time here is a “real” experience. If you like. 

We should of course add that, with a city of this size, it’s only possible to see a small proportion of the whole – it’s entirely possible that me have missed some other good bits!

Then again, in the words of Alan – you’ll meet him in our next post – when asking if we were enjoying his city, said, “Well, you know for the visitor, Manila is really just Intramuros plus shopping malls”. 

Horse’s mouth.