I have just been to the Philippines. It was not a conventional tourist trip and I would challenge you to follow in my footsteps.

There are almost no areas in Australia like the suburbs of Iloilo City. We would not even call them suburbs. They call them "squatters areas" which constitute most of Molo and San Juan and other areas although some areas are better than others. My first two nights in Iloilo City were in a motel protected by armed guards. This fellow's pistol is on his right hand side and can't be seen. Every shop, mall, bank or business is protected by such guards, some of them toting pump action shotguns. The Australian embassy in Manila, along with several other embassies in the same building, were protected by the same shotgun carrying guards but also by some with automatic rifles.

Unfortunately I had to turn my camera off as the plane landed in Manila. It does look like a real dump compared to anything in Australia except for some of the more remote indigenous housing. People are living in huts supported by poles over the rivers flowing through Manila. Every sign of a corrugated iron roof is rusted. There is no new iron to be seen anywhere except on the airport buildings.

It is strongly advisable not to leave Manila airport unless in a car. Don't take the special airport taxi either. Get a private one. You will get slugged something like 700 pesos where a private taxi will only cost less than 100. More about taxis later.

As it is, I didn't leave the airport the first time in Manila but went directly to Iloilo. (Pronounced somewhere between EE LOO EE LOO and EE LOW EE LOW. They use American, not Australian, vowels.)

There are also motor cycles with side cars everywhere. These are motor cycles in the 100cc range with side cars attached. Overloading is when they fall over or fail to move as the picture at right demonstrates.

Not so obvious is the overloading on the tricycle at left. I was helping establish a mango farm on Guiramas Island. This tricycle does not look so overloaded but there are 25 mango trees strapped to the back and 3 people you can't see very well. I am the one with the white shirt. The driver and a male passenger on top are also easy to see. What is more difficult is the woman next to me and the woman and child riding pillion on the back of the motor cycle and hidden by the side car.

And talking about coconuts, when you want them you just climb the tree and throw them down. If you can't climb yourself, you pay someone.

Then - fresh coconuts and, of course, the coconut milk that goes with them

I was lucky enough to attend the festival of San Roque on Guimaras. These are the poorest of the poor living off the land in Nipa huts but what a life. They all seem happier than we are. There is nobody complaining about the taxes they pay because they don't earn enough to pay any except for a 12%Vat on everything they manage to buy. They work all day for almost nothing but wake up the next day, smile and just get on with it.

Despite their poverty, they would have been insulted if I didn't visit them and eat something. To visit and eat something at one hut means you have to visit them all. This experience is not on the tourist maps.