The 7 Out of 9 Philippine UNESCO / World Heritage Sites I Have Visited

Boatman waiting for his guests in front of Puerto Princesa Underground River

The Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago at Galicia, Spain

I am a sucker of tours – anything related about culture and heritage. I am such a sucker that I was able to build a business out of it by selling tours myself.  Now that I am making a bit of money out of it, I have become more curious how are the tours around the world are done.  Let me cite an example – a pilgrimage tour. 

Locally I can only think of the Visita Iglesia – visiting churches on Maundy Thursday and Holy Friday for just a daytime duration. I did organized visitas to iglesias en Cavite, Batangas, Bataan y Pampanga recientemente so I can relate a bit to this.  

Pero en otras partes del mundo,  puedes un mes o mas.  Un ejemplo es Way of St. James o El Camino de Santiago en Español, a revered site visited by millions of peregrinos or pilgrims to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwest of Spain where tradition has it that the remains of Saint James (one of Twelve Apostles of Jesus) carried by boat from Jerusalem is buried. This route can be traced to Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy and finally to Spain even declared as the first European Cultural Route and was also named one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.

Things You Should Know About Puerto Princesa Underground River

The Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan is declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To be recognized and be given this title under this specialized branch of UN, an entity should  have spectacular beauty and universal value.This underground river is also included in the New Seven Wonders of Nature voted worldwide so when I went to Palawan last February, I said I have to see this no matter what. The river that serves as the portal to go inside the cave is so clean that its color is greenish. It is only knee – deep but there are a lot of small fishes swimming unmindful of the tourists getting in and out of the boats… a testament that this place is still very preserved. Inside the cave there are two parts: the Cathedral and the Supermarket which made me think, is there a divine intervention or some unexplained phenomenon that is accountable for the creation of so many images in the rock formation that resemble to so many things in this world and even beyond?

Philippine World Heritage Sites: How Do We Conserve These?

“Heritage is a legacy from our past, what we live today and what we pass to the future generations.” says Boj, speaking in front of a community of travelers under Couchsurfing Manila. He is a fellow Filipino doing an internship with UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and taking up his Masters degree in Urban Planning – National Park Planning & World Heritage Site Management in Peking University, China. The purpose of his talk is to raise awareness of our cultural and natural heritage. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized branch of UN (United Nations) with 3 major programs: conservation of world heritage sites, safeguarding of intangible culture and promotion of cultural industries and expression.