How to Go Around Intramuros

Intramuros is the most historical places in manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The walled city serves as the settlement of the Spaniards during their colonization of the country. The city boasts of a fort (Fort Santiago), churches, old Spanish houses, and antique guns that were mounted during the times when the Spaniards are the master of Manila. One can also find inside the museum that showcases the places where Jose Rizal was interred before he was executed.

Intramuros is one of the top tourist spots in Manila and many people go there to relieve the history the history of Manila and the whole Philippines. The walled city is quite big and is tiresome to travel by foot. Would be visitors of the walled city need not to worry since there are many ways to tour Intramuros.

Go On by Foot

This is the cheapest mode of travel inside Intramuros and the most tiresome. However, there many people who prefer to walk when they are traveling. If you are that kind of tourist, then that is not a problem since Intramuros are pedestrian friendly. When touring Intramuros by foot, it is advisable that you carry a map of the walled city so as to plan the best path that you could take for the tour. It is also advisable to bring an umbrella to avoid being scorched by the midday sun.

Ride a Pedicab
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Pedicab is a bicycle that has a covered sidecar. This is an ingenious way of moving inside Intramuros. Also, the pedicab drivers in Intramuros know the ins and outs of Intramuros like the palm of their hands. For tourists, these pedicab drivers already have their route that they follow to tour their clients. Most of them have pamphlets about the tourist spots inside the walled city.

Pedicabs are hired for 100 pesos hour. You can go to interesting places for two hours while riding the pedicab.

Hire a Kalesa
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Kalesa is the Tagalog word for a horse-drawn carriage. You can ride a kalesa to tour you around Intramuros. However, this is more expensive than hiring a pedicab. Riding a kalesa will give you a feeling that you are traveling Intramuros in the same way that the Spaniards had traveled in it during their days in the Philippines.

Go for a Tour Program

There are many tourist and travel agencies that offer touring services inside Intramuros. This is the most expensive of all mode of traveling inside the wall city. However, the benefits are that the tourist will get a professional tourist guides that know the history of every places in Intramuros. You will ride on horse drawn carriages that are better than the kalesas plying around the walled city.


When going for a trip inside Intramuros, consider the options I have just given out and choose what is the best with regards to your budget and your time. The main goal is to enjoy visiting the place and choosing the best mode of traveling inside the walled city will help in achieving that.


Visit my article about Intramuros in Before the Eastern Sunset. Also, in that blog, I have a new blog post which is about my visit to the Minor Basilica of the Santo Nino in Cebu City.

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Photo of pedicab came from Kat's World 3.

Vaseline Skin Lightening Lotion

In my other blog, I shared that I was forced to work under the intense heat of the sun in the past weeks because of a project assigned to me by my office.

Because of this, I had to look for lotions and sun block that will protect me from the sun. Vaseline Skin Lightening Lotion is one of the products I used as my skin protector.

Vaseline Skin Lightening Lotion has Vitamin B3 to help bring out natural fair skin, triple sunscreen to help prevent further darkening caused by sunlight, and yoghurt serum to moisturize skin.

Vaseline claims that this lotion is clinically proven for radiant, naturally lighter skin as early as two weeks of continued application on the skin.

Personal Experience

When I bought this lotion, my intention is to use it as a sun block. However, this lotion is not intended as a sun block and is not good at protecting skin from the Ultraviolet rays of the sun. Thus, I do not recommend this lotion as a sun block.

What I like about this lotion is that it eases the effect of sunburn. I had noticed that is smoothens my sun burnt skin after being applied with this lotion.

So for lightening skin darkened by the sun, you can use Vaseline Skin Lightening Lotion. However, I do believe that there are better whitening lotions in the market. I do not recommend this lotion as a sun block.

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Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read about my Holy Week blog post, “Visita Iglesia.”

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Picture of Vaseline was copied from PinoyGoodies.
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Eldest

Eldest is the second book of the author Christopher Paolini for the Inheritance Cycle. The first book is titled as “Eragon” and the book that followed Eldest is Brisingr.

The novel follows the adventure of the Dragon Rider Eragon and his dragon, Saphira. After the battle in the dwarves citadel of Farthen Dur, Eragon realized that he have much to learn so as to be able to defeat Galbatorix and assure the victory of the allied forces of the Varden, Kingdom of Surda, and the Dwarves.

The book opened and ended in tragedy. The first is the death of the Varden’s chief, Ajihad, and the lost of Murtagh to the enemy. The last tragedy is the death of Hrothgar, the king of the dwarves in the hands of the traitor Murtagh and his new dragon.

In the second book, Eragon discovered many things in the land of the elves and he also learned many things aside from magic that may become useful in his future battle with Galbatorix. The book also focused on Eragon’s cousin Roran and their odyssey from Carvahal to the battleground of the Burning Plains.

The second book of the Inheritance Cycle is as riveting and as interesting as the first book of Paolini. The focus on Roran is also refreshing since it adds new perspective to the story. So to Eragon fans there, this book is not a disappointment. Also, readers of the fantasy genre will also love the Inheritance Cycle of Christopher Paolini.

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