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The Philippines is a country of interesting numbers. Over 90 million people are spread out over 7,107 islands. This makes the archipelago the world’s 12th most populous country. Roman Catholics makeup 80% of the total population and the country sends more SMS messages daily than Europe and America combined. This Spanish colony is extremely unique compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors. Catholics in Asia? The birthplace of karaoke? The third largest English speaking population on earth? Yes, the more you examen this country, the more interesting in becomes.

And — its gorgeous. A seemingly infinite number of empty sandy beaches, not yet littered with backpackers, tourists and hotels. Think of Bali without Australia or Cancun, without America. From a single fishing boat reflected perfectly on still ocean water, to lush rainforest to some of the world’s more bizarre wildlife — this place is an adventurers dream. I was fortunate enough to spend a couple weeks here recently and the combination of cultural and physical ingredients are enough that I’m planning my next trip back in February of 2011.

Although the beauty of the country is not obvious when you land in Manila, the uniqueness of the Philippines is evident right when you arrive in the capital city. However, things get real fun as soon as you leave the relatively dodgy city of Manila.

There’s something strange about showing up on a rural island, seemingly very far away from anywhere and having almost everyone speak English. Throw an ancient Roman Catholic church up the background and you won’t necessarily feel like you are in Southeast Asia.

The mix to me, felt more like a Spanish and Polynesia mix. Although, the reality is an extremely diverse population made up of Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Bisaya/Binisaya, Hiligaynon Ilonggo, Bikol, Waray, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Polynesia and Spanish. This cultural grab bag makes traveling within the Philippines quite fun, as people seem to be quite different from island to island.

Getting from island to island in the Philippines is actually very easy and very affordable. Inter-island flights range from $25 to $150 USD without reservations. Inter-island boats are also very cheap and a short ride will usually cost less than $10 — or, if you get on a locals fishing boat, the price will be stunningly cheap. Transportation within an island is also extremely cheap and also fun. Above, you can see a street full of motorcycles with sidecars on them.

This was by far the most popular vehicle in the Philippines. These extremely bright colored vehicles with humorous religious slogans painted on them work as taxis and can hold a surprisingly large amount of people. While these will cost you a fraction of a dollar to get around, the real symbolic form of transportation in the Philippines is the Jeepney.

These are the type of vehicles you can jam an unreasonable amount of people inside, or if it gets too crowded you can sit on the roof. This is a classic Southeast Asian site — and I have to say, it is a lot of fun. Especially when the bus gets overflowed with hot, smelly people — its a real break to have open air around you as you swerve dangerously around blind turns on small island roads (although its clearly not the safest place to sit). The Jeepney is:

Jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating.

While getting around is fun and quite easy, it would be inaccurate to paint such a rosy picture of the island nation without a mention of some of the more seedy numbers. The CIA World Fact Book reported almost 33 percent of the population still living beneath the poverty line. In 2009, the Philippines topped the list for deadliest places for journalists.

The International News Safety Institute recorded a total of 132 journalist deaths in 2009 — with 37 of those coming from the Philippines. This was a surprising fact to me as were some of the following results:

After the Philippines, the bloodiest countries in 2009 were Mexico with 11 killed, Somalia and Russia with 9 each, Pakistan with 8 and Iraq with 5.

The Philippines also has a regular history of horrible environmental disasters. Located in what is known as the astride typhoon belt, the Philippines are usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year. There are also many annual earthquakes, landslides, shady volcanoes (not necessarily the fun kind), and tsunamis which seem to reek havoc annually.

And when your house looks like this and is 5 meters from the ocean, you can imagine what type of problems would occur given some of the environmental disasters listed above.

With political, environmental, economic and drug problems, a rampant sex industry as well as a large child prostitution industry — this place is by all means a complicated one.

Yet — the natural beauty as well as the general friendliness of most people you will meet can make you forget about these problems pretty quickly. And yes, you did read that right at the top of the post — karaoke originates from the Philippines, not Japan (although the word karaoke is Japanese). I’m not sure if its this influence or something else — but these are a very musical people. Even in China I see a lot of Filopino bands perform — and most of the time, they are excellent.

While traveling through the Philippines almost every single bar and many restaurants had karaoke setups – even down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere on a relatively unaccessible area. In rural areas, we would pass a small straw and mud hut — yet the ones that had electricity, also had people singing karaoke (regardless if anyone else was in the house other than the person singing).

After leaving Manila, my first stop in the Philippines was at Boracay, an island 200 miles south in the Visayas Region. This island is constantly rated as having one of the nicest beaches in the world. Pictures and my opinion on Boracay, in the next post.