Manila is a thriller, despite the smog, the traffic congestion and the crush of people. And, more and more travellers are taking cheap flights to Manila each year to experience this wonderful, lively city and get beyond its unfair reputation as an ugly city without a soul.
Manila has been flattened and rebuilt many times. The city has been home to the Spanish, Chinese, British, Americans and Japanese. A coruscating bombing campaign by the Japanese in 1945 left it the second most-devastated city after Warsaw. It was rebuilt in American style and is today a city of shiny shopping malls, tower blocks, freeways, and, as the gap between rich and poor in the Philippines is gaping wide, shanty towns.
One fascinating piece of old Manila that has survived is Intramuros. This perfectly restored medieval city - intramuros means "within the walls" - has immense historical interest. Every power that has ruled the Philippines has flown its flag over its walls and although there are outlets of Starbucks and McDonald's inside the walls, there are churches and convents (including San Agustin Church, the oldest church in the Philippines), schools, Fort Santiago and other important monuments that have somehow survived Manila's tumultuous history.
