I was in philippines back and forth from feb. 2010 and nov.2011.. Most of two years there.. Its cheap but not much cheaper than Peru.. Peru has a quality and diversity of offerings from climate to food..
Trust me, if you could live in philippines, you would rather live in peru unless you were looking for very young girls throwing themselves at you..
Philippines has hot, hotter and hottest and always humid.. Constant severe weather problems.. The density of hustle in every town with anything worthwhile, is extreme like when i lived in a quiet mountain village and waited four days for one bus with room on board for me.. Four days of buses coming -two bus company vehicles every half hour for four days and they were packed to the roof, yes sitting on the roof.. It was students coming and going over a short but big national holiday event.. Dense populations with very little offered outside the most dense places..
You cant own property in your name in philippines.. You cant own a business without majority shares to local citizens or at least 10 employees hired to your sole ownership of the business entity but not physical land owned.. No residency granted except by marriage and requires regular upkeep with the bureau of immigration
There are less number of complicated hustlers out to fleece you in philippines as a percentage of the whole population, but there are still the overwhelming throngs of hawkers shoving wares in your face to "buy,buy,buy".. South america has quite the complex gambits of hustlers swindling and steering tourist like cattle...
Peru better food options, better housing at the low level and better hygiene.. Peru has the wide range of climate too... No escape from philippines serious humid heat where 92f degrees year round is about average low except in very few mountain options.. Lots more tourist in Peru, lots more to attract them..
The Philippine girls sure do line up young and more easily to marry a foreigner or swindle him if they can

Lots of good simple people there, but they are eagerly needy when they think you are richer than $800 a month...
I couldn't handle the pollution there philippines, always sick.. I handled Peru much better and still left Peru because of ills and pollution... I am hanging out in these parts these days.. Arizona desert near Mexico border.. In the photos..
Will visit peru again via ecuador some day.. Not that bad in peru, just not worth it ~for me ~ to live peru and not feel healthy.. Bought a house in Kentucky (family roots) when i got back from peru last year.. I will only buy in US unless i ever have so much $, i can afford to not care about waste...

- Sonora desert USA
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- Sonora desert USA
- image.jpg (92.36 KiB) Viewed 3213 times