In the intro to his glowing testimonial about the Philippines, German national Philipp Dukatz reveals, “Last year, I traveled all across South East Asia, visited every country of this region, but it was in the Philippines where I lost my heart.”
Dukatz related in his Choose Philippines essay that Dutch sisters, whom he had met when he traveled years before to Indonesia, had said great things about the the country.
“I could never get their stories out of my mind and so I decided to go there and see for myself,” Dukatz said.
At first, Dukatz confessed that he wanted to curb his enthusiasm. He explained, “In my experience it’s usually better to stay rather reserved when visiting a new country and not expecting too much. But in case of the Philippines, all of the expectations, all of the anticipation were more than justified.”
Dukatz goes on to rave about the warmth of the locals, particularly the friends he made in the small town of Gubat, Sorsogon.
He related: “The Filipino people are just awesome. They are very friendly, open toward foreigners, helpful, and very curious. It doesn’t take long to strike up a conversation with a local, old or young. And the good thing about it is that almost everyone speaks good English. That gives you the opportunity to actually have a proper conversation and get to know people. People in other Asian countries are super friendly as well, no doubt, but it can often be difficult to get beyond that language barrier and beyond just scratching the surface.”
Dukatz also hailed the Philippines as “a country of many adventures.”
Screengrab of photo by Philipp Dukatz posted on the Choose Philippines website
