Philippines Happy New Year
New Year started off in Manila, Philippines where Ben and I watched the amazing firework display from the roof top of our lovely hotel. Manila was such a shock to me. The poverty there is horrendous. People live on the streets and you literally have to step into the road to get past them. At night it can be quite scary because you are passing whole families in the darkness and there is no lighting and you get the feeling you would be an easy target. People are so poor they do not even beg. It is almost as if they have given up. Any big park is full of litter as it is home to many families. We saw many guns in the streets and Ben saw guys in balaclavas on a motorbike with a bag full of guns either on their way to a heist or having just completed one.
Gorgeous luxury hotels stand side by side to tumble down shacks. Manila really upset me as the scale of poverty and the difference between rich and poor was so great. Every year the Philippines are devastated by hurricanes which is bad enough but I am told there is a lot of corruption in the government too so I doubt aid gets to where it is needed.
