Live An Adventure Podcast

Philippines: An Island for Every Taste In every family, there’s always an odd one out—and in the clan of Asia-Pacific nations, that member would be the Philippines. This nation of 7,107 islands (about 2,000 inhabited) began as a loose grouping of Indo-Malay tribes, which endured nearly 400 years of Spanish rule, then 48 years as a U.S. territory. Today the Philippines is a mix of tribal pride, Catholic fervor, American pop-culture savvy, and tropical affability. Most visitors don’t linger in the muggy, traffic-clogged capital, Manila, but you should explore at least one of the Spanish churches in the old, walled center of Intramuros and stroll around Manila Bay at sunset. Then head to some of the thousands of beaches, from the pink sands of Great Santa Cruz Island to the black sands of Albay. Divers off Palawan, Apo, and Siargao islands delight in hundreds of coral and fish species. On the southern isle of Mindanao, more than 1,300 land species—including the endang...

Poem 5  by Pablo Neruda For you to hear me, My words Thin out sometimes. Like the seagulls draw lines on the beach. A necklace, a drunken bell For your hands smooth like grapes. And I look at my words from a distance They are yours more than mine. They go climbing over my old pain like ivies. They thus climb by the humid walls. You are the guilty one of this bloody play. They are fleeing my empty den. You pervade everything, everything. Before, they inhabited the solitude that you now enter, They are accustomed more to my sadness than you. Now I want them say what I want to tell you So that you hear them what I want you to hear from me. The wind of anguish still sometimes drag them. Hurricanes of dreams still at times tumble them. Listen to other voices in my painful voice. Crying of old mouths, blood of old pleas. Love me, companion. Do not abandon me. Follow me. Follow me, companion, in...