The Angono Petroglyphs- Philippines Oldest Work of Art

This is where one can see the oldest work of art in the Philippines done 3000 years ago using stone tools. 

I visited this site on May 1, 2018 and what normally is a 2 to 3 hour ride from Manila to Angono-Binangonan in Rizal Province took me less than an hour, being a Labor Day holiday.  The Waze app I used was very accurate and I suggest using this because only 5% of the locals have knowledge of this place.  Ninety five percent of the visitors are out-of-townees. 

The site is on an elevated area, hilly, and located inside a subdivision which is privately owned.  There are no public transportation inside so one has to walk a few minutes from the entrance to the site.  If you have a private car, there is a parking area beside the tunnel entrance to the petroglyph. 

Its a 5-10 minute walk from the man-made tunnel entrance which was a little dark but cool.  There is a mini museum which use to house the artifacts like flake stone tools and obsidian flakes, but has been transferred to the National Museum in Manila.  There are 127 figures consisting of stylized human figures and several animals like lizards and turtles.  

Since President Rodrigo Duterte became president, he abolished the entrance fee, so everybody can enter free of charge. The site is well maintained with guards 24/7.  My only suggestion is that the actual petroglyph should be covered or housed because weather elements will surely erase it after 100 years.

One can tour the whole site in an hour. This explains why Angono is the Art Capital of the Philippines producing geniuses like Lucio San Pedro and Botong Francisco.  Their ancestors have been doing art since 3000 years ago.  The site is also on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and I hope this will be accepted by Unesco in the near future.

Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

Our passports were checked as we left Dubrovnik and entered Bosnia-Herzogovina.  Asians these days are a welcomed travelers and passing through the checkpoints was a breeze.  It was a rainy day but our hearts were not dampened by the weather and we ventured into the Old city with our young guide who started the tour in the old Town.  We saw some remnants of the ravages of war like large holes through buildings and destroyed mosques but the town was completely rebuilt out of the original materials.  Even the cobblestone streets were patterned from its prewar appearance.

An interesting place we visited was a mosque where traditionally one is allowed to wear shoes inside.  This is the only mosque in the whole world where this was once done.  It was a tanners mosque and being smelly and dirty, they were allowed to wash their bodies inside the prayer area where there was once a free running stream.  Unfortunately after the post war rehabilitation, the stream was gone.  

The Old bridge area was teeming with people and was daunting to traverse in the rain, where one could easily slip.  This was also completely destroyed during the Bosnian war and with the help of the United Nations and donor countries was rebuilt using original materials.  This was a symbolic bridge among the Bosnian people, a centerpiece of peace.

We were able to buy Bosnian costumes for our kids and I got an authentic Ottoman coffee grinder aside from the usual magnet souvenirs and replica of the bridge.