Oranges (1kg) | USD 2.13 |
Local draught beer | USD 0.91 |
Tomato (1kg) | USD 1.13 |
Milk (1 liter) | USD 1.67 |
1 Pair of men leather shoes | USD 63.76 |
1 Pair of Jeans | USD 55.37 |
Rice (white) | USD 0.93 |
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff | USD 0.17 |
Combo meal at McDonalds | USD 2.96 |
Monthly Pass (local transport) | USD 11.39 |
In the Philippines, each small tightly-knit community is organized in a barrio. The barrio life is nothing like any other around the world. Only in the Philippines would you see a warm community with hearty smiles and laughter; fun games and activities during fiestas, locals accommodating even to stranger tourists, and just the simple laid-back life of a farming barrio. It’s a different kind of peace to experience life in a Philippine barrio. The municipality of Talavera in Nueva Ecija province would give you just that kind of tranquility. To save on travel expenses, you can book cheap flights to Talavera as a travel option.
For foreign tourists, you can book flights to Manila at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and either take a connecting flight to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Angeles City or get a taxi going to Cubao and ride a bus set for Cabanatuan, the provincial capital of Nueva Ecija. From Diosdado Macapagal you can also take the bus to the capital. Talavera is near Cabanatuan from the north. Traveling like these may be hard on the back but easy on the budget, as getting cheap flights to Talavera may give you some savings.
The best time to go to Talavera is on the second week of May when the town festival is held. They have many kinds of barrio festivities like carabao racing or bamboo pole climbing. The town festival is always held on any town in the Philippines on the feast day of their patron saint or a designated date. This time in Talavera, it’s in honor of their patron saint, Saint Isidore of Labrador. If you have a bicycle, it would be a good idea to tread through some rough roads and take in the fresh farm air. You may find yourself with the Talavera Cycling Club at some point. If you feel like procrastinating, just lie down under the shade of a tree looking at the clear blue sky on a fine morning.
Most grand accommodations are only in metro cities like in Manila, so hotels in Talavera are relatively small and for a small group of travelers only. There are resorts, though, where you can stay for a night while swimming in a clear, cool swimming pool. For more accommodations, you can find them in Cabanatuan City.