Time to change the landscape a bit. And for that we need to change islands again. We will head south. To be more specific: to the southernmost city of the Philippines. Officially known as the City of General Santos. But everybody will call it simply GenSan. I don’t think there’s a need to explain why. The coastal city is the local centre of trade and commerce. It is located in the South Cotabato province which in turn belongs to the Soccskargen region. Now, as the region name might be tricky to pronounce you can also use the official designation as Region XII or the tourist-aimed nickname: Sox. But please don’t confuse this with one famous baseball team from Boston. Don’t mix it up with the other famous baseball team, this time from Chicago, either.

Back to GenSan – the easiest way to get there is to go by plane. There are scheduled flights from other domestic airports. These are operated by either Philippine Airlines (from Manila) or Cebu Pacific (other destinations). If you choose the latter be warned: the airline is famous for delaying flights. As a matter of fact I think that apart from the regular flight schedule they should also have a separate delays schedule. These happen on a regular basis.

The airport itself is not very big although the name General Santos International Airport would suggest otherwise. Well, it is the biggest airport on the island of Mindanao.

The city is located roughly 15 km from the airport (depending what you consider the city limits) and a taxi is again the easiest way to get there. The prices for such services are lower than in other regions of the Philippines. On a side note: if you want to know why the city bears the name of a General Paulino Santos have a closer look at this photograph:

The city is tagged as “Tuna Capital of the Philippines” – a name well deserved as it is the largest producer of tuna in the country. You may also encounter a nickname “City of Champions”. GenSan is the home town of a boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, but the term has been used in other circumstances. The Dance2Dance: The World Streetdance Showcase Competition in Zurich was won by the group hailing from the city. The group name itself underlines this fact: XB GenSan.

As you can see the city can be an interesting place to visit. However, don’t expect such crowds of tourist as in other parts of the Philippines. More to follow in next posts…