My photo biking in Intramuros in Manila is featured in National Geographic Magazine!
Sometime in early 2023, one of the magazine’s photo editors reached out when they were looking for an image to represent new bike lanes being built around Intramuros in Manila. They found this photo with me and a Bambike from an article I published on this travel blog in March 2019 and asked if they could publish it.
I took the photo of myself on timer mode inside the Plaza San Luis Complex after renting a bamboo bicycle from Bambike for a DIY tour. The same photo was published in National Geographic Magazine’s September 2023 issue under the Travel Radar section.
I’ve always dreamed of contributing to this international publication and to have my photo and name published in the photo credits is a great honor. It’s great to put Manila on the world map for something positive.
Read the online version of National Geographic here.
In the full page spread, writer Ronan O’ Connell includes “Hitting trails in the Philippines” in a list of what’s new and noteworthy around the world.
Under the item “Pedaling the Philippines,” they wrote:
“Built by the colonizing Spanish in the late 1500s, Manila’s Walled District of Intramuros is getting a long-awaited renovation that will include six miles of scenic bike lanes.”
Ronan O’ Connell
There have been a lot of developments lately in Manila. There are more pedestrian and biker-friendly areas now, including the Pasig River Esplanade behind the Manila Post Office.
Last year, a Rappler report said: “The Intramuros district in Manila is set to add around 9.6 kilometers of bike lanes and pedestrian walkways with accessibility ramps, and four public utility vehicle (PUV) stops by the fourth quarter of 2023.”
After recent visits to Intramuros this month, I can confirm that bike lanes are in place in many of the narrow streets of Intramuros. General Luna Street, the road that passes by most of the historical sites in the district such as the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, and the Casa Manila complex, has been pedestrianized.
The streets from General Luna St. corner Aduana St. stretching south to Muralla St. near Puerta Real (Royal Gate) at the district’s encompassing wall are now totally free of cars, making walking and biking around the area a lot more pleasant for tourists and locals. The area in front of San Agustin Church is no longer a parking lot (and has a new UNESCO marker) as well.
I think it would be great if they could totally pedestrianize more streets in Intramuros area and just have a car parking area with the old-school trams and kalesas shuttling tourists instead like in Vigan. Binondo and Escolta could also benefit from pedestrianization efforts.
Anyway, while it’s great to see efforts like dedicated bike lanes in this top tourist destination in Manila, a lot of regular commuters in the metro still face challenges in terms of traffic and mobility. I hope that more bike lanes will be put in place in other areas where they’re badly needed for active transport, and not just for leisure and tourism. Daily commuters who use bikes to work deserve the same respect on the road and benefits that leisure tourists can now enjoy in this section of Manila.