These were the typical reactions my partner and I got when we told others, that we wanted to visit the worst slums in Manila. After almost two years of seeing tropic al beaches in Palawan , Instagram-worthy islands and small Filipino villages, we wanted to see the other side of the Philippines. The dark side.
The side you only hear about, but never see for yourself. The worst slums of the Philippines. When we set out to explore this neighborhood, we had no idea what to expect. People warned us from all sides not to visit Happyland in Manila, so we were pretty excited when a local offered to show us around.
We met him at a restaurant in Baguio, and he told us that he was doing volunteer work in Tondo to educate couples about contraception.
A few days later, we met up with him in Metro Manila and headed north, where the slums of Manila are located. However, it quickly became clear that our new friend had never been to Happyland himself and only knew his way around the edges of the slums in Tondo.
When he realized that we actually wanted to go all the way into the deepest slums of Manila, he decided to turn around. So, we continued the journey alone. We had a mission, and nothing could stop us from finally experiencing the infamous Happyland Slum in person.
