Bamboo Immersion Trip - Day 3

Iloilo - Buildings, originally uploaded by jsigharas.

Our morning started off with a crowded but scenic van ride to our transfer point in Bacolod, a city situated on the north western end of the island of Negros Occidental. There we took a high speed boat (known to locals as the fastcraft) to the city of Iloilo City, the capital of the province of Iloilo on the neighboring island of Panay. With a population of approximately 370,000, it is the regional center and the main economic hub of the Western Visayas region. In the late 18th century, the development of a large-scale weaving industry started the upward movement of Iloilo's economy. But what really triggered the economic boom in Iloilo was the development of the sugar industry in the 19th century.