It was the site of many battles between Japanese forces and Fil-Am soldiers during WWII because of its strategic naval position in relation to Manila. Wikipedia does a better job of it explaining it if you care. The island is filled with beaten down ruins of barracks and buildings, as well as damaged weaponry from the bombing barrages.
The forest is quite resilient considering all this bombing occurred over 60 years ago. Now, it is very peaceful and beautiful, especially since there was hardly anyone there when we went. The air was much cleaner with no trikes, and only a few jeepneys around. I am not much of a history buff, but the war history alone was definitely worth the trip. We tagged along with a group of Japanese tourists for the Malinta tunnel light and sound show. This tour was interesting and funny to me since the entire story was told from the Filipino-American point of view referring to the Japanese as "enemy invaders."
The water was a little choppier on the way back, but not too bad. Before going, I read about the "shark infested waters" later into the afternoon. My mentor on this job, Din, visited Corregidor the following weekend and got thrown from the boat on the way back. He was calm and uninjured, so it was funny in hindsight to hear this story. If you can imagine a 70 yr old Indian man being thrown from an outrigger in the middle of the choppy ocean, you will see the humor too. I wish I had a picture to post.
Just puts in perspective how far away I am. I love this.
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