Bataan Death March memorial tour

This was a wonderful experience. We enjoyed a full day of history. There is a three hour travel time from Manila, but it wasn’t too bad.

+6

JB brings both personal family history and extensive knowledge of the area and historical events. I took down notes because I didn’t want to lose any of the wealth of information he was sharing! In my case, I was visiting Bataan because it’s where my grandfather was born, and JB so kindly added in a stop at the church in Pilar and even asked folks there to take a look at baptismal records for me. I truly value JB’s kindness and patience. Thank you!!

Just wow! The history is amazing. This is not a tour you can DIY. Honestly, it was worth the price. It did take about 10.5hours for the driving distance and we were lucky with traffic that day. Boyet was our driver and he was great and safe. JB has so much passions and a personal interest in sharing the history of the Bataan March. If you love history and want to learn about this significant era, take the tour. My husband loves military history and he learned a lot of new facts on this tour. Thanks again JB and Boyet.

JB and our driver, Vincent, took us on tour of the Bataan peninsula which focused on the Death March but it was so much more. We visited three World War II museums and learned more about the Japanese treatment of the POW’s and the local population. The courage of the Filipinos was amazing and we cannot be more grateful for all they did for the American service men left behind to fight overwhelming Japanese forces. The soldiers and civilians were brave and generous and never stopped fighting for their freedom. JB was extremely knowledgeable and had first hand experience because his grandfather survived the Death March and taught JB many things as a child. He was willing to share this personal knowledge and the pain and suffering of the war. We will never forget this tour and we thank JB and Vincent for teaching us and sharing a profound experience with us.

It is a long day with a number of stops but quite informative. Plan for some walking at Mount Samat.

What a fantastic most important tour. This tour went above and beyond showing how important it is for today's generation to know this history and to learn from it. It was an honor to have JB as my guide. His grandfather was a hero and survivor of the war and Death March. So it is personal for him which was the highlight of the tour. Thanks for the education on such an important topic.

Our guide Carlo, and his driver Marcel, did an outstanding job in showing us a number of significant sites on the Bataan peninsula pertaining to the Death March. As the itinerary suggests, we traveled in reverse order of the march, first visiting the memorials at Capas and the railroad station through which the survivors of the March and the horrible rail car trip passed, before their final march to Camp O’Donnell at the end of the ordeal. Then on to several WWII museums and the April 9, 1942 surrender site, and the beautiful memorial and cross at Mt. Samat. Although Carlo was young, he was extremely knowledgeable about all the events that took place in his country more than 80 years ago. At our special request, he took us all the way to the bottom of the Bataan peninsula to the 0 km Death March marker (the start of the march) at Mariveles. This writer’s father survived the Death March and the following 40 months as a POW, and visiting the location where the march began was very meaningful and moving. Carlo made it happen. I give this Bataan Death March Tour and Carlo my highest recommendation! Salamat po!

Get the bad part first — it’s a long drive from Manila. There - I said it. Everything else is amazing. The combo of sombre history, plus friendly people, and our incredible guide JB -/ it was a great day!!

Our guide was John,, the driver was Boyet(?).. Boyet was a great driver,, very aware,, very careful.. They were both very helpful, courteous, friendly, accommodating.. John was knowledgeable beyond belief.. His English was faultless.. All the places we stopped were very interesting.. Ronnie was the guide at the museum,, also,,, so knowledgeable.. We were picked up at our hotel,, just before 7am.. We returned about 6:30pm.. A nice, new, very clean car. AC was great.. It was a bit of a ride to our first stop but the chatting made the time go by quickly. The distance between stops didn’t seem extreme. There were no crowds.. Very little walking.. Our last stop was at the top of a mountain overlooking Manila Bay.. Very nice.. Some road construction on our return but more chatting made it bearable.. Everything was included,, except our stop for lunch.. We very much enjoyed our experience. I’m not shy about recommending this tour.. More than five stars… When we got home we discussed our experience. There was a feeling of sadness,, knowing the full extent of the suffering and death.. That so many gave so much,, many tens-of-thousands gave all… Also a feeling of great pride; proud of our ancestors who sacrificed so much,,, for their freedom,, and ours.. We are very grateful that there are people who are dedicated to keeping these memories alive.. May we never forget the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".. ROY….

Tour guide and driver were very nice and accommodating. They went out of their way to show me Mile marker 0 on the B side. I saw everything that i wanted to see and more.