If today is any indication of the kind of travelling that we will be doing while in the Philippines, I best be booking some quiet time when I get home. We first caught a 9:00 am bus to the airport in KK, took an 11:30 plane to Manila. This was followed by a bus, an LRT, another bus, a walk through a hectic town, a jeepney and finally a tricycle. Each time we boarded a new vehicle, we had to search out the right vehicle. Being new to Philippines, we were not really sure how things work here. Trying to find the bus to get to Tanuan was not easy. We had the good fortune of a young Filipino man helping us. He had over heard us on the first bus trying to figure out where we get off, where we go, etc. It was actually pretty easy for anyone to see that we didn't know where we were going, Jon kept asking every time the bus slowed down "Is this EDSA?" - basically asking anyone who would listen to him. It was pretty funny. FInally this young man asked us where we were going. After giving us some tips on remaining safe (I think all locals think we are going to be mugged in our first five minutes off of a bus), he volunteered to show us where the buses were. Ok, great! We're in!
We followed him down a market lane, around a corner and then we saw the busses. We would never have found this 'depot.' He asked around and then discovered that this was not the correct terminal, it was further away. He brought us to the LRT, bought our tickets, got off the LRT with us, and then managed to find not only the terminal, but the very bus that we needed to board. He talked to the driver, told him where we needed to get off and then motioned for us to board the bus. He wouldn't take any money for the LRT, we shook his hand and thanked him whole heartedly and got on the bus. We didn't even learn his name. What a very nice young man. And if this is any idication of the hospitality of the Filipinos, we are in for a great adventure!
After we made it to Tanuan, our destination, we walked around trying to find the market - which is where we would find a jeepney to take us to Talisay. A jeepney is an old Jeep rigged up with a flat bed back, that has been covered. Most of them are decorated with colourful bits, painted on the sides and most also have a name. Our jeepney was "God Save You," well that seemed nice and safe. On we got with our big bags. Then we waited while more people piled on. We didn't leave our 'depot' until we had 23 passengers! We were packed like sardines, really tightly packed sardines. It was hot, there were motorcycle 'tricycles' beeping their horns passing us, money being passed between people to pay (a mere 26 Peso per person or 93 cents) and lots of looks at us- we didn't see any white folks around here. The ride in the jeepney was about 30 minutes, I could see the sun setting in the distance over Lake Taal. We arrived in Talisay in the dark, a man approached us asked where we were going and in no time we were riding in a tricycle. These are motorcycles that have a side car rigged up. Jon sat beside the driver, his backpack in the trunk (a flat open area behind the motorcycle), I was seated in the side car, feeling like I was 6 inches above the ground. And varoom, we were off, delivered right to our resort door. So in one day, a mere 10 hours we took, in order: a bus, a plane, a bus, an LRT, a bus, a jeepney and a tricycle. Outside of the airfare, the total cost was 162 Pesos, or $5.79 per person. Not bad!
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