More Adventure Than I'd Bargained For
I've been putting off writing this last post about the Philippines. One of the best parts of traveling is imagining what it's going to be like and then actually going to the place and having your ideas smashed to pieces by the reality, which is much more amazing than your pathetic attempts to create it in your head. I've never been disappointed before--I love traveling (obviously) and I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to new places.
The Philippines was the first place where the reality was worse than the dream. It began with the pollution of Manila and carried over to the bus ride on Palawan (and the roosters crowing at 3 in the morning, and the mosquitoes, and the litter...). The problem was that I pooh-poohed the resorts of Boracay for the adventure of Palawan, the least developed island of the whole dang nation--and that's saying something. Traveling around Palawan--at least, the way we traveled around--was a hardship, plain and simple.
Our second-to-last night took the cake, though, for adventure, and neatly illustrates my point. See this picture?
That, my friends, is me CLIMBING OVER A LANDSLIDE in the middle of the night trying to get back to Manila from the rice terraces of Banaue. What happened was this: We were safely on the overnight bus headed back to Manila, where we had one more night to spend before flying back to Hong Kong. About an hour into the trip, a couple of people climbed on the bus and were exclaiming and throwing their hands up in the air. There had been a "slide," and there was no way the bus was getting through.
So the bus turned around, and we were faced with spending another night in Banaue and figuring out some other way to get back to Manila. Fortunately, the manager at the bus "station" (I use the term loosely; it was more of a shack) came up with a plan. A jeepney would take the passengers to the landslide, where we would climb over and meet a jeepney on the other side. That jeepney would take us to a bus stop 2 hours away where we could catch a bus to Manila.
Looking back, climbing over a 15-foot landslide in the dark might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was definitely an experience (have you noticed that's my favorite word for these Philippines posts?). The second jeepney was able to rip us all off big time, but we made it just in time to catch a bus, and we were thrilled to be back in Manila the next day, which was starting to look much more charming at that point than when we'd first arrived 2 weeks before. It has great restaurants, Starbucks, movies, and shopping (Topshop! Mango! Forever 21! And more!)--things we were so very grateful for by the end of our trip.
Would I go to the Philippines again? Sure! The landscape is breathtaking and the people are great. But I'd definitely do things differently. I'd plan on spending a lot of time getting around from place to place--better yet, I'd plan on heading straight to the white sands of Boracay! Don't ask Joel if he'd go again, though...
Moral of the story: Lowered expectations. If you don't expect much, you'll probably have a much better time. I know everyone says this, but I'd honestly never had a problem with it before. Now I know better!
The Philippines was the first place where the reality was worse than the dream. It began with the pollution of Manila and carried over to the bus ride on Palawan (and the roosters crowing at 3 in the morning, and the mosquitoes, and the litter...). The problem was that I pooh-poohed the resorts of Boracay for the adventure of Palawan, the least developed island of the whole dang nation--and that's saying something. Traveling around Palawan--at least, the way we traveled around--was a hardship, plain and simple.
Our second-to-last night took the cake, though, for adventure, and neatly illustrates my point. See this picture?
That, my friends, is me CLIMBING OVER A LANDSLIDE in the middle of the night trying to get back to Manila from the rice terraces of Banaue. What happened was this: We were safely on the overnight bus headed back to Manila, where we had one more night to spend before flying back to Hong Kong. About an hour into the trip, a couple of people climbed on the bus and were exclaiming and throwing their hands up in the air. There had been a "slide," and there was no way the bus was getting through.
So the bus turned around, and we were faced with spending another night in Banaue and figuring out some other way to get back to Manila. Fortunately, the manager at the bus "station" (I use the term loosely; it was more of a shack) came up with a plan. A jeepney would take the passengers to the landslide, where we would climb over and meet a jeepney on the other side. That jeepney would take us to a bus stop 2 hours away where we could catch a bus to Manila.
Looking back, climbing over a 15-foot landslide in the dark might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was definitely an experience (have you noticed that's my favorite word for these Philippines posts?). The second jeepney was able to rip us all off big time, but we made it just in time to catch a bus, and we were thrilled to be back in Manila the next day, which was starting to look much more charming at that point than when we'd first arrived 2 weeks before. It has great restaurants, Starbucks, movies, and shopping (Topshop! Mango! Forever 21! And more!)--things we were so very grateful for by the end of our trip.
Would I go to the Philippines again? Sure! The landscape is breathtaking and the people are great. But I'd definitely do things differently. I'd plan on spending a lot of time getting around from place to place--better yet, I'd plan on heading straight to the white sands of Boracay! Don't ask Joel if he'd go again, though...
Moral of the story: Lowered expectations. If you don't expect much, you'll probably have a much better time. I know everyone says this, but I'd honestly never had a problem with it before. Now I know better!
Labels: Philippines
posted by AJ at 5:38 AM
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