Wednesday, January 09, 2008

2 Tales of Fun and Adventure

Point A to point B

I find it is easiest to relate to people outside of Peace Corps in terms of things in their daily lives that they take for granted. Ease of travel is a BIG one.

Going to a restaurant with family can be a bit of an emotional ordeal sometimes but the actual transportation is relatively easy.

Insert ass into vehicle. Turn key. Depress gas pedal. Obey traffic laws. Enjoy food. If you are a bit cheaper you can take a cab or the bus; probably air conditioned; probably not filled with pigs or chickens.

In the Philippines there are many modes of transportation but all of them belch large quantities of noxious fumes and none of them have seatbelts or obey traffic "suggestions." To get to the same family-style restaurant from above requires a bit more bravery.

Cross road while dodging the multitude of high-speed transportation barreling at you. Flag down jeepney. Clamber inside after stepping over sack of piglets on the way to market. Squeeze your butt in between any two people with more than 6 inches of bench between them (not an exaggeration). Watch the road through the front window that has more area covered in decals than is actually translucent. Bang on the roof and yell for the driver to stop when you see your destination. Climb out over the 3 cockfighting roosters that were just brought onboard. Breathe. Eat food. Repeat.


What about much longer distances? If getting to a restaurant was hard, traveling cross-country to get to Boracay, the expensive beach resort that Cancun WISHES it was, seems daunting. Although there are 2 airlines in the Philippines, I decided that boats are much more entertaining and took nothing with me but a map and a machete as I headed off through the islands surrounding Legaspi.

A basic itinerary of my travels looks something like this:
1. Van to city - Php110
2. Jeep to port - Php7
3. Fastcraft boat to next island - Php360
4. Large 4x4 across island - Php90
5. Extra passenger fare on fishing boat - Php600
6. Bus to city - Php75
7. Jeep to van terminal - Php7
8. Van to Port - Php65
9. Boat to island - Php25
10. Tricycle from port to hotel - Php10
Total one-way travel budget - Php1349
Currently that is $33.64 for 250 miles of travel by the seat of my pants (and in only 10 easy steps!).

Unfortunately, this table of statistics can only do so much for a your understanding of how wonderfully uncertain this trip was. Let's look at the line item 5, "Extra passenger fare on fishing boat;" but first, a little preface.

While on the 4x4 (number 4 in the budge above), I met a family going home for the weekend from the big city. A father and his three teenage daughters (let's call them J-1, J-2 and J-3) were sitting next to me on a pile of cabbages and, almost immediately after departing, they asked me who I was, why I was there, what my cellphone number was, and where was I staying? (This line is bolded for effect, but when three teenage girls coo in unison, it is hard not to remember without the emphasis). I told them I was going to look around the port area for a pension of some kind and they said that simply wouldn't do.

2 hours of bouncing down a rainy road later, we arrive at their house where I was treated like some kind of low-level royalty. Food was placed in front of me; I was asked to sing some videoke songs for them; the ubiquitous Filipino drinking circle found us at the bottom of two large bottles of brandy. Considering I didn't know any of these people 2 hours prior, they proved most hospitable hosts.

The next morning I awake early with the intention of connecting with the passenger boat that supposedly leaves this port with regularity. No such luck. 30 minutes of hunting found no passenger boats of any kind. J-1, the eldest daughter seemed excited at the prospect and, seeing as the next ferry didn't leave for 2 days, DEMANDED that I come back and stay a second and third night at their house. I saw flashes of Indiana Jones-style outlaw romance in my head and ran for the nearest fishing boat. With a good deal of haggling in a language I only half-understood I managed to secure myself passage across the adjacent strait although, the captain said, I would have to wait while they traded some fish. Seeing no reason to stay in this bear-trap of a port any longer, I jumped on the boat with him and we headed out to sea.

The transportation I had managed to secure was a courier ship that received its load in the open ocean from two other boats (one filled with a fresh catch and one filled with ice to preserve said catch for the journey ahead). The exchange was an ordeal of sounds and smells as one boat was emptied of several cubic meters of hand-caught fish. After 2 hours of trading we headed seaward and were blessed with perfect blue skies, cottony clouds and calm seas. The first mate cooked a pot of the fresh catch and we ate delicious, hot fish cooked in garlic and onions with our hands as the boat treaded on. Once we ate I used the map in my guidebook to introduce the captain to the idea of triangulation and how, based on the position of the islands around us, we could tell approximately where we were and how far we had come. We came into port and I bid the crew farewell as I headed on to my next adventure.

I am still getting text messages from the eldest daughter "mis u alam mo parang na in LOVE ako sau"



Tale 2: New Year's Eve and Couchsurfing


New Year's Eve on Boracay Island. Crazy. It was a party with drinking, dancing, singing and many other forms of debauchery that need no mention here.

Couchsurfing, on the other hand, DOES deserve a round of applause for the good it does for the world.

(Begin shameless plug)

Couchsurfing is a website/social network that connects people who need someplace to crash but don't the dough with people who have a place and want to meet some crazy-cool travelers. "Social network" in this sense is much more accurate than the way it is used to describe Myspace and Facebook. In Couchsurfing you actually MEET people and have real interactions. Users are ranked based on how good they are as house guests/owners. When you "friend" someone on Facebook or Myspace, little or no judgement is passed and little social interaction beyond, "SWEET PARTY LAST NIGHT BRA!!!!11" is ever had.

I stayed with a Filipino family in Manila on my way back from Boracay and I have to say that living with someone, albeit briefly, from an area you are interested in visiting is a MUCH easier way to learn about the quirks of the city than simply getting on the big bus marked "Metro Manila Bus and Mall Tour, 100 Pesos Lang!"

(End shameless plug)

This second story is not really up to my usual standards, but click on one of the two following links to entertain yourself more:

Pictures from my travels TO Boracay

New Year's Eve Funtime Partypics ON Boracay