It was really a pleasant surprise that Philippines are developing a middle class. On our last travels it was just horrible how poor the country was. Don’t mistake this for no poverty, there certainly is and too much of it, but there is progress. And that is nice to see. Cities are bustling with locals, holiday resorts are not for foreigners only anymore and there are decent numbers of private cars on the roads on remote islands. Progress is there.
On the other hand, to our horror, there is good food everywhere now. Alongside the roads there are restaurants and vendors selling delicious Philippino and western food. All our plans to shed off that extra weight in Philippines were destroyed by smoky and juicy chicken and pork bbqs. Disaster! There is supposed to be only boiled rice here. Our resolve to stick to the diet held for about half a day… Still cheap and very good San Miguel beer (yes, it is a beer brand) didn’t help either. And you can judge by how much people like their beer here by just comparing it to the pizza slice size.
There is even a new kind on the block (for us anyway) – cocktails. Now don’t confuse them with stuff back in Europe. Bottle of tasty local rum costs only a fraction more than a beer and way less than coke or any other soft drink. Guessing proportions in the drinks already? Add fresh coconut (found in abundance here) and we have our 5 a day sorted. Yup, our kind of place. We even thought that this country is getting big into wines as well. As we were traveling people were carrying wine boxes and taking really good care of them. We exchanged knowing looks and winks as we were securing our dive gear. Until the boxes started moving. Yup, not wine. Roosters! Their fighting is still a big sport in this country and taken seriously judging by the amount of travelling birds – from tournament to tournament. Breeding them is a big business as well. We reckon probably the lone reason no sane person needs an alarm clock in this country. You are guaranteed not to sleep past the dawn.
Infrastructure is also building up: roads, the Internet (ok, not the super-fast, Dejan even dropped as low as measuring speed in KB, not MB) and ATMs are pretty standard (they do rip off you, but as they say, whatever you do, the bank will win…). And not only that, there are now vans as a means of transport and most busses have aircon. Tricycles and bikes are still there and thankfully still sticking to the sacred rule: there is always place for one more person. It is even more amazing to see construction material and household appliances and furniture transported this way. Jeepneys are still there. For ones who do not know, these are open vans with amazing decorations and no schedule or stops, just agreed (relatively short) route. You are supposed to stop them as you go. And all works like a treat. And off course we went for a ride. Total fun!
But luckily, Philippinos have only changed the means of transport and not the attitude. Buying a ticket does not equal to reserving a seat on a vehicle. Result is various members of the family piled on top of each other, depending partially on the size, but mainly who gets motion sickness first. It was hilarious to see westerners learning this rule, now that we have spent so much time here and are almost like locals. In fairness, due to our size they mostly leave us alone occupying almost two seats.
Not so good side is the traffic. Varies from really bad to horrible in cities, and manageable on the bigger islands. Even the remote places are not spared any more. Only it is so much more fun there as the most of the vehicles on the roads are tricycles and mopeds. With no one really obeying any rules, traffic is a cacophony of horns, yelling, screeching tyres and squeaky brakes. In fairness, we haven’t seen any accidents (and we have covered some ground!), so it obviously works!
So, travelling in Philippines is more convenient, but less colourful these days. It is actually pretty comfortable. We didn’t not expect this! In retrospect, probably best, as we are lugging two huge suitcases with us this time. And if you are wondering – yes, we are the attraction among younger travellers. And local drivers as well – we negotiate for rides as if we are actually able to go anywhere really with the suitcases. But we are also the sad folk who now hires porters to get our luggage from and on the boats and sea side resorts. No way can we carry 25 kg on our shoulders. To be honest, amazed as locals who do it, and they are practically the size of the suitcases!
But let’s talk about the main reason we are here. Diving. First stop Malapascua island and thresher sharks...
Some more Philippines out and about pictures here.
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