Expat Community > Philippines

charkee
Joined 2015
Posts: 1038

A jeepney ride from Southern Leyte to Manila

6 years ago

Due to it being fiestas all the buses were booked a week in advance. and I needed to get back home to pay the rent and bills.

I found a jeepney that was headed back to Manila. It's a trip of about 1000 KM. I paid him a few pesos extra to get the passenger seat. The trip took 36 hours.

Along the entire 1000 KM road construction is going on at a frenzy. There were delays all along the journey.

Thank you Duterte, this construction is sorely needed. The highway is being widened to the doorsteps of many homes. Now it's important to look both ways before stepping out of your front door.

The driver drank coke and energy drinks to stay awake. He drove the entire route with a brief 2 hour nap on the ferry between Samar and Luzon.

The trip included 3 tire changes. The first tire was changed because the steel belting was entirely exposed to the road and unraveling. The driver exchanged it with a spare that had only a 1 inch strip of steel belting exposed.

That tire was punctured by a nail and blew out one hour later. We stopped in front of one of those little dirty tire repair places. that just so happened to be in the right spot.

We got a new tire replaced on the wheel. It had no tread and just a couple of stands of steel belting showing through.

I mentioned to the driver and tire shop owner that in the US they'd get fined big time for using tires like these.

They both stopped, looked at me and laughed. "Life is funner in the Philippines" they both told me.. No tire that is usable for one more Kilometer ever goes to waste here.

Down in Bicol we stopped at a streetside restaurant and I saw this delicious looking dish with sitaw (green beans) and red chilis. When I started eating it, I discovered it was not sitaw julian, it was 100% of those little hot fiery Thai chili peppers and a little ground pork.. It was absolutely delicious but it burned in me for hours.

The trip saved me 600 pesos or about $12 over using an airconditioned bus.

LIfe is funner in the Philippines. I shall return and have the chili dish again.

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