TDI: 1-2 What's this?
Somebody get me outta here!!!
I landed in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, around midnight, local time. In Zagreb, my departure destination, it was morning already. After being awake the whole night, I couldn’t keep my red eyes open any longer… But I had to. I was at the airport car rental getting a car for my 2-day road trip from the capital to the Mount Province, the very north part of the largest island in the country.
The process of renting a car at the Avis branch in Manila was about 15 times longer and more complicated than at the US branch. My plan was to head north, and as soon as I get out of the city, look for some kind of a motel or guesthouse along the highway. I was imagining, since it’s late, there won’t be any traffic. Well, I was wrong…
So, I left the rental shop and sat in the car. As soon as I turned into a larger street, my tired red eyes got open wide from the traffic adrenaline. I found myself driving on the city highway, 4 or 5 lanes wide. The reason why I wasn’t sure if there were 4 or 5 lanes, was because there weren’t any lanes marked at all. They were completely faded, or they never existed in the first place. There were cars, motorcycles, and tricycles all over the place. Everybody was driving at high speed, cause it was a highway, of course. Most of the crossroads did not have traffic lights, no traffic police, and no street lights. Many vehicles did not have lights either! It was dark and noisy chaos. My first impression of the Philippines: I did not feel safe.
While driving, I did notice how I was not tired anymore. My eyes were open wide like I was on drugs. I was also able to hear my heart beating. Then, for the next 4 km, I was passing by some sort of shipping containers on the left side, and on the right… I was gonna write ‘’slums’’, but what I have seen was way worse than slums.
In my previous trips, I have seen and been to all sorts of slums in different countries. What I was looking at for that 4 km on the right side next to the highway looked like a bunch of dog houses made out of metal pieces and dirty sheets stacked one next to another and one on top of another. Dogs didn’t live there. The people did! Slum, ghetto, shit hole… none of these familiar words could be applied to what I have seen.
Ironically, during that 4 km of my ride, the traffic was reasonable. Nobody was getting on or off the highway along that stretch. There was no exit from Crossroads anyway. So, while driving, instead of intensely focusing on the traffic, I was able to take many glances to the right and see the unseen horror.
As I kept driving, the neighborhoods along the highway eventually got better, while the traffic became worse… The nightmare wasn’t the hoods next to the highway anymore. It was the highway again! I felt mentally exhausted… Started to scream while driving: ‘’Somebody gets me outta here!!!’’ As soon as I let it out, I told myself: ‘’Come down… stay focused… don’t make it even worse and get into an accident’’. So I started breathing deeply, tried to stay sharp, and kept driving north.
Eventually, the highway took me to the outside of the city and I managed to find a motel… Yes! It was around 1:30 am or 8:30 am at my departure location. Definitely, time to go to bed!
The next morning I proceeded to drive north. Outside of Manila, traffic was still busy and noisy. There was only one highway going north, and that one had only 1 lane in both directions. It was passing through other towns and cities, so I had to deal with the local traffic of every individual city. Whenever I would exit one city, I would immediately enter the next one. One cool thing I have noticed was ‘’Vigilante Traffic Police’’…that is not how they are called, just my way of explaining what I’ve seen: random people standing on the roads, whistling and waving, trying to help & organize the traffic on particular crossroads that are supposed to have traffic lights, but they didn’t. Maybe they were official traffic police, it’s just the government of the Philippines did not provide them with a uniform.
The island was overcrowded until my car started ascending to the hills of Mount Province. That’s when the epic road trip started. It was a multi-hour breathtaking ride with views of adorable villages, rice plantations, and hills covered with tropical rainforest vegetation. The last night’s horror in Manila and a painfully slow ride from Manila to the Mount Province has been paid off, cause now I was able to enjoy all of this in peace, at my own pace! What a contrast: Yesterday – the worst ride in my life, and today – the best one… no joke!
If you like this photo, I would recommend checking out my photo gallery from Sri Lanka
The following day I continued driving along the coast, and eventually, I came back to Manila – at night time… again! And yes, I had to go through the same horror experience… again! Eyes wide open, loud heartbeat, screaming, telling myself to come down, etc… At one point, I took a wrong turn and ended up in a neighborhood where the streets were tiny. The main source of light was the fire from garbage burning. Driving through those streets at low speed made me feel even more fragile. Somehow, I made it back to the airport. Yes, I have survived… again!
About 7 years later, I was getting ready for my trip to Bolivia. While researching, I found out one of the coolest things to do is biking the most dangerous road in the world: Yungas. I googled ‘’The most dangerous road in the world’’, in order to find out if Yungas seriously had that reputation. I have visited a few websites that had lists of the most dangerous roads, and yes, Yungas was ranked pretty high on all of those websites. Interestingly, one of those websites had ranked No.1, guess which one? Yes… the Manila Highway in the Philippines! I wasn’t surprised.
If you’d like to read more about the dangerous highway in Manila, it is posted here in the 12 most dangerous roads in the World article.
Where’s the street food?
Once I arrived in Puerto Princesa, the largest city on the island of Palawan, I took a tricycle ride to the guesthouse, threw my backpack next to the bed, and went out to look for some food. Two houses away, there was a private house with the purpose of the general store, with 3 pots sitting on the front porch.
I asked if they had something to eat. The lady pointed out at those 3 pots. I opened the first one. It was some sort of a beef stew. Looked delicious. Smelled delicious. The next pot was a completely different kind of stew. Fish maybe? I was so hungry, I didn’t even bother to ask what was in it. I didn’t even open the 3rd pot. Instead, I just ordered one of those two. She told me to sit inside.
Once I sat, I realized I am in the family house. There were children playing… grandma passed by from the bedroom that was just behind me, separated from the living room with a pale curtain. What an experience, I thought. The lady brought 2 plates: a small one with the stew from the pot displayed, and a large one full of rice… price: $0.40… I love the Philippines!
The meal wasn’t necessarily super filling. I have decided to invest an additional $0.40 in another plate of a different stew. Delicious again! So I happily left the house… an eatery… or a general store in order to explore the city. Pretty soon I noticed the streets are full of houses with pots at their porches.
My next stop on the island was El Nido, a touristy town, famous for scuba diving. Once I found a place to stay, I threw my backpack next to my bed and went out to look for some food. I already knew what to look for… A big pot shining on the house porch! But I couldn’t find any… On the other hand, there was an abundance of Western-style restaurants: Pizza, pasta, sushi, Starbucks-style cafes… What the hell?!
My hunger won, so I gave up and sat in one of them. I ordered a calamari dish. I had to wait for 35 minutes. Price: $10. Service terrible. Dish: nothing special. What a waste of money! I could eat delicious, authentic food for more than 10 times cheaper… But where to find it?
Before my visit to the Philippines, I didn’t have a lot of traveling experience. It was only the 2nd developing country I had ever visited at that time. So this was the country where I became obsessed with street food. It became an essential component of all of my travels.
The next day, when it was time for me to get some food, I decided not to make the same mistake I’d made yesterday. I thought I will have more chances of finding the local food away from the beach, and away from the touristy streets. No matter what street I took, I saw nothing but the western eateries… I was losing my patience…where’s delicious & cheap street food? Where’re the Philippines?
I was walking desperately on the long street. I have reached the end. Well not exactly… It was the end of the paved road. The end of the hotels, hostels, souvenir shops, tourist agencies, and Western restaurants. If I continued walking in the same direction, I would be on the unpaved, twice narrower road with small humble local houses. In other words, it was a border between the touristy and local parts of town. I was confident some of the houses down the road sell the local food.
Since I was a pretty inexperienced traveler at that time, I was afraid to get out of a touristy area and enter ‘’the hood’’, so I just stood there and observed, trying to figure out if it would be safe for me to go there. There was no guarantee I would find any local food anyway. Regardless, I have decided to step in.
And guess what… the 3rd house on the left had a pot… only one… but the exquisite one: coconut shrimp stew… yay! As I was enjoying the meal, kids playing on the street were looking at me, smiling and waving. All of a sudden, my dining experience was interrupted by the incredible noise of the rooster that was on the table next to me. I touched my ear and tried to assess if my hearing was damaged. We all know how loud the roosters are. Imagine one right next to you singing in a semi-opened space!
After the meal, I didn’t go back to the ‘’civilization’’. Because I felt very safe, pleasant, and comfortable, I decided to keep walking deeper into the neighborhood. Everything was so cute, rustic, pleasant, and interesting. Definitely the ‘real’ Philippines. I was about 100 meters away from the touristy area but it looked and felt like a different planet… a kind of planet I will look for in every trip I take for the rest of my life!
If you enjoyed reading this story, you would probably enjoy this one from India as well!