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 destination, it was already morning. After being awake the whole night, I was having a hard time keeping my red eyes open… But I had to. I was at the airport car rental, getting a car for my 2-day trip from the capital to the Mount Province, the very northern part of the country’s largest island.
The process of renting a car at the Avis branch in Manila was about 15 times longer and more complicated than at branches in the US and the EU. My plan was to head north and, as soon as I got out of the city, look for a motel or guesthouse along the highway. I was assuming since it’s late, there won’t be any traffic. Well, I was wrong…
After about 45 minutes, I finally left the rental shop and sat in the car. As soon as I turned onto a larger street, my tired red eyes got wide open from the traffic adrenaline. I found myself driving on the city highway, 4 or 5 lanes wide. The reason I wasn’t sure whether there were 4 or 5 lanes was that no lanes were 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. Most of the crossroads had no traffic lights, no traffic police, and no streetlights. Many vehicles did not have lights on either. It was a dark and noisy chaos. My first impression of the Philippines: I did not feel safe at all:(
While driving, I was definitely no longer tired. 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 passed by some sort of shipping containers on the left, and right… I was gonna write ‘’slums’’, but what I saw was way worse than slums.
On my previous trips, as well as while not traveling, I have seen and visited all sorts of slums in different countries. What I was looking at for that 4 km stretch on the right side next to the highway looked like a bunch of dog houses made 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 just 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, I was able to observe that horror while driving… The horror I will never forget as long as I’m alive:(
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 was awake, of course, while 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 calm, and sharp. Eventually, the highway took me out of the city, alive! Then I managed to find a motel… Yes! It was around 2 am… Time to go to sleep:)
The next morning, I continued driving north. Outside of Manila, traffic was still quite heavy. There was only one highway going north, and it had only 1 lane in each direction. It consistently passed through other towns and cities, so I had to deal with local traffic in each one. Whenever I left one city, I would immediately enter the next one.
One cool thing I have noticed was ‘’Vigilante Traffic Police’’…that is not how they were 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 were supposed to have traffic lights. Maybe they were official traffic police, but the Philippine government 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 paddies, and hills covered in tropical rainforest. Last night’s horror in Manila and a painfully slow ride through those towns to the Mount Province have paid off, cause now I can enjoy these beautiful surroundings 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 scenic 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 with tiny streets. 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 visited a few websites that listed the most dangerous roads. Interestingly, one of those websites had ranked No.1, guess which one? Yes… The Manila Highway in the Philippines! I wasn’t surprised at all.
If you’d like to read more about the dangerous highway in Manila, it’s covered 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 3 large pots on the front porch.
I asked if they had something to eat. The lady pointed out those 3 pots. I opened the first one. It was some sort of beef stew. Looked delicious. Smelled delicious. In the second 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. Then, she told me to sit inside.
Once I sat, I realized I was in the family house. There were children playing… Grandma passed by from the bedroom just behind me, separated from the living room by 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 this joint!
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 and explored the city. Pretty soon, I noticed the streets were full of houses with pots on 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… Large pots shine 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 much travel 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. Since then, it has become 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 would have a better chance of finding local food away from the beach and the touristy streets. However, no matter what street I took, I saw nothing but the western eateries… I was losing my patience… where’s the delicious & cheap street food? Where is the real Philippines?
I was walking desperately on the long street… I have reached the end of it. Well, not exactly… It was the end of the paved road… The end of the hotels, hostels, souvenir shops, tourist agencies, and Western-style 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 that some of the houses down the road sell the local food.
Since I was a pretty inexperienced traveler at the time, I was afraid to leave a touristy area and enter ‘the hood,’ so I just stood there and observed, trying to figure out whether 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, the 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 of those 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 continued to 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!