A disappointing end to an otherwise good tour

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A Race Against the Clock
Enough with Boracay... After seeing the difference between White Beach and Bulabog Beach, I am glad I stayed on the Bulabog side. While it wasn't as pretty, it certainly didn't have the overdevelopment like White Beach. I had my longest ferry ride of the trip (four hours) from Caticlan, Panay to Roxas, Mindoro. We were 1.5 hours late, so I was going to be very pressed to make it to Pinamalyan before night fall (65 km).

I couldn't help notice that while the ferry was boarding how may of the ferry workers had helmets on their heads (good) and flip-flops on their feet (bad). I'm not sure what the rationale is behind this, but I guess here you have to take one step at a time...

On arrival at Roxas, I was able to push off at 14:45, which left me three hours maximum to get to Pinamalayan. It was possible, but I would need all the conditions (wind, road, and terrain) working in my favour. Both Roxas and Bongabong were backups, but I missed the turnoff for Roxas early, so Bongabong was next (that name kind of has a mystical ring to it like Zanzibar or Timbuktu in Africa). I had confirmed through an internet search and talking to some of the passengers on the ferry that there was at least one hotel in town. Therefore, Bongabong seemed to be a natural choice for my overnight stay. However, I was flying off the start. :-) averaging between 20-25 km/h with no apparent tailwind… I flew by Bongabong and, while I did make a quick check for hotels, I pushed on. This is something I would not have done if Shauna was with me. The terrain was flat and the road was in reasonable shape by Philippine standards.

While the island of Negros is known for its sugar cane industry, Mindoro is known for its rice industry. To be honest I couldn't really remember seeing anywhere in the world rice production on a large commercial scale. The Philippines would be no different. Some of the farms were still using water buffalos in their fields.

Pinamalayan: A Day of Boxing and Cockfights
At least once a trip, I like to "get lost". What I mean by that is going to a smaller town/city which isn't covered in the guidebooks. What I have found over the years is that with what might be missing in those towns with tourist sights is more than made up in culture and hospitality. Pinamalayan would be no different. After looking at a number of hotels, I finally found the Fesalbon Inn, which also had a nice restaurant connected to it. While the inn I checked before was okay and the rooms were very well priced (200 PHP or $5), the thought of spending two nights in a small room with no private bathroom or air-conditioning just didn't appeal to me at that point. Alex, the proprietor, was an outgoing and friendly individual, who was quite proud of his new inn and restaurant. The restaurant also seemed to be quite popular with the locals. They were even playing Depche Mode (one of my favourite groups) when I came in for dinner.

With such a late arrival and an extra day unallocated, I decided to stay another day here. After taking a long walk around town in the morning, I went over to Alex's house to watch the Pacquiáo/Márquez boxing broadcaseted from Las Vegas. Manny Pacquiáo is an icon in the Philippines and has been one of the best boxers in the world over the past decade. It was safe to say the whole country was shut down for this fight. Alex had his whole family over and some other friends, so the afternoon had quite the festive feel to it. After an emotional few rounds, Pacquiáo went down after taking a hard right to the head. It is too bad because he was ahead on points with both fighters knocking down the other to that point.

Afterwards, Alex promised to take me to the cockfights, which where being held at a cockfighting arena just outside of town. Cockfighting is HUGE in this country and is apparently the only country in the world where it is legal… While a very different experience from my standpoint, it is quite horrific what actually takes place. Each cock has a razor sharp blade attached behind its left foot. The cocks are then put in a ring with two handlers who taunt the birds to the point where they are ready to fight. Alex was telling me that this is big business and big dollars are wagered at each event. On average, 75 fights take place in an afternoon. Usually, one of the birds is killed in the ring within 10 seconds. The fight is called when one of the cocks is no longer responding or willing to fight. I actually betted three times, but lost every time. All of the betting is done based on trust. The area around the arena looks like a Chicago Stock Exchange options bit with people yelling and fingers waving. I am not sure how everything works without any problems, but it just does. Alex emphasized the word TRUST. Before we left, Alex showed me where the birds were mended up and where the dead ones were taken for processing.

The last two cycling days were pretty uneventful with fairly easy cycling until the outskirts of Manila. The traffic picked up noticeably as I crossed over to the main island of Luzon, but the real bad traffic didn't take place until about 60 kins from the center of Manila. On one memorable stop, I pulled into a 7 Eleven to get some Gatorade/Powerade (drink of choice on this trip) after cycling 120 kms. By that time, I must of looked like hell, but a young girl greeted me handing out free samples of Lucky Strike cigarettes. I had to chuckle because how could I (a cyclist) possibly at this point contemplate a cigarette. I told her. "Do I look like a person who smokes…" and then she seemed a bit embarrassed at asking me.

I picked a fairly central place in the city of Calamba 60 kms outside of Manila. After a nice Chinese dinner, I headed over to the mall which was so busy for a Monday night. It looked like West Edmonton Mall at Xmas time.

Manila: A Disappointing End to an Otherwise Good Tour
The next morning I pushed off for what was going to be one of the most challenging rides into a city that I have ever had. There was constant traffic all the way into the city with lots of congestion and pollution. However, it wasn't until I passed the cities inner ring road EDSA that things became impassable. I had to slalom, ride, and push my bike through traffic. After three kilometers of this, I threw in the hat and turned around and went back to EDSA that I had avoided the first time because it was more or less a freeway. Otherwise, my choice was 10 kms of gridlock with no clear route to my hotel in Quezon City (it is part of Greater Manila). I have only turned around once like this because of traffic and that was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras back in 2007. Once I got back onto the EDSA things picked up, but it was still too dangerous for my comfort. This is another ride I would have never contemplated with Shauna. When I think over the past 23 years, Manila will rank up there with Rome (lawless traffic), Cairo (size with unnoticeable centre), Bombay (poverty), and Bangkok (traffic) for eventful (not in the positive sense) rides in to town.

I now had four nights to rest in luxury in Quezon City, which is away from the tourist zone. There are a lot of nice restaurants around, so it made for a good base at night. I had to start watching what I was eating though. If I am no longer burring 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day riding a bike, then something has to give. The light rail train system was a kilometer away so doable from a commute standpoint.

As it turned out, my stay would not be as relaxing as I would hope. I spent the rest of Tuesday cleaning clothes and getting organized for the next three days. I had noticed an infection on two different places of my right leg the previous night. They were small but very similar to the ones I had on SE Europe three years ago that eventually required a trip to the hospital to get fixed-up. By Tuesday night, they had both gotten bigger and by the next morning they were in no better shape. To be proactive, I thought it would be best (in consultation my resident physician -- Shauna ;-) to get some medical attention. I received some doctor names for the Canadian Embassy. I was unable to get a hold of anyone by phone, so I took a 45-minute cab ride down to the Makati Medical Center, as there were enough doctors on the list that someone should be able to see me. The dermatologist I was looking for was not actually working that day, as the embassy had noted. I then went back down to the information desk to see if there were any other dermatologists or general practitioners I could see. Fortunately, there was another dermatologist see patients currently without the requirement for an appointment. When I went up there, there was only one person ahead of me! After a quick consultation, she prescribed me an antibiotic and sent me downstairs for a test. The whole event, specialist, test, and prescription took me less than 75 minutes and only cost me $125! Talk about the WOW factor there. I wait 75 minutes to see my GP normally for him to then refer me to a specialist…

While at this point, I might think that everything in Manila works efficiently outside of traffic. I was in for a rude awakening when I then took the light rail train system home. When I got to the station there must have be a couple of hundred people waiting to buy single pass tickets… The line-ups were moving fairly quickly, but what about vending machines? What about multi-pass tickets? As I happened to find out, I could buy a 100 PHP pass ($2.50), which would have given me about six rides. I was quickly realizing that getting around this city was going to be a challenge. I now started looking at organizing my last two days with one trip a day in and out of Quezon City. There was just too much travel overhead otherwise.

The big trip for Thursday was out to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) where I had planned on meeting someone from HSBC Philippines. After doing some reading, it became quickly apparent that BGC was a new development with a very different feel to the Manila I had seen to this point. It looked very modern with wide streets and sidewalks. Most of the major financial institutions were located in this area. There also looked like some good shopping opportunities in the area. After my meeting, I hung around and did some Xmas shopping. When I was ready to head home, which was now around 18:30, the lines for taxis and jeepneys were very long. It must have taken close to an hour for me to just get a taxi… My intention was to take it all the way back to the hotel, but when I got in the taxi and told the driver where I was headed he told me he would have to charge more because of the traffic, I thought I might be getting ripped off and perhaps it would be just easier to make it to the train station and then I can take the train from there. My troubles were only to get worse…

The taxi driver was able to get a few hundred meters from the station as traffic had once again ground to a halt. I then took it from there to get to the station and on to yet another packed train. I only had six stops, so it should have been a bit more bearable this time. Sometime between the time I stepped on the train and stepped off I was pick-pocketed of $150 and my cell phone. I now figure it was the stop before mine where I was roughed up somewhat as people were leaving and the person in front of me made a dash for the doors at the last minute. Shaken-up I looked for the police and I was directed a floor down. I reported it to them, but to do a full police report it would require another train ride and another hour. Late, tired, and hungry I declined and called a night. There were certainly somethings I would have done different with my belongings, but after going 23 years without being pick-pocketed one can eventually let their guard down.

The whole thing Thursday night really took the cream off what was otherwise a good trip. I didn't have high expectations for it, but those expectations were exceeded. The Philippines has an opportunity to continue to grow both with business and tourism in the years to come. The recent peace agreement with the southern rebel groups should be a real impetus for that.

I need to remind myself before these trips how challenging they can be. On top of logistically making it from point A to B, which in this case was from Cebu City to Manila, I must also ensure that food, road, and personal safety are all ensured to make a trip successful. This is not necessarily an easy task in the developing world. But with all of that said, I wouldn't travel any other way. Until Tour 2013, which at this time looks like Burma, I will return my real life -- the one that pays the bills. :-)

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