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Published: February 9th 2008
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My packs. After ten months back from a motorcycle trip to Latin America, I quit my job at HP and start to travel again. For the Latin America trip, I felt like a school children on a summer recess. The trip had boundaries: take a leave of absence, travel, and go back to a job. For this trip, the job quitting is the only known boundary.
The other boundary is unknown to me: Would I get tired of traveling? When will I stop traveling? Do I have enough money? Can I work again? Would somebody hire me if I want a job again? Should I really do this? Am I irresponsible? What would I do next? I debated with myself and these questions scrambled my brain. I guess, to a caged bird like me, a wide open space is disconcerting. But, it’s too late to worry about the things in my head. Philippine is under my feet. Moreover, I have already reduced my belonging to 4 stored boxes, 1 backpack, and 1 bag.
Sam, the Swiss motorcyclist I met in Argentina, convinced me that Philippine would be a great place to pick up a bike and start my route. I contacted
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Inside of my pack. Hercules, the HUBB organizer in Manila. I wanted a small trail bike with an abundance of spare parts everywhere and good gas mileage. After some wheeling and dealing, I bought his friend’s bike: a Honda XR200 dual sport, year 2005, 800km on the clock, for around $2250. When I actually see the bike, it looks good. The title is transferred under my name and it’s almost ready to go. I wish the bike is problem free for the entire trip, wherever I may end up. Perhaps by naming it Hercules, it would gain a Herculean strength to fulfill my wish.
We have to clean up the dirty carburetor, because the bike was not stored properly. For the shakedown ride, I choose North Luzon counterclockwise route. This route would test the bike on dirt road, paved road, flat road, coastal road, city road, and most importantly, on a mountain road. I could not wait to head to cooler weather, out of the hot Manila.
Manila was densely populated, hot, muggy, and the air is quite polluted. Although I grew up in a similar environment, my mind and body needs time to adjust back. In Manila, jeepney rules the street.
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Welcome to Manila, with its smoggy Jeepney, with its traffic law abiding passenger. They run on diesel and the sooth is black and thick. After a few hours ride on my motorcycle around Manila, the wipe off my face left black blotches on a handkerchief. After several washes, the blotches remain on the handkerchief. I wonder how long the sooth remains in my lungs.
The first stop is Baguio city, a much cooler place North of Manila. There was a highway from Manila, but only car or motorcycle with an engine size of 400cc or larger is allowed. The surface road is McArthur Highway, named after the general who helps liberated Philippine from Japan occupation during WW II. The road is one lane on each direction. The traffic is heavy for the first 200km (125 miles) out of Manila. The towns are string together. Each town is hardly differentiable from the other.
Out of Manila, the most common public transport is motorized tricycle, powered by 125-175cc motorcycle. Like jeepneys, the frame is locally made. They have a sidecar with an awning for rain cover. I have seen a tricycle with 10 people onboard, giving each person the motorize power of 12.5-17.5 cc, a volume smaller than a test tube. They carry
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Intramuros. people to work, school, market, etc. They also carry pigs, chickens, goats, bags of rice, fertilizer, gasoline, cements, 40ft bamboo poles, basically anything that need to be transported a short distance. Unfortunately, many of these tricycles are powered by 2 cycle engine. While diesel engine produces black smog, the 2 cycle engine produces white smog. Both are major polluter.
From Baguio, I headed to Sagada. There are many caves in Sagada. I don’t like underground confine space that much, so I didn’t bother to explore them. There are also limestone hills in Sagada. They remind me of the picture of Kui Lin in China. Sagada is also a site where the native inhabitant hangs their ancestor coffins on the high cliffs. The rice terrace around Bannahue is an impressive sight.
Then I headed further North and rounded the tip of Luzon and headed back to Manila. Hercules passed the test. Overall, Luzon is heavily populated. Like everywhere else I have been, people in the rural are more approachable than in the city. Luzon’s scenery is ok. I extended the Philippine visa to 2 months and got an Indonesian visa. With the major paper works done and my bike
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Intramuros. ready, I’m ready to head South and to hop islands.
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Daryl Fortney
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The best Fruit
Lanzones! I love those! Nice pictures and blog...