Cebu Trip Quick Wrap
Last week I had to travel to Cebu City to run an errand – not my favorite way to spend two days, but, sweet are the uses of adversity, and local travel in the Philippines is always interesting!
The landscapes in the country are often absolutely breathtaking, like this view of mount Talinis, the volcanic peak in the south of Negros which you get to admire when you cross to Cebu.
It’s election campaign season in the Philippines! Election posters are everywhere. Let’s hope that some environmentally minded politicians will be elected in this country full of amazing natural treasures.
Bus travel: lengthy, but interesting. Lots to see on the sides of the roads. Water buffaloes, scores of little kids, markets, motorcycle repair shops, village festas, … There is usually a shitty movie running in the Ceres buses, I do not know how they manage to always pick a flick with no brains and a maximum of silly “aktschn”. This time we had to watch “Black Panther”. Positive: interesting local snacks being sold by vendors who enter the bus every 20 kms or so, typically some sticky rice variants.
Big city versus small town Philippines: Dumaguete is a little paradise, with amazing beaches nearby, and a functioning infrastructure in town, including great dining options and several universities. Yes, there are some poor people, but not like in Cebu City. Even from the bus we could see whole communities who were essentially living on rubbish dumps. Poor people, spending an afternoon like that would be miserable, I can’t imagine how to live your whole life like that.
Mandaue is (or is turning?) into a low-end Las Vegas for the Chinese? Seriously? The hotel we stayed at had Chinese food, some signs in Chinese, and I saw several gambling rooms and casinos in the area. What a weird past-time gambling is, some where between a compulsive obsession and a penalty payment for not understanding probability theory. Why someone would travel to another country to engage in that is beyond me.
Logistics:
– The visa office in Mandaue issues the “exit clearance” visa appendum within a few hours, I had to wait from 8 am to 10 am, and the fee is 500 Pesos.
– The “Andy Hotel” in Mandaue is clean, modern and cheap.
– Four ways to get to Cebu City from Dumaguete: 1. 45 minute flight 2. night boat, leaving around 11 pm at Dumaguete harbor, arriving ~6 am in Cebu City. A lovely ride, you get a bed, sometimes not the best place to sleep due to engine noise. 3. Ceres bus from the Duma bus terminal, the bus will go on the ro-ro ferry in Tampi, arriving in Cebu/Bato. You can leave your luggage on the bus, and will take the same bus onward to Cebu City. 4. Bus to Sibulan, fast-craft ferry to Santander/Cebu, Ceres bus from Santander to Cebu City.
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