2 of them can be found in the Visayas, a region relatively protected from the onslaught of countless Typhoons, with the worst this year, Ketsana (Ondoy) and Parma (Pepeng) causing havoc in the Northern part of the country.

Although both, Bohol or Bantayan could be your very own paradise-beach islands, they are quite different from each other. Let’s check how they compare to the traveler in search for his very own beach paradise island:

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Bohol

Starting with Bohol, the bigger of the two, it becomes clear that this is an island of plenty. There are countless beaches, hills and other natural tourists sights, the most well-known probably the Chocolate Hills. The most prominent beaches and resorts can be found on Panglao island, which is connected via 2 bridges with Bohol, the most famous beach is called Alona Beach; a long stretch of white sand with literally dozens of resorts and restaurants.

There are hundreds of old churches on Bohol, being the cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, with Magellan, the Portuguese seafarer in the services of the Spanish crown, having landed not far from here at Mactan/Cebu in 1521. These old churches are colorful and in surprising good shape, considering the fact, that they are some of the oldest in Asia.

With over 1.2 Million people, it’s also one of the bigger island of the Philippines. The capital city Tagbilaran is pretty well developed and you can buy all kinds of things there, if you miss civilization. There are Cinemas, Karaoke Joints and also the usual suspects like Jollibee, McDonalds or KFC, if you are craving for fast food.

Better, try the countless Lechon Manok stalls, which feature broiled chicken for as low as 150 Pesos per whole bird.

Here is the short summary, what characterizes Bohol for the traveler:

• Easy to reach, with ferries from Cebu City (about 2 hours, 500 Pesos one way, tip: watch for return offers, which have to be booked 1 day in advance, but will save you 50% of the price – Weesam Express, Pier 4/Cebu)
• Airport in Tagbilaran, can fly cheap there from Manila, Davao, Cebu and half a dozen other domestic destinations, (Manila-Tagb. around 1.800 Pesos one way)
• Abundance of natural sights and activity options: Chocolate Hills, Tarsier Monkeys, Flying Lemurs, Waterfall, impressive Mahogany Forest, Whitewater Rafting, River Cruises and Firefly Watching on the Loboc River, Diving, Snorkeling – you will never be bored on Bohol.
• Good infrastructure and upgraded road system, Rental Bike Honda Spyder around 450 Pesos/day
• Abundance of Entertainment options: Cinemas, Karaoke, Bars, Discos (I missed out on the famous ‘Lazer’ disco); Live Bands (check Marcosa’s Spiked Coconut Bar by the beach in Alona for daily live music)
• Have a massage at the beach for 250 Pesos/hour

Bantayan

If you wonder, how I can compare a much smaller island to the northwest of Cebu with Bohol, you haven’t been on Bantayan. It’s the next best thing to a Robinson-Crusoe-like life, just with the comfort of some modern amenities, but for reasonable costs.

If you are looking for a quiet life and tranquility away from it all, you came to the right place. You can rent here a small apartment just by the beach for 6-8.000 Pesos a month. The small settlement of Santa Fe should be your first choice to look for accommodation.

Just arriving here with the ferry from Hagnaya/San Remigio will make you rave already about the snowy-white beaches near and around the port. The best beaches can be found to the west, with Sugar beach and Kota Beach being some of the favorites of visitors. The whole island has only 3 towns; Bantayan Proper, Santa Fe and Madridejos with a total population of around 120.000 souls on the whole island.

Although Bantayan has a (supposedly defunct or for charter only) airport, most visitors will reach here coming from Cebu City. Just go to the Northern Bus Terminal, take the Ceres Liner to Hagnaya for 60 Pesos one way. The trip will take about 3-4 hours. The ferry from Hagnaya to Santa Fe costs 150 Pesos and takes 1 hour. RoRo for vehicles is available also with all ferries.

Here is the short summary for Bantayan:

• Relaxed, easy-going island with a slow pace of life. Imagine a time machine 20 years back to the good old time.
• White sandy and powdery beaches with crystal-clear blue water abound
• Spectacular views to surrounding islands of Cebu, Negros and even Panay, when the weather is clear.
• Infrastructure with decent road network and phenomenal Internet Speeds (prepaid Smart 3G) due to dedicated tower and still few subscribers
• About a dozen restaurants catering to foreign/expat taste buds (Tips: Coucou, best overall value for money, Blue Ice, best quality food, Da Jungle and Portuguese Restaurant just opposite each other for all-you-can-eat weekend buffets for 250 Pesos/head, including free flow of ice tea)
• Cheap fresh seafood and chicken galore (on Bantayan there are hundreds of chicken farms) will secure your healthy staple diet
• Some Entertainment options available (Tip: try Ginza Bar for free Karaoke, you only pay the reasonable priced drinks; Live Band daily in Tickety Boo resort), Massage is available for around 200 Pesos/hour
• Abundance of Water-related activities: swimming, diving, snorkeling, visit the Octong Cave – a water-filled hole in the ground, rent a banca (outrigger boat) to the surrounding islands (check out: Virgin Island for a weekend picnic, 1 Liter Gold Eagle Beer over there only 50 Pesos)

Conclusion

Bohol or Bantayan. Now, which island is for you? Only you can decide. Maybe you will love them both, depending what you are up to. Why not try both?

If you are looking to relax and rewind, to forget about worries and stressful work life – check out Bantayan. If you get bored here after a while, head down to Bohol and enjoy its friendly people and manifold activity options.

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His family heritage and legacy give hope to millions of ordinary Filipinos and big parts of the political elite also.

But can he win and does he have he the guts and long-term stamina  to overcome a climate of corruption, vote rigging and cronyism in a country long starved of the fruits of the labor of its people?

To answer that, you will surely have to wait until all votes are in and counted. But one thing is clear, the coming months until and after Election day will  be very interesting, with a strange mix of political veterans, actors, clerics and other illustrious figures fighting to gain the trust and support of lobbyists and voters.

The Glorious Days

One thing is clear, the country is sick of its current president. While Gloria had a slow, yet hopeful start when taking office from then Joseph Estrada; her picture in the public turned more sour over the years.

Which is in a way a bit ironic, as in her first years she tried a lot of innovative things, but was hindered front and aft by an old political elite trying to fight any change that could reduce their own political influence, by transferring financial and political power towards reformist sides. The first 5-7 years of her presidency were basically wasted in internal struggles, with little progress for the country to show. The Philippines lacked badly among its Asian neighbors during the economic up-swings of the post-Asian-Financial-Crisis years. While a real emerging economy before 1998, the country was recently overtaken even by chronic laggards like Vietnam or Indonesia in economic or political stability and outlook.

The last 2-3 years actually showed the Philippines steaming forward again, at least in the domestic markets – with the country having survived the recent Worldwide Financial Crisis relatively autark and unscathed, with large parts of infrastructure upgraded from ‘Glora cares’ programs. You can see the infrastructural progress all around the country, roads and highways are constructed, hospitals and governmental institutions upgraded and also Callcenter and English-teaching business striving,

So why then the tiredness of the Philippine people towards Gloria Arroyo?

It was simply too little too late. A string of political scandals, miscommunication and caught with lies makes Gloria’s legacy look dim currently. The newspapers are full of her wasting money on business trips, dining in expensive American restaurants spending a year’s salary of an ordinary Filipino on a single evening, or about her breast operation camouflaged as routine checkup (which is actually her private matter, but she was caught lying about it another time again).

Trouble is looming

In September, even a bill was filed in congress to avoid former presidents to stay in power, if an election doesn’t yield clear results. It should define a mode of succession, if the 2010 polls will fail, all to prevent for the incumbent to stay in power past her terms. Also fear is present, that GMA might try to pull a ‘Putin’ by changing the constitution to allow for her to stay in power by other means.

Gloria was recently awarded the bitter award to be in the Top 5 of ‘The Country’s worst Jackasses’ of popular BLISS magazine (she made the number 3 spot actually, just after ‘Erap’ Estrada), for  disappointing performance, forgetting her principles, pardoning predecessor Estrada and ruining the country’s political and judicial institutions.

As the polls in May 2010 will also be the first ones using a new electronic voting system, trouble is looming behind the horizon. Many Senators and Congressmen fear a very messy affair, if things turn out unexpectedly. The electronic data streams and outcome will be transferred through the country’s ordinary telephone systems, which operate at less than 100% efficiency. Another typhoon or probably already some bad weather, mechanical failure or even power outages during that stressful time could affect or interrupt the process for hours if not days – thus causing havoc or political uncertainty.

What are the choices?

Currently, almost a dozen candidates have clearly stated, that they intend to run for president. But it looks like less than a handful have a real chance to rake up the necessary support and voter numbers.

Among them is even former president Joseph ‘ERAP’ Estrada (yeah right; the same actor who plundered the country’s riches already over a period of only 3 years before being swept away by the so-called EDSA revolution).

Senator Manny Villar, is the president of the Nacionalista Party (NP), a successful, self-made business man and long-term politician. He is considered the 5th richest man in the Philippines.

Gilberto Teodoro Jr.  was voted 42-5 by secret balloting as the candidate of the current administration and the Lakas-Kampi party. He is a licensed commercial pilot, Colonel in the Philippine Air Force reserve and currently Defense Minister of the Philippines.

Eduardo Villanueva, is a TV business man, evangelist and the founder of the ‘Jesus is Lord Church’ in the Philippines (Bro. Eddie, how he is called also, lost last time against GMA).

Senator Benigno Aquino III of the liberal party is a full-time politician. He is the only son of former president Corazon Aquino (who just died recently, but is still revered by many as the first ‘true democratic’ president; having restored many of the democratic institutions after the Marcos years). His sister is popular TV celebrity and socialite Kris Aquino.

Noli de Castro, the current Vice President of the country, is also expected to throw in his ring and run for President this time around. Although associated with the Arroyo administration, he was the first independent candidate to receive the highest number of votes in a Philippine senatorial election and the first elected independent Vice President of the Philippines.

Now what?

Especially Benigno Aqunio III looks currently like a very interesting and strong candidate. 

Then hopeful and popular, leading party figure of the liberal party LDP, Senator Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas, a serious contender for president himself, renounced his own ambitions as recently as September and joined Noynoy’s bid as running mate and potential Vice President.

They declared that their goal is ”to right the wrong, to fight corruption, to fight what’s wrong in the country.”

When a pre-poll was conducted a few weeks back, Senator Benigno Aquino III was leading the pack with a percentage of 40-50% of the votes, with the other places coming in at only 12-17% or even below. Although this pre-poll was only conducted in the Metro Manila area, that’s where almost 40% of the voters are located. How convenient for politicians with deep pockets. So the decision will probably fall here anyway, but don’t let those numbers fool you.

Conclusion

Even though Senator Benigno Aquino III, known as ‘Noynoy’ currently looks like a new and promising hope for many, the outcome is far from certain. In the Philippines, like in other developing countries also, voting isn’t a straight-forward process.

Votes are bought, manipulated or simply whole elections are still being rigged, by the powers in the background that are interested more in their own wellbeing than the country’s.

Hopefully the new electronic voting system will be a boon to avoid that, but it is still to early to tell.

Also the complacency of the average Filipino with politics can lead to low turnout, which in return could be a benefit for political veterans with the most money, deepest pockets and connections in spreading or distributing parts of  their wealth to actively sway voters.

It’s hard to cover Philippine politics in just one articles, but maybe I could raise your interest a bit. Please also join the discussion below, if you are a Filipino or Filipina planning to vote for one or the other candidate and please tell others why!

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Until then I mainly used self-customized desktops with the graphic cards, mainboards and components I wanted.

Asus always was close to my techie heart then, so I didn’t waste too many thoughts, when I made the switch from desktop to laptop computers just to be more mobile and flexible.

Big mistake!

I didn’t realize then, that Asus is basically a component vendor with a poor track record of assembling complete products. What I wanted to achieve was basically to substitute my existing desktop platform with a notebook, which was also capable of playing a game of Civilization IV, World of Warcraft or Silent Hunter III & IV without constant hiccups or graphic performance issues.

Okay, fast graphic cards in a notebook were still a novelty, with gaming laptops coming out for exorbitant prices or carrying illustrious yet expensive names like Alienware, Acer Ferrari or  Dell XPS.

But I also owned an old Acer Travelmate with a dedicated ATI 9700 graphic card, which ran flawlessly with Windows XP and could at least play some games with a resolution of 1024×768. This old laptop still exists today and has no other issues except a failed WiFi module – all after currently 60 months of lifespan.

So when Asus came out with its Asus G1 model, it was basically a gaming laptop for the masses. It had a whopping 2 GB of RAM, a 2 GHz Core2Duo Processor and 160 GB harddrive coupled with a Nvidia 7700 graphic chip, which was all the rage at that time. It came with the newest Operating System Windows Vista preinstalled, could run all of the above games, plus old favorite Far Cry or even Crysis and looked great, all for the price of 2.500 SGD, roughly around 1.200 Euros.

Great reviews convinced me to buy that piece, soon after it was released.

Even Nomads fall for gadgets, sometimes.

Anyway, to cut a long story short: here are the defects and issues I had with it over the last 3 years until the final straw with a fried motherboard and defect hard drive all at the same time.

• Green Screen Flicker due to cable/wiring problem, fixed during warranty
• Harddrive failure, fixed during warranty
• Inbuilt WebCamera hardware failure outside of warranty
• USB ports carry a current resulting in little electric shocks when touched during operation
• External USB Camera fried, probably due to above electric shocks
• 2 Mice fried (including the Asus/Logitech Mx17, that came with it, even though it was already defect during warranty, Asus Singapore refused to exchange it)
• Windows Vista refused to install its SP1 due to  Driver issues, which could not be resolved. Asus Support and Driver Support completely useless.
• Heat Issues over its whole lifetime (probably multiplied due to hot weather in Asia) caused BSOD’s and crashes constantly
• Abysmal Driver Support by Asus
• Motherboard fried and Hard Drive crashed at the same time outside warranty. Only harddrive, but no replacement motherboard available for this model

The last point was practically the main reason for this much-longer-than-usual delay in the posting frequency of this site.

Okay. That’s it then with this ‘manufacturer’ for me. Others seem to have similar experiences.

What did I do with the rotten corpse of the Asus G1? Get this!

Hope that YouTube upload embeds just right:

Okay, it didn’t shatter as much as I hoped it would, but at least I got back to it badly and left my anger fall down with the remaining parts onto the floor.

What did I buy this time?

After all, relying on Internet Cafes only is never a good idea. As a Nomad and Online Warrior you need proper tools to manage your data accordingly.

You would have probably guessed that I will get a Netbook like this one and you are right.

It is pretty similar – the Acer Aspire One A150 with 3G module inbuilt. It’s small, fast, cheap and can communicate almost anywhere via WiFi or 3G.

Price was 315 Euro – that should be okay, if I have to replace it again within 3 years.

Okay, it can’t do Games, but hey – the less time I will spend in front of a (now smaller) computer screen.

Hopefully I will roam around outside more, without neglecting this site too much.

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The Philippines are blessed with one of the best breweries in Asia. The San Miguel brewery is around for ages, they steadily bolstered their grip on the local market, acquiring more and more rivals until they now have an almost monopoly-like strength in the country. Here is a introduction about their most well-known products, which target every palate:

San Miguel Pale Pilsen (SMB)

This beer is the cornerstone of every beer drinkers fantasy, who happened to have visited the Philippines. Once you tried this brew, there is no turning back. You will crave for it, when you don’t have it and empty the bottle in next to nothing, once you have it in front of you.

SMB says rightly of itself that it is “a truly satisfying beer, with a refined, well-balanced flavor. Perfected and brewed for over a century, it’s the only beer that nourishes true Filipino friendships.”. It’s other ad text is a bit awkward (especially for Germans, who love their ‘Beer Purity Law’ of 1516 or so), as it says “expertly brewed from the finest malt, hops and other ingredients found throughout the world“. Hmmm?!

What could be those other magic ingredients? One of them is cereal, which can be found sometimes on the label sticker. Nevertheless – this is a truly exciting beer, one of the best in Asia and for me one of my all-time favorites, right next to Beer Bintang of Indonesia and Beer Lao of Laos.

A small bottle (0.33l) goes for as low as 19 Pesos in a shop, the Grande version (1 liter) is officially 54 Pesos, although in restaurants and bars you usually pay something around 35-50 Pesos for the small bottle, or 85-150 Pesos for the Grande.

San Miguel Light (SML)

San Miguel Light has a very interesting flavor. A lot of people compare it with Corona, although it’s not made of corn. It’s very nice for a night out, if you are planning to chat with friends, play billiard or dance the night away, as it’s very light and doesn’t make you tired or drunk easily.

It has very little CO2 that fades quickly, so it really tastes best very cold and you can’t take too long to empty the bottle, which shouldn’t be a real problem, as it’s only 0.3 liters.

Myself I would prefer a real SMB over SML (if I have the chance) – but I see many ladies drinking SML and liking it. The design of the bottle looks also cool at the billiard table, though!

SML is usually about 5-10 Pesos more expensive per bottle than SMB.

SM Strong Ice

San Miguel Light tastes great but is too light for you? Then why not go with San Mig Ice?

This is the stronger brother of SML; has a slightly more distinguished flavor and a higher alcohol content (6.3%). If your goal is to get flying faster with less liquid, this could be your favorite.

I found it readily available in bars and restaurants in Manila or Cebu, but your mileage will vary in the provinces. On resort islands, SM Strong Ice is generally less available.

Not 100% sure what to make out of this beer; for me it tastes a bit artificial and leaves a bitterish aftertaste. Also the original SML tastes more pleasant in my view.

Price-wise you will have to fork out between 50-150 Pesos per bottle for one of those.

San Miguel Premium

Wow, what is that? This is a new addition and was only recently introduced. San Miguel Premium has a more international taste and is positioned as a more exclusive variation of SMB.

It can be found in more upmarket restaurants and is regularly priced at 55-75 Pesos per bottle.

The problem is – it tastes very good! This stuff makes you want to drink more and more of it. Thankfully it’s not so popular yet and therefore rarely available.

But when you found a bar or restaurant with San Miguel Premium, prepare yourself that you will stay for a while longer.

Red Horse Stallion

This is a complete different brew and was even a separate brewery until a few years ago, when it was acquired by San Miguel.

It’s somewhat sweeter also and with more acid than the rest. It also comes with cereals, starch and sugar added (really!)

Before it used to be cheaper than SMB, but recently I saw that San Miguel is trying to position it as a more expensive variation and it sometimes costs a few Pesos *more* than SMB. I don’t know though, if that will work. For me it’s all about the aftertaste here, which makes me want to brush my teeth after I drank a few of Red Horse.

I still get headaches and bad hangovers after a few of them, so I usually try to avoid Red Horse and go for some of the other alternatives.

Nevertheless it seems to be very popular here; especially with workers and Twen disco crowds.

Cerveza Negra

Black beer. Now we start talking! Cerveza Negra is becoming more popular here pretty fast; especially in places where European Expats hang out.

If you think, that looks like Guinness, you are on the right track, but only for looks.

The taste is something completely different. This stuff (Cerveza Negra) has a very dark and malty taste, a bit sweet, but very palpable. Somewhat mild and caramel-ish – it is very hard to describe!

It actually IS addictive and you can easily empty 2-3 bottles just with your dinner, as it goes very well with all kinds of food, especially with Pizza and BBQ Fish dishes. The label sticker looks a bit cheap, but it’s the content of the bottle that matters most. Definitely one of my favorites!

It only comes in small bottles (0.33l), which costs anything between 50-70 Pesos in a bar or restaurant, although if you find a distributor and get it per crate (just ask the San Miguel truck guy, if they deliver it to your door!) – the bottle can cost as low as 19 Pesos! A true bargain for such a fine drink.

Gold Eagle

This seems to be the budget alternative to SMB. Priced slightly lower, the Grande version can go for as low as 39 Pesos per 1 liter bottle!

At most local Karaoke joints (those with the coin machines) you will have no problem finding this beer.

I only came to try it a few weeks ago, as I was before happy with all those other great beers and didn’t want to sample the cheap stuff, as not to spoil my taste buds. But then, when exploring Virgin Island near Bantayan a few weeks back; it was hot and sunny and no other beer in sight. Okay then, bring it on!

Surprisingly, this beer is not too bad; my worries were completely unfounded. The taste is similar to SMB, if slightly lighter and goes down very well. I rarely see it sold in its smaller bottles, most people seem to buy the Grande Version (1 liter) right away.

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Conclusion

These are the most popular and common beers in the Philippines. I’m not sponsored by San Miguel (unfortunately), but that’s the way it is. San Miguel has almost a monopoly on the local market. I didn’t mention the SM ‘Super Dry’ version here, as I never saw it out in the open.

Yes, there are some other minor breweries in the Philippines, offering other beer brands, like ‘Beer na Beer’, ‘Mucho King’ or others, but they are few and far between. If you stay mainly in touristy areas and the larger cities, chances are that you won’t even run across them.

So there is no way of avoiding San Miguel, it’s simply a way of life here. But that’s not bad thing. The company continues to make some of the finest beers in Asia for very affordable prices. You simply can’t go wrong with one of the above choices.

I’m by no means an expert beer drinker, or a heavy drinker at all. 1-2 bottles every other day for dinner is all I need. Myself, I can’t decide, which one is my favorite San Miguel beer. Sometimes I prefer the simple, but true-blue SMB, but only ’til I get my hands on SM Premium or Cerveza Negra. If I can’t find any of those, the other alternatives above are nice to go with also and without any disappointment. No comparison to India here.

What do you say? Which one is your favorite beer in the Philippines? Did I miss out on something else that we should sample together? Please use the comment form below for your suggestions, additions or beer stories!

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So all the way until the mid 90’s the country was one of the laggards in regards to internet access, with Dial-up speeds and slow dedicated lines ruling the access options. Due to the high penetration rates of mobile phones, business leaders soon recognized the great potential for mobile phone based or wireless internet options:

So when 3G/UMTS as an extension of then slower GPRS for GSM came along, the Philippines were at the forefront of its adoption.

3G/UMTS services in the Philippines

Other Asian countries were relatively slow in adapting 3G/UMTS services, as they mainly had already an abundance of access options, like Dial-up, Cable, ISDN, DSL or even WiFi-point-based solutions.

In the Philippines, incumbent telecommunications provider Globe Telecom first didn’t see 3G/UMTS as an interesting service, more like a thread to existing services; also a pricey one – as UMTS licenses in Europe and other countries were auctioned off for exorbitant prices in the last years of the internet bubble. So they were slow to roll-out an UMTS network or upgrade their existing mobile network from GPRS to 3G or even 3.5G capacity.

Thankfully another provider jumped into the gap left by Globe, rolled out and extended their 3G network and these days is years ahead compared to Globe Telecom, except maybe in the Metro Manila areas. This provider is Smart.

There are some minor mobile providers in the Philippines like Sun Cellular or TM, but the first only offers 3G services in the Manila area, the latter is a mere budget-reseller of Globe services without the internet access option.

So the services to look out for – are Smart Bro/Buddy and Globe Tattoo (previously called Visibility).

Both, Globe and Smart, offer time-based internet access service on a prepaid basis, as that’s is the main form of mobile contract here in the Philippines. There are volume-based alternatives also, but they are currently not competitive. You can either access the internet with your mobile phone or use one the USB sticks/modems provided by the providers.

Those starter packages costs anything between 1.990 to 3.500 Pesos currently.

My advice – hands off!

Avoid buying the complete starter package of either Globe or Smart – as these USB dongles are sim-locked to the respective provider. They are a useless investment, if the service doesn’t work in your area or if you are planning to change your provider. Also they are expensive.

Better buy an independent UMTS PC Card (like the unlocked Sierra Wireless card pictured to the right) or use a Netbook like the Acer One with UMTS option instead. They are not locked to any provider and you can simply slide in the SIM card of your preferred access option. The standard prepaid SIM cards of Smart or Globe go for as low as 40 Pesos – yes, sometimes they are even given away for free in promotions of big shopping malls, like SM Mall, Ayala, Robinson Mall or else.

Thus you are more independent and can change the provider ‘on the fly’, if one service is down in your area.

So what is the difference between Smart and Globe?

Driving with a Tricycle more than 4.000 kilometers around the whole country over the last 2 months – and accessing the internet in every town I stayed over night – here are my first-hand experiences regarding Smart Bro and Globe Tattoo:

• Prepaid Offers: Globe offers 15 minutes for 5 Pesos, Smart offers 30 minutes for 10 Pesos. That looks on first view like a win for Globe, due to the lower time unit – but wait a minute! If you get disconnected – what can easily happen in a lower coverage area – you will pay another 5 Pesos again, even if you didn’t consume your 15 minutes yet. With Smart you can disconnect/reconnect as often as you please within your 30 minute period. It’s basically a draw – but something to consider.
• Speeds: Both providers offer similar speeds on paper, with Smart having the upper hand in reality. Both start with simple 3G, which is theoretically up to 384 kbps bandwidth. An extension to that is HSDPA, which can go as high as 3.6 Mbps of bandwidth, although Smart offers maximum 2 Mbps. There is of course a huge difference between theory and reality. In reality I never had higher download speeds than 90 kbps with Smart and 40-50 kbps with Globe – which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is still good enough to surf the web, use Skype for telephony and video chat, check out YouTube Videos and even download the odd larger patch or software.
• Coverage: During the trip around the country I found the coverage of Globe Tattoo mediocre at best, mostly it wasn’t even available in bigger towns – not even GPRS speeds. Exceptions are the island of Luzon and the Metro Manila area. There are also some university towns that are covered by Globe Tattoo as well, but they are few and far between. So probably one reason why Globe changed the name to Tattoo was, that their Globe Visibility service was actually a ‘Globe Invisibility service’.
• Compare that with the coverage of Smart Bro, which is literally available anywhere – even in/on smaller cities and islands. The only exceptions were Samar and Leyte, which has the least developed 3G internet infrastructure. Tacloban and Ormoc on Leyte were the few exceptions here, the rest of the 2 islands had maximum GPRS speeds available. Gloibe was literally non-existant. Smart also offers generally country-wide higher speeds like HSDPA, an extension to the standard 3G speeds, which are offered by Globe only around Makati and Ermita in Manila.
• Reliability: The reliability of both services is pretty good – when you have coverage. There are some disconnects from time to time – but simply reconnect and the data flows again. Also you can experience some longer outages from time to time. Here again I had more troubles with Globe than with Smart. With Globe Tattoo I also had issues using POP3 mail, which could only be received, but not sent. Also the upload speeds are where SmartBro really shines – you can upload almost as fast as download – which is important, if you use Online Services like Flickr.com or Dropbox to backup your pictures or personal files. Globe is on the losing end in that regard again.

I’m currently sitting here on Bantayan Island – a small island about 10km away from Cebu island – and having 4 bars out of 5 standard 3G speed with Smart Bro here. Globe Tattoo isn’t even showing any faster speed than plain GPRS connection, that is somewhere in the 8-12 kbps range, similar to analogue modem dial-up.

Conclusion

If you are roaming the country, there is only one clear winner here – it’s SmartBro!

It’s virtually available anywhere, the speeds are decent and the realiability is acceptable. The world of Globe is mainly restricted to the Metro Manila area.

I wonder if they still think, that the world is flat?

In Manila they are even under more threads also; with new rivals like Sun Cellular joining the 3G competition. But hey – more competition, good for the consumer, right?

If you stay mainly in one area – it doesn’t hurt to try out both. Maybe even Sun Cellular is offering 3G services in your area!

So what to do? Don’t fall for their sim-locked Starter Kits! Get a UMTS Card for your PC, use a Netbook with UMTS slot or simply your 3G-ready phone. Just buy a prepaid SIM card, which can go as low as 40 Pesos for Smart, Globe or Sun in most locations. Try out which service works most reliable in your area. Use the other SIM card as a backup service, in case your main provider is experiencing an outage.

This way, you have the best of all worlds. Agree or disagree – which one works better for you? Are there even better mobile internet options? Please share your experiences here!

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Related posts:

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2. 3G Wireless – finally affordable Internet for the Island of the Gods?
3. Internet in Asia Offline 99.9% – Sea-Cables Broken near Taiwan due to Earthquake

Rich oceans with an abundance of marine life to excite every hobby scientist, volcanic activities in the form of mountains, hot lakes/springs and picturesque bays to shoot your very own postcard photos, wrecked galleons to dive to, caves to explore – Bicol certainly has it all.

Most activities and famous sights are centered around the regional capital Legazpi in the Albay province; which could be the perfect base for your explorations.

Here is a short overview on what to expect when coming through:

The people of Bicol are said to be friendly and liberal, due to the many fights fought here in its past.

Also they are less religious and more secular than in the rest of the country. The mass attendance here is about 15% lower than in the rest of the country.

Swim with Whalesharks and Manta Rays near Donsol

If you are into diving and seeing macro life, chances are that you heard of Donsol already. Besides the Maldives and maybe the Great Barrier Reef, this small town of Donsol is maybe *the* place to be, to watch those giant marine animals.

Whalesharks are an endangered species and migratory animals, as they follow their food (mainly small krill and plankton) through the oceans, following seasonal current patterns.

Donsol was anything than well-known until just a few years back; when ecotourism was born. Before, local fishermen were used to try to shy away huge whalesharks from their fishing grounds, until they discovered that tourists are very much interested in them and are willing to pay top dollar for that. You could actually make more money from bringing tourists out here with your boats and showing them the whales than fishing the whole day.

The rest is history – nowadays the name ‘Donsol’ has an awe-inspiring sound in the ears of many. After all there are not many places where you can get so close to the giants of the seas or even swim or snorkel with them. The only catch is – you have to come here between December and May; because that’s the time of years when the Whalesharks and the Manta Rays come through here. Come a few weeks later – like happened to us – and you can come back next year again, this time during the right months.

If you don’t like water, Donsol is also the place to be if you want to see millions of fireflies in one place. Rent a boat at night and flow down the river. It’s said that it’s hard to tell the difference between the stars and the millions of fireflies residing in the river banks.

Volcanic Activities abound

The Albay province also has its fair share of volcanic sights; be it the majestic Mayon volcano, with its near-perfect cone or hot lake and springs in its closer proximity. The Mayon Volcano currently shows signs of increased activity, so much so, that villagers of nearby settlements were warned already by the volcanic society and the government to show extra care and avoid the lava fields. Also the tourist spot near the crater ridge was closed already due to the increased activities. Everyone is guessing, when will be the next big outbreak?

Another interesting place to visit is the “Boiling Lake” near Manito, just 40km east of Legazpi. This is a lake of brown, iron-rich water, which is literally smoking hot. The whole lake is steaming and an interesting sight – if you can find it.

The problem with this lake, as with other waterfalls or hot springs – interesting points for tourists are usually not well-developed in the Philippines.

That means, that either the last few kilometers are unpaved, without any direction signs or hard to access with vehicles. That struck us even more so later on Samar Island.

This is unfortunately also the case with the lake near Manito. About 10 kilometers before reaching it, the scenic coastal road suddenly becomes impassable by tricycle or car. Only a few Jeepneys or dirtbikes dare to pass the roads.

And you have to ask your way around, as no sign will point you in the right direction.

How did we get there? The first 35 kilometers with our Trike, when the road became unbearable, we boarded a Jeepney, the last 2 kilometer we had to walk. Also on the way back there was no more Jeepney far and wide, so we had to walk about 5 kilometers from the lake back to Manito and ask someone to get us with a dirtbike back to the tricycle. But that’s part of the adventure, right?

The “Boiling Lake” also has a small creek of hot water going into a large, man-made squared basin, which was obviously meant as a tourist project; for people to bath in. Somehow it was never finished, along with the pier near the ocean for boats to land on. The whole project is deserted and nobody is around. Too bad!

Pili Nuts to kill for

Another interesting thing to try out in Bicol are the local Pili Nuts. They are some kind of almond nut, which grow in abundance in the Bicol region, also on other island of the Visayas and Mindanao – but nowhere else on this planet outside the Philippines.

They taste similar to almonds, are just a tad smoother and taste good salted, with caramel or sugar crust or simply pure without anything. You can buy them in Bicol at many local stalls, in malls and made into many sweet delicacies, yes – even Marzipan is made from them, yummmmmmie!

Forests, Rivers and Ruins

Driving around Bicol you’ll notice that everything is very green, tropic and covered with lush rain forests. The whole region is covered with rivers also, which allows for activities like River Rafting and Kayaking, Mountain and River Trekking and visiting of Ruins (left from Volcano outbreaks) or the colonial past.

There are still remnants to be seen of the former baroque architecture of the gold-mining, sugar or agricultural barons.

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Tricycle Diaries – Repairs and Maintenance

• Nothing to report this time. Nothing broke down or needed fixing – except topping up the machine oil every 3-4 days or so
• Reached 2.000 kilometers near Daraga, shortly before Legazpi!

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To follow a up2date version of the Tricycle Route, check out this Google Map here, which is updated more often. New pictures are constantly uploaded to Flickr here.

Related posts:

1. A Volcano on an Island in a Lake on an Island in an Ocean?
2. Driving around Dumaguete, Negros Oriental
3. The Tricycle Diaries – Severe Road Punishment

So far I’ve visited quite a few of them around Indonesia; the famous Krakatau, Lake Toba on Sumatra (a huge volcano crater lake), Mount Rinjani on Lombok and Mount Batur and Agung in Bali.

Every volcano is unique. The Taal Volcano on Luzon is again different than all the others. It’s very small and located on its very own island in a lake (probably the crater lake of a much bigger volcano) on the island of Luzon.

It’s still active and although pretty quiet since 1977, there are signs of seismic activity and unrest as recently as 1991. And who can say anyway for sure, that a volcano is not active anymore?

You only know until its next breakout!

Asia with its ‘Ring of Fire’ is the home of many volcanoes. Most of them are located in Indonesia or the Philippines. Since our Tricycle Trip is getting me around the Philippines, it’s nice to visit a few of them here.

The most famous volcanoes in the Philippines are Mount Pinatubo (just north of Manila), the Taal Volcano (’the smallest volcano in the world’) and Mayon Volcano in Bicol (this one is said to have an almost perfect cone).

Google Earth views of famous Volcanoes

To simply get an impression of the size and magnificence of volcanoes, a nice tool to use is Google Earth. You can simply zoom in and fly into the crater of many volcanoes worldwide.

I put a few interesting pictures of famous volcanoes here as examples.

Isn’t it interesting, how different yet similar they all seem to be? The first picture is of course of the Taal Volcano, which is sitting in the middle of a large freshwater lake, which was formed by large eruptions between 500.000 and 100.000 years ago.

The second picture shows Lake Toba on Sumatra in Indonesia, which is said to be a Supervolcano, which had the largest ever eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years, with catastrophic global consequences for human and animal life at that time.

The island called Samosir in the middle of Lake Toba is larger than Singapore (with its 4 million people!) by sheer size; although Samosir is technically not really and island, being still connected with a small arm with the surrounding walls.

The third picture is of Anak Krakatau or Krakatoa Volcano, a very young candidate, but with the largest eruption measured in the recent past in 1883. It was one of the most violent volcanic events in modern recorded history – comparable with 13.000 times the nuclear yield of the Hiroshima bomb!

It practically blew away most of the volcano and only left a small version of it (the Indonesians call it ‘Anak Krakatau’ the child of Krakatau). I had the luck of climbing this one at least half-way in November 2005 together with my friend and ex-colleague Tobias. It was a nice and unforgettable experience which I cherish deeply. The last eruption of this one was only last year in April 2008.

And last but not least, the 3.726 meter high Mount Rinjani, which just broke out again 2 months ago on the island of Lombok in Indonesia. Intensifying eruptions spit out smoke and ash as high as 8.000 meters into the atmosphere.

Tagaytay – the chilled city on the ridge of Taal Crater

To get the best view of the Taal Volcano and Lake, the place to be is called Tagaytay City. It’s stretched a few kilometers around the ridge of the volcano crater and is quite a chilled place.

Also many inhabitants of Manila love Tagaytay for its close proximity to Manila. So quite a few built their weekend houses and villas here. Unfortunately the short distance to Manila also drives prices up. Hotel rooms are generally above 1.000 Pesos per night and there are many upmarket hotels and restaurants in the area.

We found a small place called Chrissanta’s, which charged only 800 Pesos for a very small A/C room, which was clean and okay.

The hotel with the best view in Tagaytay is 5* Taal Vista hotel. They have a spectacular terrace with an incredible view over the lake and the volcano. If you don’t want to spend the 100 USD ++s to stay there, you could simply go there to sip a Martini or Cappuccino while you are enjoying the view. Much cheaper also.

Also try out the many small food stalls directly located at the crater ridge. They serve many local specialties for small money.

One thing what every stall sells is the local ‘Bulalo’ a bone marrow soup. Another delicacy more for western palates is probably the ‘Buko Pizza’ – a pizza decked out with coconut pieces, surprisingly delicious!

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Tricycle Diaries – Repairs and Maintenance

• Arriving via RoRo in Batangas, after a few kilometers exploring the city; the engine performance left much to be desired. It also looked like the Oil Shield in Puerto Galera wasn’t fixed after all, oil leaking still occurred. Glenn’s most competent garage in Batangas did that now for good. Material was app. 400 Pesos (Oil Shield O-Rings, bolts, also fixed finally second dynamo coil) and 300 Pesos Labor in about 4 hours
• On the way from Batangas to Tagaytay the bike struggled with Engine sputter and further performance troubles. Stopping at a Honda Shop in Bauan, the mechanic suggested some fine-tuning/re-adjusting the ignition timing; as well as changing the spark plug and cleaning the carburetor. Costs: Spark Plug 150 Pesos, Carburetor Cleaning 160 Pesos, Tuneup 180 Pesos
• In Tagaytay on the Volcano Ridge the Gas got stuck in full speed, a local mechanic fixed that for 200 Pesos
• Getting up all the way to the ridge of Taal Lake and Volcano took its toll on the Clutch Lining. It caused troubles again (the 3rd time!) when going downhill towards the outskirts of Manila – and also causing deep frustration. :-( Luckily in Malvar/Tanauan I stopped at a Honda Shop with a magician as a mechanic. The head mechanic was a true Karajan or Mozart to watch at his work – smooth movements all while whistling a song and chatting with a smile on his face. He also found out that 1 of the 4 screws holding the 5 clutch discs was shorter than the others and not original; probably causing the clutch to wear down irregularly every 500 kilometers or so and getting stuck. He fixed that issue and threw in a set of used clutch discs all for only 200 Pesos. Wow! Was that the cause of all the clutch troubles? So far (about 1.600 km later) – the clutch still seems to work fine and as intended. So all in all it looks like the most expensive cost factor is eliminated – for now.

Several reasons made us change our route, which should actually go via Manila and then up to Baguio and Banaue, later then to Vigan and Pagudpud. Firstly, the constant and expensive troubles of the tricycle in mountainous areas made me loose trust in it driving through hilly and mountainous areas. Then there were 3 typhoons forecasted to hit Northern Luzon still this month and we just had experienced one in Puerto Galera.

The final straw was the hectic and dense traffic approaching Manila from the South. Thick Traffic Jams, constant horning, choking traffic pollution and the rain made it very unpleasant to continue further. So we decided to break out to the East and continue further to South Luzon and Bicol.

• In hindsight – the repair demands of the tricycle seem to have peaked somewhat with the repairs in Malvar/Tanauan at around kilometer 1.500. Since then I only topped up the engine oil every 3 days (1 liter Shell 4T Oil costs 160 Pesos, comparable Caltex goes for 140 Pesos, lasts about 1-2 weeks) and some minor welding work on Samar

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To follow a more actual version of the Tricycle Route, check out this Google Map here, which is updated more often, than the posting frequency at nomad4ever currently allows. New pictures are constantly uploaded to Flickr here.

Related posts:

1. Krakatao Volcano erupts once again!
2. Volcano Power instead of Nuclear would put Indonesia ahead in Green Energy Actions
3. The Tricycle Diaries – RoRo from Negros to Panay and on to Guimaras Island

I was thinking to pay Bob a visit in Davao; not quite sure though, if I should do that better by plane or simply riding the Tricycle right through Mindanao. Anyway – when he asked me to write a Guest Post about our Tricycle Trip over at his site “Live in the Philippines“, I felt honored and obliged happily. Read on here, if you are interested or want to join the discussion.

Related posts:

1. The Tricycle Diaries – Severe Road Punishment
2. The Tricycle Diaries – RoRo from Negros to Panay and on to Guimaras Island
3. The Tricycle Diaries – an Idea becomes Reality

Puerto Galera is not so known outside the Philippines, but has some great beaches too, countless bays to explore, mountains and waterfalls – as well as incredible Dive Sites in close proximity to Manila.

Having visited both within just a few days recently, when passing them during our Tricycle Trip, here is a direct comparison of the status quo, now during low season of 2009:

Boracay

Some changes first. My last trip to Boracay was quite a while back (in 2006), so I was surprised that there are no more Station 1, 2 + 3 to get to the island from Caticlan, the small town with airport attached.

Instead, the pumpboats (which run every 5 minutes from Caticlan jetty) bring you now to the Eastern side of the island, from where you have to take a 15 minute tricycle taxi ride to get you to White Beach.

Positive about that is that there are no more pumpboats allowed in front of White Beach, thus reducing your previously high chances of getting run over by one significantly, when snorkeling or swimming off White Beach.

On the other hand, it adds a now necessary tricycle ride (20 Pesos per head) to the already higher costs of getting to Boracay from Caticlan (50 Pesos Boat Fee, 50 Pesos Environmental Fee and 50 Pesos Port Departure Tax).

Even now in low season, Boracay is in full swing. Most restaurants are open and the infrastructure development made big leaps over the last 3 years. All hinterland roads have now either concrete or bitumen surface, hotel prices generally start at 1.000 Pesos per night and restaurant meals are typically in the 200-300 Pesos per head category.

Still there are some 250-Pesos-All-you-can-eat buffet deals available, while a bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen goes for 40-60 Pesos outside of Happy Hour.

Touts and Vendors are roaming the beach, selling everything from T-Shirts, sun glasses, souvenirs, boat rides, island hopping trips to massages and are as aggressive (or even more) than usual.

There are now 5 (!) banks on Boracay and even more ATM’s and 3G internet (both SmartBro and Globe Visibility) is generally available island-wide.

Another positive point about low season is the wind – others might disagree. For me it’s always good to have a refreshing breeze helping with the heat – and you actually have waves now!

If you don’t want to stay on Boracay over night, it’s also possible to rent Air-Con rooms in Caticlan for 600 Pesos/night and simply hop over to Bora for a day trip. This will allow you also to explore the interesting area from Caticlan to Kalibo or south to Pandan (tip of MJ).

Puerto Galera

My first visit ever to Puerto Galera just 2 weeks ago left me with mixed feelings.

First the sun was out and it reminded me somehow of Koh Phi Phi pre-Tsunami. The whole settlement is nested close to the mountains, all with waterfalls (check out beautiful Tamaraw Falls!), thick jungle and countless small bays with your very own private beach just waiting to be found.

Small lanes and alleys with a plethora of shops, restaurants and bustling with people in Sabang and Puerto Galera town. Puerto Galera actually got its name, because it offered a sheltered harbor (puerto) for the Spanish Galleons (galera), which ran regularly from the Philippines to then homeland of Spain during the Spanish Colonial times of the Philippines.

You can almost imagine the old galleons or even Pirate ships anchoring in PG’s beautiful bays.

The towering castle in Sabang (El Castillo de Sabang), is doing its part also. I really felt like Guybrush Threepwood on Monkey Island.

Then the Typhoon kicked in.

Suddenly there was a brownout – which lasted a whole 24 hours! I’m pretty sure that this was the longest brownout I ever experienced.

It was first raining cats and dogs for about 8 hours, then it was dripping somewhat for another 20 or so. Instead of lights, there were only candles everywhere and the whole scenery was somewhat completely different.

Do you remember that scene in “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End” with Chow Yun Fat, where he said “Welcome to Singapore”? The whole place is black and rusty, it’s dripping water from every roof or hole, strange smoke comes from nowhere and you can only make out shadows instead of people, dogs and other inhabitants too strange to mention here.

That’s exactly how it felt in Puerto Galera during that Brownout.

On top of that – the infrastructure left much to desire, from the slippery and pothole-ridden streets to the overpriced food (whole meals in Sabang are generally in the 300-400 Pesos range for 1 person!). Many restaurants and shops were also closed and generally the whole place shuts down right when night falls (around 7pm).

Things look better at ‘White Beach’ (about 6 km west of PG town), which has more room towards the mountains and generally offers better value for money, although here also, most hotels and restaurants were closed due to low season and only some larger establishments (like VM Beach Resort) open permanently and offering good, delicious fare (e.g. Fish Sinigang w/ rice for 130 Pesos, SMB 30 Pesos).

Rooms with Aircon here start from 800 Pesos, while in PG town you can rent small apartment for around 600 Pesos per day, if you rent for a week or longer. Sabang is a different world and looked mainly populated by grumpy (Caucasian) Expats and Koreans.

Conclusion

There is no clear winner here. Both locations are worth to check out and offer different perspectives.

While Boracay has that “international beach destination thing” going for it – it’s a fully established, maybe even over-developed holiday destination; Puerto Galera offers a whole bunch of different activities on another, more intimate scale.

Jungle, mountains, even a golf course and all that in close proximity to Manila, make it an interesting alternative to beach combers and ocean lovers alike.

The nature of PG definitely makes up completely for its downsights!

Too bad that the RoRo ship from Batangas to Puerto Galera (Balatero port) doesn’t go during rainy season, so we had to make it back to Calapan to leave Mindoro for Luzon.

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Tricycle Diaries – Repairs and Maintenance

• Bald Rear Tire changed in Caticlan, 500 Pesos tire plus 60 Pesos labor. During that occasion, the Rusi Mechanic ‘forgot’ to tighten the screw that fixes the drive chain. I didn’t notice either. The Drive Chain flew off the next day during a sharp curve down in the hills around Caticlan! Hair-raising, but thankfully no losses. Putting Drive Chain back per hand and rolling slowly down-hill. Due to lack of tools, screw then only tightened at next garage for 20 Pesos labor.
• reached 1.000 kilometer on a daytrip from Caticlan to Kalibo, yeahhhh!!!
• Kick Starter broke (really!) when rolling off RoRo Ship in Roxas (Mindoro), spare for 190 Pesos plus 20 Pesos labor
• Clutch Lining Problem (2nd time!) and Oil Shield defect in the hills of Puerto Galera, parts and labor for a total of 950 Pesos. Had to be pulled to next garage for 200 Pesos. Bummer!

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To follow a more actual version of the Tricycle Route, check out this Google Map here, which is updated more often, than the posting frequency at nomad4ever currently allows. New pictures are constantly uploaded to Flickr here.

Related posts:

1. The Tricycle Diaries – RoRo from Negros to Panay and on to Guimaras Island
2. Philippines – New Pictures on Flickr.com
3. A Volcano on an Island in a Lake on an Island in an Ocean?

Following the National Highway, you can enjoy marked middle lines, clear sidelines, an abundance of street and road direction signs and a smooth asphalt/bitumen surface, not the cheaper concrete surface, that only lasts a year or so.

It’s really a pleasure to drive on these roads – until you decide to leave them and take a smaller road. That’s what we decided to do, coming from Iloilo, to visit a Hot Spring along the way. Big mistake!

Bumpy Adventure

Coming from Iloilo on the National Highway, there is a small town called San Joaquin – it has a beautiful church, which was constructed in the 10 years following 1787 as a fortress against Muslim raiders.

Our ‘EZ Map’, which pointed out said San Joaquin Church and other interesting tourist sights, showed also a Hot Spring, right at the left tip of South-Western Panay.

As the National Highway seemed to be still under construction a bit further North, it seemed like a good detour; to check out that Hot Spring and join the National Highway some 60 kilometers further again.

Unfortunately after 10 kilometers of smooth riding the detour, the road slowly started to became bad also.

It also became very hilly, with a hill up quickly followed by hill down to a valley until the next curve brought another hill up again.

A few potholes here and there were soon followed by pothole galore.

Anyone ordered mud slides?

No problem! Sooner or later the road should become better again, right? No!

Closer to the shore it really was a scenic ride. You had the ocean just to your left and a hilly area to your right, riding the serpentines following the coastal shores.

The problem I was soon facing was the muddy surface of the road. Straight ahead it didn’t cause any problems, just up and down the hills, it was more like a mud slide – the bike was hardly controlable.

The back tire wasn’t in its best shape either – pretty bald – so sometimes it was hard to struggle for grip when trying to get one of the next hills up.

Sometimes you could just barely move forward by leaning wayyyyy back to put more weight on the back tire, which sometimes left the front tire of the bike without enough grip also.

Average travel speed went down to maybe 15-25 km/h in 2nd to 3rd gear.

Reaching the Hot Spring

That’s when shortly before the village ‘Anini-y’ it started to rain. Another 30 minutes later we reached the Hot Spring.

The Hot Spring was actually located at a very pristine location, directly at the shores of the ocean.

A Resort was built around it, which somehow seems to see only a few visitors. They charged a small entrance fee of 20 Peso and their room rates started at 600 Peso – so that shouldn’t have been a problem.

Probably more so the remote location.

The Resort Managers built a few pools to catch the Hot Spring water, which had a a very smooth consistency, with only little sulfuric smell. After using the pools for about half an hour I grew concerned with the way that still lay ahead.

After all, it was still another 30 kilometers to get back to the highway and it was early afternoon – too early to call it a day; but too late to waste much more time here.

So back on the road!? Yep!

On the road again

Better – back to the muddy road slides, which here were now under construction. Did I mention that it was raining also? Have a look at the picture to the right to get a glimpse of the road conditions.

Most was traveled in 1st or maximum 2nd gear only and at a very slow pace.

Due to the water and mud, it was hard to avoid or sometimes even see the potholes on the way.

The whole time, there was plenty of strain on the tricycle, the sidecar and my arms felt like heavy steel beams already. The Luggage and my passenger didn’t have it any better, being thrown around by the constant bumps in the road.

A few times we had to be pushed ‘over the hill’ by construction workers, as the power of the engine wasn’t enough and the wheeling tires struggled for grip. The gear lever was bent and my feet had wounds getting smashed back from the kickback of the kick-starter, when the engine succumbed to the mud and stones and died on yet another hill onslaught.

Then, just passing a small village about 10 kilometers after ‘Anini-y’ it happened:

The constant jumping and bumping through the potholes took its toll on the tricycle. The supporting rear beams of the sidecar broke at all 3 welding point with a screeching noise. The steel frame in the back acted as a guillotine and hacked through the back light (splittered off completely), as well as separated the license plate of the bike. In the front the metal squeezed the speedometer and front lamp down, so that the speedometer cable broke-bent, right at kilometer 759.

But do you believe our luck?

Just 2 houses away was a welding shop. Unloading the luggage and moving the wounded tricycle a few meters back – it took about 25 minutes to fix the metal frame and attach an additional supporting metal plate to avoid a similar disaster in the future.

250 Pesos later, we were back on the road and after another 10 km of horrific pothole tracks we passed the small town ‘Tobias Fornier’. Still another 10 kilometers of mind-numbing road-bumps the road conditions slowly improved and about 5 kilometers before coming back onto the National Highway the roads were as smooth as ever.

Reaching the next biggest town San Jose de Buenavista just shortly after nightfall, I fell deadbeat into my bed in cockroach and spider heaven – Casa Royal Pension House – the only place in town with vacant rooms. The next day allowed for an assessment of damages. We used again the local RUSI dependence, as we had good experiences with them in Dumaguete:

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Tricycle Diaries – Repairs and Maintenance:

• Welding Costs: 250 Pesos (re-attaching/fortifying sidecar beams)
• Speedometer Cable: 160 Pesos
• Complete Backlight: 250 Pesos
• Gearshift Lever: 95 Pesos (broke, when trying to bend back)
• Labor Costs: 100 Pesos
• The (wooden) License Plate was simply re-attached via new screw holes

Even though the labor costs were surprisingly low, there were a few things which the RUSI mechanic couldn’t fix.

The front light doesn’t work anymore. He opened the lamp, took out the light bulb and even opened the light machine. There seemed to be the secondary coil of the light machine damaged. Also there must be some damage with the electronics or cabling. It was not possible to get the front light working again and he didn’t have a coil as a spare part.

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Lessons learned

That day was the hardest one with the Tricycle so far. But it came also with some lessons learned.

It’s better to stick to the National Highway system and avoid smaller side roads as much as possible – especially for longer detours!

We decided also to drive from now on only during day light. You can avoid potholes better, don’t have to deal with missing street lights (read: pitch-black dark) and don’t have to be afraid of pushing Jeepney and Ceres-Liners, which race on the main roads and don’t care for other traffic – you! – even and especially in the dark.

Next post will be about Caticlan and Boracay – some days of relieve after this torture session.

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To follow a more up-to-date version of the Tricycle Route, check out this Google Map here, which is updated more often, than the posting frequency at nomad4ever currently allows. New pictures are constantly uploaded to Flickr here.

Related posts:

1. The Tricycle Diaries – RoRo from Negros to Panay and on to Guimaras Island
2. The Tricycle Diaries – an Idea becomes Reality
3. Tricyle Diaries – over at liveinthephilippines.com