Getting Around
May 13 '06
The Bottom Line There are a lot of options for traveling around the islands of the Philippines. Hopefully, this information will help you choose.
Transportation in the Philippines ranges from difficult to impossible. Because the Philippines is a group of mountainous islands getting from point A to point B often requires a trip though point O and past point G, in that order. The Philippine government is aware of this drawback and has been taking steps to make things easier (though easy I think is always going to be out of the question.) A few private companies also have alternatives, but they require some research. You can travel through the Phillippines by taxi, private car, rental car, bus, jeepney, or trike. And then there’s the expensive alternative, seaplane, but we’ll get to that in good time.
Taxis
There are marked and metered taxies and the tour books all recommend using those so you don’t get ripped off. However, taxis are not available everywhere. You’ll have no trouble finding one in Manila, but who wants to stay in Manila? Plus, they can be a bit more expensive.
Private Car
Since the men can’t make a living as prostitutes (though I think they should give it a shot, you never know) many of them make a living driving people around. They have to get specially licensed by the government so it’s not like every guy with a car can just start picking up passengers. They also seem to work for dispatchers. All of our private car rides were arranged by the hotel and they negotiated the price with the exception of one. If I had it to do over, I would have the hotel arrange all of the rides because not only have they vetted out the drivers they’re using, but they’ve negotiated the prices based on the going rate which you, fresh off the plane, probably don’t know. We negotiated one trip ourselves and paid double what we should have. We thought we’d done well when we talked the guy down $20. The drivers range from guys who are just punching the clock to salesmen to tour guides. One of our drivers was so intent on selling us real estate in the Philippines and rides to other destinations that I faked illness to get back to the hotel faster. Others pointed out sights of interest and one had a couple of hand picked photo opportunities that he asked if we wanted to stop for. The cars were all very clean.
Rental Car
I didn’t rent a car in the Philippines, but they are available and since the road signs are in English it’s not impossible to navigate on your own. Mind that I said "not impossible." The road rarely run straight for very long, they tend to split off from one another instead of coming to an obvious intersection, there are few lights and people tend to just walk out in traffic because there aren’t many crosswalks either. With the easy availability of private cars, I wouldn’t do it, but if you want to I suggest you get a map before leaving. And drive slowly because the roads range from 4 lane highways to roads that appear to have last been paved during the Nixon Administration.
Bus
There’s a range of buses in the Philippines too. There’s buses like Fly the Bus from Swagman Travel which are nice, air conditioned and 2 seats to a side. Then there’s other buses. I only saw those. Judging by the open windows, I’d guess they aren’t air conditioned and it looked like there were 3 seats to a side. Filipinos are generally pretty small people so they might be perfectly comfortable crammed into a bus like that, but if you happen to be taller than 5 feet or over 95 lbs soaking wet you might be uncomfortable.
Jeepney
Ok, now we get into the land of the strange. If you look at a jeepney head on, it looks like an old jeep, a really tricked out old jeep, but an old jeep. Look at it from the side and it looks like somebody grabbed the back bumper and pulled until it grew about 4 feet. They have no windows and generally no back door. They are decorated fabulously with really elaborate paintings on the side. As art objects they’re pretty fun to look at, but as transportation I wouldn’t do it. They’re bumpy and slow. They stop every little way to pick up more passengers. And they aren’t very direct. You may have to spend 6 hours getting somewhere that would take 3 by taxi and have to go through 2 other towns. You may also have to wait for one like you’d wait for a bus. The big attraction here is they are cheap. About $0.50 to ride as far as you want. If you’re into adventure travel, then you may well enjoy this.
Trike
These are motorcycles with covered sidecars. They’re quick, they’ll pass everybody on the road, but they’re still motorcycles so they’re loud. You also get bounced around pretty badly. I thought I was going to come home with bruises on my upper arm from being bounced against the framework. 500 pesos per 5 minutes on the road and they’ll probably ask for 500 pesos per extra person. I've seen the Filipinos pile 4 people on a trike, but like I said, Filipinos are small. If you go to the Philippines you will probably end up on a trike at some point because things tend to be spread out and walking in the heat is really out of the question. (Believe me, I tried and paid for it all day long.)
Seaplane
The big enchilada. It’s fast, it’s direct, but it’s expensive. We were quoted $250 for up to 3 people to fly from Manila to Subic and the trip would take 30 minutes and the plane would land right offshore from the hotel. For comparison, taxi from the Manila Airport to Subic Bay should cost $30-$40 and take about 3 hours over highway and some rough roads. We did the taxi the first time, next time it very well might be the seaplane. There are also areas of the Philippines that are only accessible by seaplane or boat. This is one of those things were time really is money and since I get motion sick I’d rather be sick for a shorter period of time.
Swagman Travel
This is a chain of travel agencies and hotels. They offer all kinds of great stuff for their guests including airport pick up. I don’t know about you, but when I get off an airplane I want to get someplace that doesn’t move for a couple of hours. Swagman will pick you up at the airport any time and take you straight to the Manila Swagman Hotel. They will them make arrangements for you to head off the next day to where ever. They can be found at swaggy.com.
Getting around in the Philippines is tough, but manageable. There are lots of options to sort through. First you need to figure out what you have to spend, then you need to consider your tolerance level for discomfort, and then you can make your choice. Keep in mind that most of these choices can be changed if you, say, hop a jeepney and find out they make you car sick.
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