Modes of Transport in the Philippines

During my recent visit to the Philippines, I had the privilege of trying out almost all the different modes of transportation available there. The most popular local mode of transport is no doubt the jeepney. They can be found almost everywhere. Even in Mandaue City with a population of only 347,000, jeepneys are aplenty, ferrying their local folks from downtown to surburbs and back.

This is one of the cheapest and fastest way of getting around. However, you often have to squeeze and do becareful with your head, the roof of the jeepney is rather low. I learnt the hard way, getting knocked painfully several times when getting on and off. Of course if you don't like to squeeze with the local folks, you can always ride in the numerous taxis on the streets. Metered taxis start at 40 pesos, and depending on the distance travelled, you normally end up paying around 100 to 200 pesos per trip, as compared with the jeepneys which only cost 7.5 pesos per person per trip.

Then there are the motorised tricycles, which are motorcycles with a seating carriage on the side. These have no fixed price, so you need to bargain for each trip. Each motor tricycle can take 4 to 6 passengers.

A cheaper but slower way to travel is by tricycles. These are truly human-powered, and often I felt sorry for the cyclist who has to transport me from one place to another.

Travelling up to the mountains, we had to ride pillion on motorbikes. Jeepneys don't travel to the top and taxis want to charge exhorbitant fees up the steep roads. So we went up to The Tops on motorbikes, and had no choice but to come back down on motorbikes as well. Was really a bumpy and quite scary ride up and down the steep slopes.

For longer distance travel, such as from one province to another, we took the bus. There are the air-conditioned tour buses, and the local open-window buses which are slightly cheaper and allows you to stop anywhere along the route.

Riding the local bus was quite an experience in itself. The windows are wide open and when it rains, you need to pull up a wooden pane to cover the window. Even then, some water will slip in and the bus floor gets wet. This was a first time for me.

Besides crossing the road bridge from Cebu Island to Mactan Island, you can also take the ferry. Although it took about 20 to 30 minutes to cross the channel on a ferry, it was quite a pleasant experience. The scenery is beautiful and you get to view the city from a different perspective.

 

 

 

 

In Manila, being the Capital City and also the largest city in the Philippines, there is the LRT and MRT train systems that connect parts of the city. It is a fast and efficient way to get from one part of the city to another, minus all the traffic jams. And although the trains are very crowded, they are a cheap way to travel. Only 12 to 15 pesos per person.

In the Capital, especially in the older parts of the city such as Chinatown and Intramuros (the walled Spanish city), you can find horse carriages. I had my fair share of riding on various different styles of these horse carriages. I found them a novel way to travel and many of them come with a guided commentary as we travelled.

 

I truly enjoyed my trip to Cebu and Manila and trying out all the different modes of transportation there. Next up, I will be blogging about all the different types of food that I tried there. What a great time I had!