Hello, Filipino Public Transit

Welcome to the fascinating world of Filipino public transit:

This picture is looking up at the top of a tricycle, one of the many forms of public transportation that I have experienced thus far in the Philippines. A tricycle is basically a bike with a side cart attached and an umbrella above. The tricycle driver rides the bike which pulls the passengers in the side car (or one or two can sit on the back of the bike) and the umbrella keeps off the rain.

A tricycle is almost the same thing as a trike, except you replace bike with motorcycle. Trikes are pretty handy and I've been in quite a few over the past couple days. My favorite trike driver was a funny old man who picked up me, Charis, Michael, and Mrs Jones around 11:45 the night after we went to the spa. He promptly chastised us for walking alone at night...apparently even with 4 people, we were alone. However, he did excitedly accept our 20 pesos for the ride (that's not even 50 cents in American money - rides can be quite cheap here!).

I finally got to experience riding in a jeepney today. Jeepneys are one of the most unique types of vehicles that I have ever seen. They originated from old Jeeps after WWII that were expanded, manipulated, and decorated so that lots of people can squish on the inside, like in a bus. They play load music a lot of times and sometimes they have funny-sounding horns, like the horn on a little kid's bike or a creepy laugh or something. Today I was in one that was really blasting the rap music. The main downside to this form of public transportation that I noticed is that the windows are open and there can be a lot of pollution or the smell might bother some people.

FX'es are the other unique kind of transportation. They are a kind of car - Tamaraw FX's, to be exact - that people just squish into, and they run on routes like buses, so you just have to find one that is going where you want to go. That's one thing that is different about the Philippinos: you can't just type in Metro Trip Planner and figure out what bus stop to go to and what time the next bus will be there because the public transportation (for the most part) is run by private individuals, not the city itself. It's different, but it works quite well here. I think I like it, but it would be harder if I didn't have such awesome guides that already knew the city!

Tomorrow I am heading out to Puerto Galera for a fantastic weekend visting Threads of Hope, painting a basketball court, swimming, snorkling, processing with the team, eating great food, hiking in the rainforest, and resting before I come home! I'm very excited and a little sad that this is truly the end of my summer, and I'm a little nervous looking ahead to all my transitions (not to mention jetlag!). I won't have internet access there, so no blog updates, and I come home the morning after I get back. Pray for safe travels for me, please! I will be coming back before my team, and traveling internationally alone makes me a bit nervous. :)