I traveled over 550 kilometers this week, or 342 miles! To visit my friends at Jawili Falls, I traveled 70 miles. To get to Iloilo City to volunteer at an eye clinic, I traveled 96 miles. To get to Bacolod for one day of the week-long clinic, I traveled 80 miles by boat and van. Finally, to get home I rode a bus for 109 miles.
Many, many miles! Luckily for me, transportation by bus and van is much cheaper in the Philippines compared to in the U.S. For me to get from my community to Manila, the country’s capital, I have to travel over 300 miles!
This week, I mostly traveled via Ceres, an affordable public bus line in the Philippines. I also took many vans, which operate like buses, except they are much faster and smaller. To travel shorter distances, I rode tricycles (side cars attached to motorcycles) and jeepneys in the city. A jeepney is like a small, colorful painted bus with two long benches on the inside. Passengers hop in and out from the back and pass their coins as payment from the back to the front of the bus. It is like a game of telephone, only you are passing coins! These vehicles are cultural icons of the Philippines.
