Articles tagged with: bike
Cycling Catanduanes 1 – “Are you sure?”
The manager of the hotel in Virac raised her eyebrows at me when I told her of my plans to ride my bicycle to Pandan – the town at the northern tip of Catanduanes.
“Are you sure?” she said, with her eyes widening and her voice rising a couple of octaves at the end – sounding almost panicked on my behalf.
“No,” I said. “I’m not sure …
Exploring Virac and Catanduanes
Thursday April 11, 2013
6:30 a.m. Virac, Catanduanes
If I were informed that I was here on this world as a kind of messiah to deliver my important message, I know exactly what my message would be. “Hooks,” I would begin my first sermon, “are good! Hooks cost next to nothing and make life a thousand times better. Go, my children, to the hardware store. Go today! …
Cycling to Tabac; Ferry to Catanduanes
Wednesday April 10, 2013
6:00 a.m. Boat from Tobaco, Luzon to Virac, Catanduanes, Philippines
I almost didn’t make it out of Legazpi yesterday. I woke up feeling that I just wanted to hang out for another day. That feeling was reinforced by everything – the relative comfort of my private room (despite the presence of a family of very large cockroaches in the bathroom), the cloudy skies, …
Changing Money, Getting Water, and Finding the Post Office
Tuesday April 9, 2013
7:00 a.m. Legazpi, Philippines
It’s funny how the little things affect one’s life. I’m thinking in terms of living and traveling in a relatively poor country. For example, I’m inside this little canteen in Legazpi and having a cup of coffee. A pleasant experience. However, the table is plastic and the chairs are plastic. They all wobble and aren’t very secure. The table …
Bubble Milk Tea in the Philippines? Yep – with “sinkers”
Monday, April 8, 2013
7:30 a.m. Legazpi, Philippines
There were no adventures large or small yesterday, so I don’t have much to say this morning. It was a Sunday, and I noted that Sundays really do mean something in the Philippines. The streets were nearly empty, the jeepneys had ceased their endless parade, and most of the shops and stores were closed.
After my morning coffee and a …
Cycling the Slopes of the Mayon Volcano
Friday April 5, 2013
7:45 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel, Legazpi, Philippines
Dogs, I’ve come to realize, are common in the Philippines, at least in Legazpi. I know that not because I see them but because I hear them. Occasionally, in response to some unknown signal or danger, one dog in the neighborhood of the hostel will begin to bark and all the other dogs will join in. …
Meet a Lucky Man
Meet the luckiest man on earth – a man with four beautiful daughters. I was riding my bike down some rocky roads on the slopes of the Mayon Volcano when I heard an incessant beeping. I recognized it as a tricycle horn. Ahead of me I saw this tricycle, and the little girl in front of daddy was pressing down on the horn again and …
Hostel Bathrooom & Cagsawa Ruins – Legazpi
Thursday April 4, 2013
6:30 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel, Legazpi
Yesterday, I uploaded a large part of my journal plus some pictures at an Internet café near the hostel, and it worked out fairly well. I am using an AlphaSmart Neo still and in order to download the contents, I have to attach it to a computer with a USB cable. That turns the NEO into an …