Foreign Driving

So today was quite the experience. If anyone has ever been overseas and has ridden in busses, trikes, vans, cars, etc, whatever the transportation is, they know it can be exciting. We were traveling back to Puerto Princessa, the main city on Palawan via bus. We broke up our trip by staying in a little town overnight, but that first day traveling, we were informed that the last bus leaving that morning was full. “What about the roof?” Kevin asked. “That will be fine.” So, up to the roof with the luggage we went. We were seated next to a basket of chickens and at first we were the only 2, but we were soon surrounded by many who joined us on the roof. It actually was a nice ride up there, especially since it was only 2 hours.

The next morning however, although we enjoyed the top of the bus, we opted for a seat. So we got there plenty early. The bus is definitely not the most glorious way to travel, but it is the cheapest. It is dusty on this only partly paved road. I soon had my handkerchief tied around my mouth. We were just kind of bumping along, with the usual honks and stopping to pick up and drop off passengers, when another big bus like ours passed us going very fast on a small stretch of pavement.

We were covered in dust for a little while and our driver didn’t leave room for any dust to settle. Instead he was maybe a little irked that we were passed and tried to re-pass a couple of times. We ate some dust for quite some time, but then finally our driver was able to pass this bus. Then for maybe an hour, our driver seemed to drive extra fast as if he were going to really gain some ground between the other bus to eliminate the possibility of being passed again. He drove in the middle of the road, and seemed to swing wildly around the corners. I was very thankful to be in my seat on the inside today. I just hoped our bags were secure. I grabbed Kevin’s leg around a couple of corners and peered back at the other bus riding our tail. Both busses had people to pick up and drop off. We barely stopped and sometimes didn’t even stop when picking up passengers. If it was a man, he had to skillfully grab onto the handle outside and kind of leap to the step as the helper guy grabbed his bags and tossed them to the other helper guy on the roof. All while not fully stopping. There were even some cute older people that had to run a little. Soon enough though, enough distance was made and our ride smoothed out and my grip on Kevin’s leg lessened. We made it safe and sound. Oh the joys of foreign driving.


(This is obviously not ours, this is just a picture from the web. We didn't get a picture, but it was similar to this!)