Our arrival in the Philippines marked the beginning of what would be a seven month journey around the world. My best-friend Jamie and I landed in Cebu mid-afternoon. And despite our 19 hour flight and jet-lag, we were bright-eyed and excited for all that lay ahead. 

We decided we would take the bus from the airport to our final destination of Moal Boal. Soon after landing and collecting our baggage, we realized we knew nothing about the Philippines, or how to get to Moal Boal. We decided to start by finding the bus stop – we’d figure everything else out from there. We would soon come to find that our figure-it-out-once-you-get-there mentality was simply how we traveled together. “We’re flying by the seat of our pants!” is what we would always say, and we really were.

The Philippines air was hot and humid and the sky was clear and blue. Smiles were plastered on our faces, ear to ear. We followed signs for the bus stop to a covered area a ways away from the busier parts of the airport. It didn’t look like much, but people were gathered under an awning and they seemed to be standing around casually. We assumed they were waiting for the bus. We stood amongst the group of about 8 people for at least five minutes, pretty unsure if we were in the right place. Time ticked on. No sign of any bus. After a bit of deliberation between the two of us, Jamie and I decided it was time to ask someone for help.

I turned to a tall European man smoking a cigarette, “Hi, sorry, do you speak English?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, great! Is this the bus stop?”

He laughed loudly. “This is the smoking area-” he motioned around him. Sure enough, everyone was smoking.

Jamie and I laughed too, we had been hanging out in the smoking area for quite some time, waiting for a bus that would never come. We said thank you and moved along giggling to ourselves. Our search went on.

Next, we asked an airport worker where we could find the bus. He pointed us to an unmarked corner of the sidewalk. Before long, we were sitting on a curb on the side of the road, as per his instructions. We were told a bus would come eventually. So, we sat there for at least 30 minutes, during which time many buses came and went. We tried to board every one of them, asking each driver “to Moal Boal?” “No,” was always the response. Most buses were picking up tour groups from the airport, but that didn’t stop us from trying to board them. Finally, a bus pulled up to the curb and we asked our question, “to Moal Boal?” The driver grunted in acknowledgment. It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no. We handed him some cash and hopped on board.

The next stop was the domestic arrivals terminal in the airport where we stood still for over 20 minutes. A taxi stand was right beside us to the left. We both eyed it silently. Finally Jamie said something.

“Should we just get a taxi?”

“I was hoping you’d ask that! I don’t even know if this is the right bus.”

“Me neither!”

We gathered our things and got off the bus. We negotiated with a taxi driver and agreed on $22 for the 3 hour drive to Moal Boal, a fair price. We loaded our bags and off we went! After over an hour of trying to leave the airport, we were finally on our way.

Our taxi driver was happy to have two young Americans in his backseat, he was chipper and chatty the entire drive and took a real liking to Jamie. He loved teasing her, she would groan at his silly remarks and he would burst out in laughter at her annoyed mood. Shortly after we started our drive he called his son and introduced us. “They’re from America!” our driver said. The son said hi over the phone, shyly. We smiled and waved from the backseat.

About 20 minutes into the drive, our driver pulled off the main road and down a dirt road.

“My brother in law is giving me lunch.” He said.

Oh god, we’ve only been here a few hours and we’re already being taken away somewhere. Jamie and I kept looking at each other nervously. What is going on? I worked at a restaurant over the summer to save up for this trip, and when I shared my plans to travel the world with customers many of them were visibly concerned. “Oh dear, a girl like you, be safe darling,” they’d say. Suddenly I found myself wishing I’d taken them a bit more seriously.

We drove down the dirt road for a minute or two. And sure enough, a couple hundred meters ahead, a man with a brown paper bag stood waiting on the side of the road. He handed our taxi driver the bag and we continued on our way. I felt bad for assuming the worst. Come to think of it, if I were suddenly hired to drive 3+ hours mid-day, I would want a snack too.

Our driver offered us some of his food, a sort of sweet bread with chocolate drizzled over the top. We declined, not wanting to take any of his lunch from him. We quickly got back onto the main road.

The road to Moal Boal was narrow and windy and cut right through the island. For 3 hours we squeezed and honked our way through traffic. We passed cars coming in the opposite direction with only inches between the two vehicles. People on motorbikes zipped around us and weaved their way through traffic. My eyes were glued out the widow as we drove through lush hills and jungle. I was struck by the sheer diversity of life around me. Thousands of different species of plants and trees and flowers stacked atop and beside one another. Nature’s great collage. Horses and cows roamed freely on grassy hillsides, and chickens and roosters pecked at the ground on the side of the road. We drove through villages where people wandered about. Women held babies, children played, men worked. It was an explosion of life on every level, and we were right in the middle of it.

For three hours we sat staring out of the window and our taxi driver asked us questions about where we grew up and what we were doing in the Philippines. We explained that we would be in Moal Boal for ten days and he gave us recommendations of things to do around the island, we wrote down suggestions so as not to forget. Finally, we turned down a narrow dirt road where stray dogs barked at us and chased the car as we pulled up to our hostel.

We checked in and unpacked our things. By this point, jet lag was hitting and we agreed that a quick rest sounded nice. “30 minutes,” we decided, and then we would explore this new place. But as soon as our eyes closed, our bodies demanded sleep, and we didn’t wake until the early hours of the morning the next day.