Getting around by car

[stevewool]

I silly question maybe , but driving around the Philippines and using a sat nav , do they work just as good as driving around the USA or even Europe , I know sometimes if you put the wrong postcode or spell the place you are wanting you could be driving many miles out of the way but as a experienced driver I have a six sense when I feel I am going the wrong way sat nav or not, but  every bit of help may be needed for me to drive keeping my eyes on the road avoiding roaming dogs , mad bike riders and the enforcement officers .

[Jack D]

I used the Waze app on my iPhone for SAT NAV, and it didn't work out too well for me sometimes. I would often get lost with the directions that the app provided.

The cellular signal for LTE/3G/Edge is weak and spotty in many parts of the Philippines and the accuracy of SAT NAV (at least the Waze app) relies on a high quality cellular signal.

 

 

[Kuya John]

3 hours ago, stevewool said:

but  every bit of help may be needed for me to drive keeping my eyes on the road avoiding roaming dogs , mad bike riders and the enforcement officers

"Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun"

Steve, you are a brave man to attempt to find your way round Luzon, I would rather risk bus journeys with all it entails, than even think of driving in Philippines, unless I had spent at least a few months there and only in the provinces.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Kuya John
correction

[stevewool]

9 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

"Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun"

Steve, you are a brave man to attempt to find your way round Luzon, I would rather risk bus journeys with all it entails, than even think of driving in Philippines, unless I had spent at least a few months there and only in the provinces.

There are so many places I would like to visit plus we have to see a few friends and I have to rely on them to pick us up and then drop us of, and I know they don’t mind, but it’s great to go when you want and leave when you want.

It may never happen, it all depends on the cost of the hire , funny thing there are 2 vehicles in  family over there but no one is offering them , I have even asked Emma to ask about paying to borrow one and even pay to take everyone along for the trip but it seems they need them , but that may work out better for me that way I have not to take them .

[Kuya John]

4 minutes ago, stevewool said:

I have even asked Emma to ask about paying to borrow one and even pay to take everyone along for the trip but it seems they need them

Ask Emm's to hire a car and driver for 3/4 days, the family might suddenly have a change of heart!

Edited November 17, 2019 by Kuya John
missing word added

[stevewool]

2 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

Ask Emm's to hire a car and driver for 3/4 days, the family might suddenly have a change of heart!

Funny thing there, a long story but I will cut it short, sister in law brought a car on finance ( I would not send the money to pay for it ), this was for her husband to use as a taxi once he finished his work in Japan, well his work has finished months ago so he does not work anymore, so I thought I would pay him for his services and yes the kids would be coming to.

It seems that he is afraid of driving as he’s been out of the country , so the sister in law uses it for work, but she is afraid now after 2 accidents front and rear, but not to sure where these happened .

So it’s best in my view to keep well away from them .

[roddavis]

19 minutes ago, stevewool said:

Funny thing there, a long story but I will cut it short, sister in law brought a car on finance ( I would not send the money to pay for it ), this was for her husband to use as a taxi once he finished his work in Japan, well his work has finished months ago so he does not work anymore, so I thought I would pay him for his services and yes the kids would be coming to.

It seems that he is afraid of driving as he’s been out of the country , so the sister in law uses it for work, but she is afraid now after 2 accidents front and rear, but not to sure where these happened .

So it’s best in my view to keep well away from them .

I use navigator app on my android tablet while I drive. Just need GPS locator running. Also best to find where to want to go first with an internet connection. then save them to favorites folder before the trip. Works great! One thing that frustrates me in the PI.... no addresses! Cross streets names if you are lucky. Thats why I say search before you drive on the map, then save to favorites. When on GPS, bring up favorites and say go there! Then while your dring and looking at the maps. you see the name of the roads. You will find many posted physical signs in the city.

[Tommy T.]

6 hours ago, stevewool said:

I silly question maybe , but driving around the Philippines and using a sat nav , do they work just as good as driving around the USA or even Europe , I know sometimes if you put the wrong postcode or spell the place you are wanting you could be driving many miles out of the way but as a experienced driver I have a six sense when I feel I am going the wrong way sat nav or not, but  every bit of help may be needed for me to drive keeping my eyes on the road avoiding roaming dogs , mad bike riders and the enforcement officers .

I use Google Maps on the cell phone with varying degrees of success. It works with only GPS of with the enhanced location using cell signals. I normally use just the straight GPS.

I think a lot of it depends on your location. I know that in metro Manila, it works quite well because the database is mostly current. Here in Davao and the more rural areas, I think the databases are sometimes out of date. There have been a number of times when I entered a destination by name (say a restaurant) then went to the directed location and nothing there. As Rod said, there are no addresses (or at least not a lot and not consistent). Street names seem to not be posted everywhere and most Philipinos navigate using landmarks.

But, having said that, a couple years ago we went on a hired car trip from Cebu to Dumaguete and I checked our progress using the app so we would know where we needed to get off or direct the driver for attractions, hotel and restaurants. It worked quite well and was very accurate.

The conversations when asking directions can take a long time so I still prefer to use the app.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Tommy T.

[RBM]

3 hours ago, Kuya John said:

Ask Emm's to hire a car and driver for 3/4 days, the family might suddenly have a change of heart!

I like many expats have driven and ridden extensively here with out problems. If one is familiar and careful should not be a problem. 

Have used maps.me plus google maps from time to time, both effective.

Last night arrived back after a 6 plus hour drive and was exhausted, it is tiring as the concentration required is intense. Especially at night.

As a tip I try to ovoid night driving, limit   daily driving time to 4 hours....with frequent rest stops.

[graham59]

3 hours ago, roddavis said:

I use navigator app on my android tablet while I drive. Just need GPS locator running. Also best to find where to want to go first with an internet connection. then save them to favorites folder before the trip. Works great! One thing that frustrates me in the PI.... no addresses! Cross streets names if you are lucky. Thats why I say search before you drive on the map, then save to favorites. When on GPS, bring up favorites and say go there! Then while your dring and looking at the maps. you see the name of the roads. You will find many posted physical signs in the city.

This is what I use when travelling (a long journey) on the buses.

Very easy to use. It enables me to just keep track of our progress, but is accurate enough even out in the province.

Try it Steve.