Travel On Bus Or Bus-Jet

[cebuexpat]

Decided to go with my Filipina Manager to Kawit for some business. Its in the Cebu Province up towards Bayatan Island... She suggested to take a bus. So I said why not. Cant be that bad..... WRONG>>>Started at the North Bus Terminal in Cebu. Was not all that bad at first. Bus looked very clean, and well kept, tires good. I was impressed at first. BUT then it started. Wanted to have air con. So we paid a higher fee to get on a AC Bus. Well i am here to tell you. The AC must stand for Air Cooled, because they sure was no Air Condition that i felt. I like to died sitting there waiting for the trip to begin. Hot , hot, hot..... Next, I am not sure who designs the buses for around Asia. But whoever it is must be a short SOB. Must have never thought a foreigner would ride on one.. I had to turn my legs sideways, or spread them to look like a woman giving birth... No way to sit with them straight in front without your knees digging into the seat in front. I actually lifted my ass up and straighten my legs and sit down very fast, become wedged when my knees hit the seat in front, and my ass floped down in the seat. Was not sure i would get out. Finally wiggled my way free. Offered the man in the front seat 200 peso to trade seats with us. So the journey began, was not so bad at first, went through the city, and was on the way.... Well, when we left all the city traffic and intersections and come on the main open road..... Well,,, you know what it sounds like when a jet is on the runway getting ready to take off. They push the engines to full throttle... Thats exactly what the bus done. It was on then. In my younger days, I will have to say that I done some wild things while driving. Going fast, cutting corners, seeing how close i could come to things, thought I was pretty good... I am nothing..... This bus was like a small jet. I swear if it had wings we would have lifted off at any moment. We went through small towns and villiages on the main road, and would strip the feathers off chickens from the wind burst as we went by.....Now I am not sure if Pinoy's who live on these bus routes are trained from birth, or they are just completely fearless. We would go through small towns and small roads, you know how the roads here are, and people just walking like normal on the roadsides. Well, I just closed my eyes, because i knowed they was no way we were not going to crush them... But there we would go, right pass, like a jet, and them never miss a step or flinch or even dodge. I know for sure at times, you could not have put you hand between them and the side of the bus. But they just acted like it was a fly buzzing by.... A few toots on the horn and I expected to see them scatter like birds.... Nope, they are tough, they hold their ground.....So then,,,,,, kindly got used to that... now,,, we are starting to enter the mountain terrain... Very nice to see. You look ahead and see the curving roads going up and down the mountain... Normal assumption says well it will get slower now.... WRONG>>> It seems that straight or curved roads make no difference to the drivers or to the amount of pressure you put on the gas pedal... I know at certain times we were only on two wheels... Going up the mountains we would seem to slow at certain times. But through the masterful shifting of the driver, we did not loose much momentum. I can say this for sure, what ever momentum we lost going up the mountain, he surely made up for going down the other side. Breaks are a norm for most downhill decents... well i can tell you for sure, , the only breaking we done was when he would let his foot off the accelerator. That was only brief and not very often..... Here's the best part. Look over at other passengers, they are just sleeping away. I have already made hand prints in the bar in front of me, got both legs braced and locked against whatever I can find. and I am still having hard time to keep from being thrown out of my seat and across the bus... Actually a couple of time during a small relaxation I was in the isle. Pretty embarassing, but no one seemed to care... The young lady that was with me, I think may have substained some internal injury's from me crushing her against the side of the bus. She had the window seat... I assume that Pinoy's are born with a built in balance system for this kind of travel... They can sleep and you never see one thrown in the isle, or out of the seat....It was a three hour trip, I was exhausted when we arrived. Only break you get is two break stops on the way... I never got to enjoy those stops much, I was busy in the bathrooms, cleaning my butt and wiping the sweat from my head, and trying to think how i could get off this bus and get another mode of transportation...That was my bus trip... Thank god for the local's who suggested I buy them all case of red horse because it was someone's Birth Day. ( Always someones b- day ) The 4 bottles of red horse I drank and the one i sneaked on the bus, before returning made the ride back most enjoyable.....( for me at least, I dont think my traveling partner had the same wonderful outlook on the trip back.) I think everything was ok for her, until i started hanging my head out the window of the bus and yelling , hey qwapa, hey qwapa, as we drove through the villiages. Now as i look back on it, its was kindly like russian roulette. If i would have stuck my head out at the wrong time, next to a electric pole, at those speeds, it would have been a quick clean be heading...Later a man told me they should install seatbelts on those buses. I said, " Seatbelts hell, they should install full body harness like a rollercoaster ride has. Seatbelts will only cause your back to get broken."

[cebuexpat]

Oh just wanted to add one more thing... I have heard this from more than one person. Dont know if its folklore or its true... But I have been told by more than one Pinoy....That bus drivers are trained if they hit someone during their route on the roadside, they are trained to back up and run over them again. Just to make sure they are dead. Its chepaer for the bus company to pay a death benefit to the family, then a long hospitilization or life time disability settlement.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Decided to go with my Filipina Manager to Kawit for some business. Its in the Cebu Province up towards Bayatan Island... She suggested to take a bus. So I said why not. Cant be that bad..... WRONG>>>Started at the North Bus Terminal in Cebu. Was not all that bad at first. Bus looked very clean, and well kept, tires good. I was impressed at first. BUT then it started. Wanted to have air con. So we paid a higher fee to get on a AC Bus. Well i am here to tell you. The AC must stand for Air Cooled, because they sure was no Air Condition that i felt. I like to died sitting there waiting for the trip to begin. Hot , hot, hot..... Next, I am not sure who designs the buses for around Asia. But whoever it is must be a short SOB. Must have never thought a foreigner would ride on one.. I had to turn my legs sideways, or spread them to look like a woman giving birth... No way to sit with them straight in front without your knees digging into the seat in front. I actually lifted my ass up and straighten my legs and sit down very fast, become wedged when my knees hit the seat in front, and my ass floped down in the seat. Was not sure i would get out. Finally wiggled my way free. Offered the man in the front seat 200 peso to trade seats with us. So the journey began, was not so bad at first, went through the city, and was on the way.... Well, when we left all the city traffic and intersections and come on the main open road..... Well,,, you know what it sounds like when a jet is on the runway getting ready to take off. They push the engines to full throttle... Thats exactly what the bus done. It was on then. In my younger days, I will have to say that I done some wild things while driving. Going fast, cutting corners, seeing how close i could come to things, thought I was pretty good... I am nothing..... This bus was like a small jet. I swear if it had wings we would have lifted off at any moment. We went through small towns and villiages on the main road, and would strip the feathers off chickens from the wind burst as we went by.....Now I am not sure if Pinoy's who live on these bus routes are trained from birth, or they are just completely fearless. We would go through small towns and small roads, you know how the roads here are, and people just walking like normal on the roadsides. Well, I just closed my eyes, because i knowed they was no way we were not going to crush them... But there we would go, right pass, like a jet, and them never miss a step or flinch or even dodge. I know for sure at times, you could not have put you hand between them and the side of the bus. But they just acted like it was a fly buzzing by.... A few toots on the horn and I expected to see them scatter like birds.... Nope, they are tough, they hold their ground.....So then,,,,,, kindly got used to that... now,,, we are starting to enter the mountain terrain... Very nice to see. You look ahead and see the curving roads going up and down the mountain... Normal assumption says well it will get slower now.... WRONG>>> It seems that straight or curved roads make no difference to the drivers or to the amount of pressure you put on the gas pedal... I know at certain times we were only on two wheels... Going up the mountains we would seem to slow at certain times. But through the masterful shifting of the driver, we did not loose much momentum. I can say this for sure, what ever momentum we lost going up the mountain, he surely made up for going down the other side. Breaks are a norm for most downhill decents... well i can tell you for sure, , the only breaking we done was when he would let his foot off the accelerator. That was only brief and not very often..... Here's the best part. Look over at other passengers, they are just sleeping away. I have already made hand prints in the bar in front of me, got both legs braced and locked against whatever I can find. and I am still having hard time to keep from being thrown out of my seat and across the bus... Actually a couple of time during a small relaxation I was in the isle. Pretty embarassing, but no one seemed to care... The young lady that was with me, I think may have substained some internal injury's from me crushing her against the side of the bus. She had the window seat... I assume that Pinoy's are born with a built in balance system for this kind of travel... They can sleep and you never see one thrown in the isle, or out of the seat....It was a three hour trip, I was exhausted when we arrived. Only break you get is two break stops on the way... I never got to enjoy those stops much, I was busy in the bathrooms, cleaning my butt and wiping the sweat from my head, and trying to think how i could get off this bus and get another mode of transportation...That was my bus trip... Thank god for the local's who suggested I buy them all case of red horse because it was someone's Birth Day. ( Always someones b- day ) The 4 bottles of red horse I drank and the one i sneaked on the bus, before returning made the ride back most enjoyable.....( for me at least, I dont think my traveling partner had the same wonderful outlook on the trip back.) I think everything was ok for her, until i started hanging my head out the window of the bus and yelling , hey qwapa, hey qwapa, as we drove through the villiages. Now as i look back on it, its was kindly like russian roulette. If i would have stuck my head out at the wrong time, next to a electric pole, at those speeds, it would have been a quick clean be heading...Later a man told me they should install seatbelts on those buses. I said, " Seatbelts hell, they should install full body harness like a rollercoaster ride has. Seatbelts will only cause your back to get broken."

lol, that reminds me of my trip to Daanbantayan, I would not ride the bus back and had Danny's taxi come up and pick us up for the trip back to Matcan where we were staying at SRD apparments at the time.

[brock]

LOL....Everything you said, I can relate too, I have been on one bus journey, never ever again, I would sooner walk

[Mr Lee]

Very funny and I can relate to that 100% except we took some bus trips in Mindanao from Cagayan de Oro to Davao and along the way they loaded a couple of pigs in the luggage bin, and then along the way later on they stopped to hose down the pigs so they would not get too hot, the only problem being that my carry on luggage was in the next luggage bin right next to the pigs so when we got to Davao, I had to send all my clothing out to be cleaned again from mud and water splashing on them through the zipper.

[Jake]

Oh just wanted to add one more thing... I have heard this from more than one person. Dont know if its folklore or its true... But I have been told by more than one Pinoy....That bus drivers are trained if they hit someone during their route on the roadside, they are trained to back up and run over them again. Just to make sure they are dead. Its chepaer for the bus company to pay a death benefit to the family, then a long hospitilization or life time disability settlement.

Cebuexpat,Oh yeah, it's an open secret to finish the guy off (see my previous post under "stop sign, is it for show").As always, I truly enjoy reading your posts. Your experience, as well as others who survive to tell theirown stories, had me rolling with tears of laughter. For obvious reason, the seating arrangements have been modified to take on more passengers (with shortlegs of course). The placard displaying max load capacity is just for display. One time, as a matter ofcourtesy, I allowed an old woman to take my seat instead. Eventually at nearly 150% capacity, it was sotight, that I was standing nuts to butts. Then all of the sudden, people were piling out of the bus, all goingto the same direction towards some dense bushes and trees. It was out in the middle of nowhere, whichis a perfect spot (I learned later) to take a dump. Good thing for the remainder of my ride (Manila toOlongapo, Victory Liner) because someone was passing gas after eating some baluts. One thing I still find amazing is how the conductor manages to navigate through all those people and how he remembersto collect and return change to the each and every passenger. I just love this quote from you: "and would strip the feathers off chickens from the wind burst as we went by....". It is vivid description that I could instantly see through my own eyes. Thank you all for the laughs with mymorning coffee. Your fellow bus survivor -- Jake

[TheMason]

I used to take the bus from Baguio to Manila at least twice a month. We always went on Victory Liner and never had a problem. Of course, that's a major route so they probably have their best buses and drivers on it. I never had a problem though. It takes about 7 hours and there are 3 rest stops. In between stops, they showed movies on the tv to help pass the time. I like taking the bus, even in the US. Its a good way to see the sights and meet people.