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Cebu City
On the way to Cebu City... Traveling the main road from Bogo to Cebu
City which runs along the eastern coast of Cebu, you will find many
beaches and beautiful views of the ocean, nearly the entire drive to
Cebu City. I don't have a photo showing this but will try to get some
soon and post them here.
Beautiful Filipino home in Bogo Philippines, this one is above their
business. Most Filipino homes are either cement or bamboo.
The main street Bogo Philippines, JolliBee similar to McDonalds can be
seen on the right, yellow building, also a Gaisano store where you can
buy clothing and groceries.
Downtown Bogo, Philippines
Another view of Bogo. You will encounter plenty of these tricycles
which are a motorcycle with a huge side car attached that can carry
four adults. They are used like taxis here. Many of these are
traveling no faster than 20 kilometers per hour and clog the highways
especially during rush hours.
Coming out of Bogo on the way to Cebu City. Notice the vehicles
overtaking a stopped bus, this is common in the Philippines. If a
truck gets a flat, he will stop right there in the road and fix it
even if it completely blocks a lane. Most of the motorcycles are not
moving faster than 20 kilometers per hour. meaning you will have to
overtake them. at other times they seem to come from everywhere at
once passing you on both the right and left.
Picture of my tricycle used for supply runs and sometimes to transport
people into town. I have two motorcycles and two vans also. I like the
4x4 sticker especially since it only has three wheels.
Yes that's me on my tricycle. I get the strangest looks from the
locals. Motorcycle is a 2004, Kawasaki Barako 175cc.
This is the main road to Cebu City coming out of Bogo.
In this photo you can see the road looking north, my house is just to
the left of this picture, about half a kilometer from here. Bogo is
about three kilometers north of here. You can see the bay at the top
of the picture, shows how close my house is to the water. Bogo is on
this bay. I'm equally close to the ocean on the west side, as Cebu
narrows to almost a point at this end of the island (see map top of
this page).
Mountain pass area, main highway, on the way to Cebu City. Notice the
typical slow moving truck you will most likely have to overtake.
Inday Mae's Sari Sari Store, our favorite bar-b-q stopover on the trip
to Cebu City. The building is built of bamboo and wood including most
of the furniture.
Another view of the same stopover. This is also a major stopover for
the Ceres Bus Lines, the yellow busses seen in this photo, passengers
are allowed to eat lunch here before continuing the trip in to Cebu
City which takes about another hour, depending on traffic.
Typical Bar-B-Q stand most anywhere in the Philippines. I have been
eating this for two years and never had any problems, it is well
cooked and tasty.
Small restaurant typical of the Philippines
Typical housing in the Philippines. These are built mostly of cement.
and in some instances are covered with tile. On this house you can see
the green tile on the porch railing.
This is the road we take to Cebu City. We are about half way there
from this stopover. The roads here are all two lane except in
the city limits and you will find a few main roads that are four lane.
In areas near the cities and small towns it can become quite crowded
with slow moving motorcycles, bicycles and trucks and even people.
Between the cities you can often get better speeds, up to 100 KPH. But
in the crowded areas you may only be moving at 40 kilometers per hour.
Get used to it, its the way it is here... If a vehicle is moving into
your lane always give him the right of way, things are not like they
are in the US the rules are different here. In the Philippines you
share the road with people as well as vehicles. Cutting corners is
common here as is driving up the wrong side of a road to make a turn.
Photo of the Country Mall in Cebu City, borrowed from one of the Yahoo
Groups photos. I do a lot of my shopping at this mall as they carry a
lot of American foods. You can see the building in the left of this
photo with red roof.
Another of Cebu City showing the crowded roads there. Watch out for
these taxi's there are everywhere and I don't think any of them know
how to drive... Same rule applies here if a taxi is beginning to cut
you off go ahead and allow it otherwise you may find yourself in an
accident. My rule is to always give anyone who is coming into my lane
the right of way. Be especially courteous and you will do just
fine here. "Road Rage" does not work here either, if you are this type
of individual you will not last long here here. It's easy for
Americans to get angry at the drivers here, but remember this is not
your country, you are the guest, you must fit into the scheme of
things here, so follow their rules do what they do "mostly", and you
will be OK. Some times at night they turn off the traffic lights. I
have driven into a four lane intersection crowded with cars, all
battling it out for crossing privileges. Actually I found it not
that hard to do, just get your nose out there a little and wait until
someone allows you to go one lane at a time across the intersection.
Most Filipinos I find are not that mean and will allow you to pass but
it can take a minute or more to make the crossing on some of these
intersections.
Another view showing Cebu City traffic. Jeepnees which are Filipino
mini busses as seen in this photo and are everywhere also they often move
slowly and can stop quickly. I had a near miss once when a jeepney
passed me on the left at a high speed and another one stopped suddenly
to let off a passenger. I dogged the stopped vehicle and narrowly
missed the one overtaking me. It all happened so fast you often don't
have much time to react. I think my angel was looking after me that
time as it could have been nasty. Anyway this was back when I didn't
know the rules for driving yet, I learned fast. I think driving in
the Philippines is quite dangerous especially for someone who is not
native to the Philippines.
Overloaded Jeepney traveling up a mountain road in Cebu City.
Some cute kids along the way in Cebu City.
SM Cebu City
SM Cebu City, you can find just about anything you want in the way of
food at this mall. There's even a McDonalds restaurant, and it tastes
exactly like it does in the US.
This is a fishing village called Mahawak located in northern Cebu. Too
small for the map but is located near Medelllin Philippine see map at
the top of this page.
Northeastern Cebu - Mahawak
More of Mahawak
Into the village of Mahawak
More of the village of Mahawak
Filipino Kids in Bogo Philippines
Typical view of the ocean... I believe I took this from northern Cebu
on the east, coast across from Medellin, out on a point.
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