National Highway – Bridges

Continuing with yesterday’s theme, I wanted to show a few pictures of the bridge construction that is taking place along the National Highway. This construction site is a little south of San Jorge, going towards Catbalogan. Notice that much of the work is still done by hand. It’s a lot of work, in a hot and humid climate.

Highway Construction

One of the reasons why it is so difficult to travel in Samar is because of the conditions of the roads, including the National Highway. Here are some previously unpublished pictures of the road conditions, from my recent trips from Calbayog to Catbalogan. Before I get started with the pictures, though, I want to appologize about the quality of the photos. These were taken through a dirty window on a moving bus.

I thought this sign was kind of interresting. No, not the FIELDS sign, the smaller one to the right. It says “SLOW DOWN MEN AT WORK.”

Here you can see a roller machine. It is used for packing the base of the roadway, and also after blacktop is used. Using blacktop is new for Samar, and only some parts of the National Highway have seen blacktop. Previously they mostly built with cement, and that is still widely used. Recently I heard that one of the reasons they are switching to blacktop is because it cannot be used to build houses. With cement, a large percentage of the materials just “disappear.”

This next picture shows a section of the road in serious need of construction!

Very much of the work is still done by hand. Here you can see workers building a ditch along the National Highway. When they are finished, the ditch will be lined with stones and cement… if the project makes it that far.

Aircon Bus to Catbalogan

I made 1 more trip from Calbayog to Catbalogan and back. This time I took an airconditioned bus. The aircon bus was a much more comfortable way to travel than the ordinary fare busses, or even the vans. The seats are nicer, and even recline. The aircon was evenly distriputed, so we did not get hot, and there was no dust! The fee was less than the van, and only slightly more than the ordinary fare. Plus, we had music while waiting for the bus to pull out of Calbayog. But, even this mode of transportation has it’s problems. If you catch an aircon bus going from Calbayog to Catbalogan, it is comming from Manila, so it is still mostly full. That means sitting in the back of the bus, and bouncing around where the “National Highway” needs fixing. Plus, these buses travel faster, like the vans, so you feel the bumps more. And then, the bus did not want to stop in Catbalogan. I’m not sure why, but they drove through the terminal without stopping. We had to make repeated pleas with the driver to get him to stop, even though we had told the him, from the start, we were only going to Catbalogan. On the way back, we took the ordinary fare bus again. There really is no good way to travel in Samar! Here are some pictures:

My brother in law at the Aircon Bus

Inside the Aircon Bus was comfortable

San Jorge - Very dusty along the Highway

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to all you Foriegners from the good ole USA!

I thought this was a perfect one for Americans living in the Philippines, since you see so many chickens here.

And thanks to VintageHolidayCrafts.com for the free clip-art image.

Avatars on Comments

Hello,

Today I want to talk about Avatars. I’m still new to blogging, so this is something I just learned, and I wanted to share it with you. When you add comments to the blog posts, you get a picture next to your comment. By default you get this one:

If you want a customized Avatar, you need to create one at: http://en.gravatar.com/. Once you create a free account there, you can upload a picture, edit it, and associate it with your email address. Then, whenever you post a comment, on any blog that uses Gravatars, your picture will show next to your post. Here is the one I just created:

You will also be asked to rate your Avatar. Because anyone can view this site, we only allow “G” rated avatars.

Catbalogan – No Cityhood

The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ruled that the creation of 16 new cities was unconstitutional. Amongst those 16 is Samar Province’s Capitol of Catbalogan. This decision was in response to a petition by the League of Cities of the Philippines, who objected to the “mad rush” to create cities who did not meet the minimum P100 million locally generated income requirement. The leaders in the fight against cityhood were LCP President, Iloilo Mayor Jerry Trenas and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento. You can read more on this issue at the GMA News report here: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/134304/SC-stops-cityhood-of-16-towns.

Trip to Catbalogan – Part 3

For our third, and final report, on travelling to Catbalogan, we will show some photos taken along the National Highway.

I have also included a little map, to show where we travelled.

Trip to Catbalogan – Part 2

For the second report on our trips to Catbalogan, we will talk about Hotels.

I had read about, and seen pictures of, the CELL.COM Hotel, on San Bartolome Street. It looked like a nice place, with good prices, so we decided to stay there. But, when we got there we were disappointed. They showed us a couple of rooms, so we could decide which price to pay. When we went to the “Suite” room, there were several half dressed guys already in the room. I think they were supposed to be working on the room, as one bed was torn apart. Obviously, the room was not ready. We looked at a cheaper room, and the CR (bathroom) was in need of repair, so was the sliding lock on the room’s door. Additionally, the hall floors were very dirty, so we decided to try someplace else. Sorry, I did not take any pictures here, but you can see their promo pictures at their website: http://cellcomhotel.e-ph.net/

Our next stop was the Fortune Hotel, on Del Rosario St, which we had spotted on our way into town. This one was a little better, and felt safer. On our second trip, we had the bus drop us off about 20 meters from the Fortune Hotel front door. At present, Del Rosario St is being worked on, but our room was in the back, so we did not hear the noise. One thing that some people may not like, is that you have to go up a flight of stairs to reach the front desk. If you have done much travelling in the Philippines, you are probably used to that, especially if you stay at budget hotels, like we do. My favorite hotel in Calbayog, Eduardo’s, requires you to walk up 2 flights of stairs to reach the front desk. At the Fortune Hotel, we paid PHP 700 for an aircon room with cable tv, and private bath. The rooms with hot water are a little bit more, but we are used to cool showers, so it was ok. Also note that the “shower” is not a seperate part of the bathroom, as most Westerners are used to. There is no shower curtain, just a shower head on the wall. When I take a shower, I usually leave my clothes and the tissue paper outside of the CR, so they don’t get wet. Speaking of the CR, this one also needed a bit of repair. There was no toilet seat…something else I have gotten used to in the Philippines. Over all, our room was fairly comfortable, with a large, comfortable bed, a make-up table, wardrobe, and two plastic chairs. Nothing fancy, just simple, clean, and safe. On the second trip, my wife stayed in Calbayog, and her brother went with me. That time we had a similiar room, only with two small beds instead, and a toilet seat. Here are some pictures inside the Fortune Hotel.

Trip to Catbalogan – Part 1

We just completed a couple of trips to Catbalogan, and I want to share some pictures and stories with you.

First, about Transportation.

Aircon Van

Ordinary Bus

The roads between Calbayog and Catbalogan are horrible! There is still a lot of construction going on, especially between Gandara and Catbalogan. We tried the “airconditioned” vans, and also the ordinary fare buses. Neither method was very good, but the van, operated by Grand Tours of Catbalogan, was actually worse than the buses. We were the last ones to get into the van, before it started out, so we had to sit in the back seat. That meant we had the sun on our backs the whole way, and the aircon never reached us. I put one bag on the floor, because there was no more room behind the seat. Unfortunately, the van stopped to pick up another passenger, which meant folding down the seat where my bag was, so I ended up with the bag in my lap. I felt very crowded and hot. With the ordinary fare buses, the windows are always open, and there is a nice breeze, so the ordinary fare bus was actually cooler than the van. Additionally, the busses have larger tires, so the bumps don’t seam as bad. Next time I will try to find an airconditioned bus, for comparison.