Just back from PI

[abufarsi]

Last night at 1:05 AM I arrived back in the USA.

Some parts of my trip were very restful and filled with tropical scenery. I went to Mindanao, traveled around some, Dipolog, Butuan, Davao, Surigao and points between.

When staying at places far from the business centers I found the people mostly open and friendly. It seems that every guy I met passing time was having a drink, had a relative in the USA, were happy to invite me into a conversation even if they had poor English.

I felt empathy with many there. I felt that their hardships, their standard of living, their education levels, were things I personally wanted to improve. And I realized that the job was far bigger than I am. I wanted to recommend so many pleasant experiences to those here, that I enjoyed there.

My parting days were marred though.

I hated being a victim of the near airport rip offs, like charging 3 times the going price to get a taxi from an airport, can't get a drop of water for free (who would deny a person a drink of water?) Having the Taxi ignore the meter going to the airport/demanding excess rates. The mock security; inspections (why did somebody have to inspect my passport and ticket 3! times? my carry on 5! times), X ray stuff (mandatory and poorly monitored), metal detector wands (after walking through a metal detector), wildly incomplete pat searches, etc. etc. The indifference. THE LINES!

My final experiences in the Philippines were unpleasant, and they did not need to be.

I also see them as outside the traditions of those I met so few days earlier.

Is there truly no.. EFFECTIVE.. feedback for how people are treated at places of public transportation?

[Edwin]

When I was in the Philippines October of last year, 2010, I was with a couple who was in the habit of going to the Philippines every other year, so they were well experienced. It was no stress for me as all I had to do was follow them around, and they took care of all those kinds of things. The guy I was with didn't worry any about danger, but he moved quickly, and so did I, keeping my eyes moving all the time for possible trouble, but we had no trouble. The filipina's brother told us about the dangers, and yes they are real, but we were safe as it turned out.

This guy had his filipina wife deal with the taxi cab drivers, and it mostly turned out great, and then on our exit to Manila Airport her brother was with us also to the steps of the airport.

We did have an interesting experience. Before we left Manila to fly to Dumaguete, City, we had taxi cab driver who offered a deal for a ride from City Garden's to the airport. He was trying to make us believe that he was offering us a wonderful deal, but it turned out that his deal was not that great, and we found another who was a quite a lot more reasonable. If you don't have a person from the Philippines with you to keep everything figured out, and also to do the business dealings, especially with the taxi drivers then you are kind of at their mercy, and you just have to do the best you can, and I don't know what the answer to that one would be. I have heard people on here say they got a filipina to go with them to keep everything happy, and that is not a bad idea at all, as they are in a better position to understand and bargain and in that way getting fair treatment.

I think it takes a lot of time get to understand the way things work in the Philippines, and then to be able to deal with them appropriately. I saw my friends doing lots of tipping for various services they were getting, and I think that helped keep things happy also. I would enjoy following someone around and having them be my buffer between me and trouble, and it would be a wise move to have someone to help. At one point the filipina and her family had us stay in Scooby's while they went to baragain for fruit. They told us that if we were seen with them, the prices would automatically rise, so we enjoyed waiting at Scooby's while they baragained for the fruit.

[abufarsi]

It is possible that I was just tired of traveling. That will make you less tolerant of ways of doing things that seem unreasonable. Taxi drivers really did not rip me off for very much, like 2-5 dollars... what is that to me anyway. 5 bucks is nothing.

Imagine, my most recent memory of a visit to the Philippines was being played for a sucker and ripped off for $5.

Perhaps it was that I felt that I belonged or at least was accepted when I was in more rural places. When I came back to the realities of Manila I felt like a man in the movies trapped by vampires and has to give blood regularly.

Today I still feel that the airports are organized monopolies and are designed to make avoiding the "airport taxi" rip off very difficult.

One part of me says "there aught to be a law"... "there aught to be a enforcer"... "there aught to be a justice system that could take somebody who could deliberately design an airport to make leaving it nearly impossible without taking a cab at 3 times the going rate..." ... ... There aught to be more foreigners who repeat to themselves "Toto, we are not in Kansas any more" more often.

[jadegil6]

At piers and airports you can get the royal screw. They just won't pick you up if you don't pay what they want. Good thing that you don't have to come and go from there too often cause that can make your blood boil when you get taken advantage of like that.

[eStu]

I think that the inflated costs are a reality of airports worldwide. If I'm overseas I'll try to get a lift to the airport from friends if at all possible. I just had an international visitor here in Sydney, Australia and even as a local it's nearly impossible to totally avoid the inflated costs related to airports. You can pack a lunch and some snacks to avoid the trebled or quadrupled food costs, you can take a bottle of juice or a thermos of coffee... but it's hard to avoid paying through the nose for airport parking or taxi or rail transport to/from the airport.

Abufarsi, I think you'd do well just to shrug it off - which is the conclusion you seem to have reached yourself - given that the amount of money at stake was not significant to you. To the extent that the cabbie took advantage of your vulnerability maybe you can take some solace from the fact that the premium you paid will not be going towards a meal of caviar eaten while bathing in a tub of goat's milk. The guy was probably well and truly struggling himself. It doesn't make the experience pleasant though.

It's a really bad feeling to be caught in a weak negotiating position when you have needs to address. I suppose that we should count ourselves blessed that the 'airport experience' is largely a departure (excuse the pun) from our day-to-day lives. Some people find themselves in a similar position when it comes to their ability to provide food and shelter for themself or their family.

It is a shame that international trips to wonderfully hospitable places usually have to end with a running of the gauntlet through an airport and all that entails.

[Edwin]

I read on another forum a young filipina talking about how to keep her guy safe, happy, and successful in his Philippine experience. I still think being with a filipina is the best defense against unpleasant things that can happen in the Philippines. One thing for sure is the guy is vulnerable to all of this coming through the airport until he gets with his filipina, and then he is much happier, and much safer.

She was talking about how she gave her guy advise; do this, don't do that, watch what you do, watch where you look, watch who you talk with, watch the way other people are behaving, and she had a long, long list of how to's and how not to's.

She also talked about how stupid her guy was sometimes to insist on doing against her better wishes. It was almost like he thought she was telling him every move to make, and sometimes he resented that, but he was stupid for not listening to her sometimes, and not allowing her to take the lead as she was just trying to protect him. He insisted on buying supposed authentic collector silver coins. She tried to talk him out of it, and she had the money, and he would beg her for that money to do some of the things she was cautioning him against. Well, later he found out that those coins were fake, and he just paid $22.00 each for what amounted to play money! The smart guy lets his filipina make the decisions for him in the Philippines, as well as do any negotiating, and meeting with others for any kinds of business dealings. She is not trying to be the big boss, but she is trying to help. She knows the language, the people, and the culture, so it just makes good sense to allow her to lead, and then the guy can enjoy the safety that she provides for him.

One person said that he would follow his filipina in the Philippines, but when she got to America she would follow him.

[chaychay644]

One person said that he would follow his filipina in the Philippines, but when she got to America she would follow him.

this is true i think that whenever a foreigner has gf/bf here in the Philippines he/she have to follow what they say coz its all for their own safety..likewise its the same when a Filipina is in america she have to follow also his man coz he knows whats best for her since it is his place and he knows best how people behave and most especially their culture..

[jadegil6]

When I traveled around the islands, I was by myself alot, and I was at the mercy of those porters and drivers who would take advantage of me because I am a foreigner. Another thing that I didn't like is that in many stores, there were no prices on the goods, and then I felt like I was being taken advantage of by the clerks/store. There is a reality among expats who visit or live in the Philippines, and that is there are 2 prices for everything...the normal filipino price, and the foreigner price.
As I rode around Cebu City in jeepneys, my friends would advise me to stop putting my camcorder out the side window to record videos because someone could run up, and grab it from my hand. The electronic was a small one, not much bigger than a cell phone, and I thought I would be OK holding it out the window. I guess I was lucky because I didn't have any problem doing that. But several of my female friends have been robbed as they rode jeepneys around Cebu City and Manila. They have lost digital cameras, gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings... all by thieves holding a knife, so these ladies do know the risks involved when any valuables are visable. The risks are not as great in some of the smaller cities because there is much less crime.
It has been suggested on many forums with expat members that traveling in Mindanao is not as safe as the rest of the Philippines. They say that you can draw a line from Davao to Cagayan de Oro City, and every place east of that line is generally safe, but if you venture west of that line, then you are at risk of being kidnapped. Of course there are some foreigners living in those western areas of Mindanao, but they basically keep a low profile, and they are always at risk. I don't think that I need to choose an area to live or travel in that puts me in danger when there are so many other places in the Philippines where the populations are friendly and welcome foreigners to visit or live.
One of my friends who recently married an American, and now lives in Nevada is from Negros Oriental. When her fiance and her went there to visit, her brother wouldn't let the American go up into the mountains to explore, although he really wanted to do that. The filipino said that it was much too dangerous for a white-skinned man to travel there becaise of the robbers who lived in those areas. So it is wise to listen to those who live in the regions where one visits becuae they do know what they are talking about.
When I traveled around inside of an province, I usually had some friends in the van or car, and they were the ones who were in charge. I always followed their advice.

[justmovenalong]

THEY R VERY RIGHT GUYS IF U GO TO THE PHIL.FOLLOW UR WOMEN,STAY AWAY WHEN MAKING DEALS,EVEN IF THIS MEANS WAITING IN THE MOTEL ROOM.AND IF UR IN THE A HOTEL IN MANILA BEFORE GOIN TO THE AIRPORT HAVE THE HOTEL GET U UR RIDE THERE THE NIGHT BEFORE.U MUST THINK ITS NOT THAT U R IN THE PHILPEANS ITS JUST THAT UR IN A BIG CITY AND ITS THE SAME IN NY,LAS VEGAS,OR PARIS NO DEFFERENT.WHAT EDWIN SAYS IS ALSO GOOD EVEN THO I DIDNT NEED I HIRED A DRIVER/BODY GAURD (800)PHP A DAY INCLUDING VAN. HE WAS A GREAT GUY AND I WALKED A ROUND WITH HIM WHILE MY NOW WIFE MADE DEALS.IT WORK VERY WELL

[jadegil6]

if you found a driver with a van for only 800 per day, then you found a great deal. I never found anyone that cheap. What province were you in?