Getting to and back from the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
How we got to the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
How we got back to Tagbilaran
It looks easy, right?
If you’re a tourist though, the reality can be a bit different. And even a short trip can become an adventure on its own. Especially, if you choose to go by public transport. And we do, most of the time. Now, this is how it went for us…
Tricycle adventure
We take a tricycle that stops in front of our B&B. Before getting in, we agree on the price: ₱30 for the ride, to the Bus Terminal. This is the normal fare. During the 10 minutes ride or so, the driver tries to convince us that there are no busses going the way we are going. That he can take us there. We tell him we still want to go to the Bus Terminal and we will see from there. He says “ok” and then he tells us that the bus costs ₱700. We don’t even bother to ask more, because we know he’s lying. We tell him that we’ll stick to our plan and go to the Bus Terminal. He insists and tells us he can take us for ₱600. This man doesn’t quit!!
A deal is a deal
Once again, we answer “NO”. We arrive at the terminal and hand him ₱30. He looks at us and says “No. It’s ₱30 each.” At this point, we really can’t be bothered anymore by his attitude and we tell him “If you want the ₱30 as we agreed, fine…If not, it’s also fine. We won’t stay here all day and argue with you. We have agreed on ₱30 and that’s what we’re paying.” Which by the way is the normal price. But they will always ask at least double from tourists. Just because they think that’s ok. And I guess most of the tourists don’t care.
More trouble
He takes the money and leaves. We then start looking for the bus that passes by the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary near Corella. We try with the local bus and with Southern Star Bus Transit. Both say they don’t go there. We then approach a Jeepney driver and he directs us to the one that goes to Loboc (via Corella). We ask a couple more people which were already in the vehicle if it passes by the Tarsier Sanctuary and they confirm that it does. We hop inside, find two spots to sit and wait 30 min for it to leave. The friendly people in the Jeepney tell us how much it costs and when we need to get off. They also ask the driver to stop when we reach the place, which helped a lot. Once we get off, we pay ₱50 and expect ₱20 change.
10 Pesos
But the person who’s in charge of collecting the money, gives us only ₱10. ₱10 – that’s close to nothing. But just the idea that they would try and trick us makes us want to fight back. We ask for another ₱10 and he gives us the money straight away. I guess they think we don’t know the money or that we don’t realise if they give us less, or even that we don’t care.
Back to Tagbilaran
On the way back, everything runs smoothly. We have the impression that people are starting to know us now. Afterall, for 2 days in a row, we were the only tourists traveling in local busses or Jeepneys. We have read a few blogs with people that used public transport, but most of the tourists we’ve seen, either rent motorcycles or ride taxis. We’re going old school, embracing the whole vibe and the culture! And so far, we’re loving it!
The staring
Oh, but don’t get us wrong… people in Tagbilaran do stare at us. A lot! Of course we stand out from the crowd. The interesting part is that we don’t feel uncomfortable. Because they are also friendly and helpful. We’re all humans, after all!
