Puerto Princesa to Taipei

 Blog 07-08-23 Tainan


Princesa City to Taipei


I hugged Roy, my caretaker at The Village House, and hopped on a tricycle for the quick trip to the airport. The weather was the same as it had been for three weeks, mid 80’s, humid, with occasional showers. This day the sun held on. I fumbled for my phone as I entered the terminal (no tickee no planey). I needn't have worried about time as the plane was delayed, ultimately, three hours. “We regret that Air Asia flight 267 will be delayed because the plane will arrive late.” 

The flight was uneventful and we landed at Manila Airport at 10pm. I could look forward to seven hours of waiting here before boarding my flight to Taipei. I noticed three connected, metallic seats unoccupied not far from the security check in that I’d need to traverse later in the morning. I lay my backpack across the seats and stretched out across the remaining open area, and tried to reat. I dared not sleep lest I miss my flight. I assumed the place would be quiet at this advanced hour. I was wrong. Manila is a hopping place at 2am, 3am, 4am…..at just about any hour. 

At 5;30 I made my way to security. The line was about ten minutes long to get to the passport check. When I got there the typically-unsmiling checker scowled at me. “You entered The Philippines on May 31?” he asked. I didn’t understand at first. The little window that served as our communications path blocked his heavily-accented English. He repeated the question as I craned my good ear, the right one, next to the aperture. “Yes,” I answered, wondering if he was going to congratulate me for spending so much of my vacation in his country. 

Nope.

It turned out I had exceeded my 30 day visa by a few hours. I must, he informed me, retrace my steps and go to the payment window about 50 feet behind me. I winced at the thought of re-entering the passport line. Woefully I trudged backwards and joined the line for payments, which was, thankfully, short. 

“Four hundred and forty pesos,” the lady intoned. I cleverly had drawn down my Filipino pesos fund so that I would be stuck with money I couldn’t spend. I had only three hundred and US dollars  were not permitted as payment I was told. She pointed me to the money exchange window that I remembered passing twenty minutes before. Luckily it was open even at 6am on a Sunday. I reached into my fund of US currency that I maintained for emergencies and found the sixty bucks I needed. 

Back to the payment window I walked. The lady smiled a smile of recognition. She took my pesos. 

This time the passport line had generously shrunk. In five minutes I was back to the same steward. “I’m sorry, you could have come right to me, you didn’t need to line up again,” he told me. I smiled ruefully. “That’s OK,” I replied. “I hope this won’t make you hate The Philippines, “ he said to my great surprise. “No, no, I LOVE The Philippines,” I verily shouted. 

Our flight took off on time for Taipei and we arrived right on time. 

The trip from the airport to my hostel was my first indication of the efficiency and modernity of Taiwan. A train station was a few yards from the airport door. For a modest sum I got to ride for about 40 minutes into the city. From there it was but a short walk to the Beimen WOW hostel. To my delight I got a bottom bunk on the 5th floor accessible by a first rate elevator. All was good. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Last day in Taiwan

  Hengchun I spent one day in this coastal city. Late that day I got an email from Melody. Her mother was deathly ill, and in the hospital. My presence was needed immediately at home (well, actually in Los Angeles). I bought a plane ticket for the next day. Thanks to Taiwan’s great transportation system I got back to Taipei in five hours. I spent a few hours trying to purchase some gifts, then headed to the airport for my flight. The plane left just after midnight. Twelve hours later I was in LA.  The health scare faded, I’m happy to relate. Medy is now healed and at home. I lost a few days of my journey but that’s no great problem. 
Read more

Sloth

06-18-23 Sunday What can be said about a life with so little substance? I wake up; I take a tour on the hammock that occupies half of my porch, maybe an hour each morning?; then I read for a couple hours on the rattan couch in my living room; followed by a couple hours looking at YouTube videos on my laptop; then more reading and hammockery. Somehow the hours pass and the day is gone. All the while I persecute myself with accusations of sloth (the charges are clearly valid). How do I justify doing nothing for two weeks? Generally on my travels I don’t tarry anywhere very long, always seeking out museums, bicycle tours, parks, restaurants, riversides. But Princesa has none of these. There is a small port that I visited one of the first days. I’ve spent some hours investigating the city with its myriad shops and markets, but there isn’t much to see. I took a ride to the nearest tourist attraction, the ‘Underground River’, but that was a vapid exercise further ruined by an argument I h
Read more

Impressions of the capital city

Impressions of Taipei You are unlikely to be greatly disturbed in Taipei. Crime seems nonexistent. Places to eat are so abundant they seem overbearing at times. There is just enough English to allow a Westerner to survive with minimal bumps in the road. There is a Starbucks on every corner…..seemingly. There are neighborhoods where teens and young adults carouse in clubs, bars, and comfortable places to linger over a meal.  Yet this isn't a place where strangers will come away with great memories. Concerts and plays are scarce if thatś your hope. Beaches are distant (but accessible by public transit). And there is the overbearing presence of the heat. For reasons I can't fathom there is no liberating fog in Taiwan though Taipei is only a few kilometers from the ocean. And the wind…..it is almost entirely absent unless you hie yourself to  the surrounding mountains. Thus Google routinely reports ¨36 degrees, feels like 46¨ (thatś 115 degrees to the English world).  My biggest di
Read more