Cebu City in the Philippines, August 2016 Follow my blog with Bloglovin
The bus ride from Oslob took some four hours. Maybe more. We could have made it in two or less if not for the traffic. Single lane all the way. I was smart enough to book a hotel room within walking distance from the North Bus Station yet it took me a good hour to get there “thanks” to Google Maps giving me a hard time.
Tip: I cannot stress enough the importance of light packing. And I really mean light. 7 kg? 5 kg? It is easily achievable in the tropics. I know.
So there I was, in a place that I successfully avoided during my stay in the Philippines. Now what?
I took the decision of skipping both Manila and Cebu City while flying over Manila on my way in. What I saw from the above was more than enough. I didn’t think I had stomach enough to see anything more. Never ending slums and in the midst of it all ‘a couple of’ high raised towers in a super modern looking downtown. The extent of clearly visible poverty, seen even from 300 – 500 meters above, and appalling living condition of thousands and thousands of people was beyond belief. And no hope in sight. If anything, things may only get worse as hundreds and thousands of people are moving into the cities every single day in search of a better life. But there is no better life. And not much hope. At the end, they will all end up in the slums with no hope at all of ever leaving them.
I didn’t see nearly as much poverty on the islands I visited. In fact, the life on the islands appeared to be ‘rolling on’. The life appeared to be easier. People appeared to be surviving and the living conditions weren’t as bad as in the city. Even the ‘slums’ were quite livable. I even took a stroll through a ‘slum’ on Bantayan Island and ‘survived to tell the tale‘ (no pictures though), something I wouldn’t even attempt doing in Manila or Cebu/Mactan.
Thus, I couldn’t help but wonder why do people leave the islands for the cities. It didn’t make any sense to me. But who am I to judge? They surely must have a good reason to do so and above all desire (or perhaps desperation) to better their lives and for some reason believe they may have a better chance of succeeding in the city.
After three days/nights in Cebu City, I still couldn’t find my way around. There was nothing super interesting or exciting to visit or see or even eat.
In short, I didn’t like Cebu City at all and was only too happy to take a taxi over the bridge and for the last time (?) return to my friendly hotel on Mactan Island, pack my suitcase and leave the Philippines for (the ultimate paradise?) – Bali.
Cebu City in Pictures
