Me ei oodanud Bacolodist endast midagi erilist, aga me lootsime, et sealt leiame infot ja viise kuidas ylej22nud saart kylastada. Paraku olime me Bacolodi turismitaristut t6siselt ylehinnanud - st et see oli t2iesti olematu. Esimesel hommikul jalutasime tihedas ja koledas linnas, kysides hotellidest infot selle kohta, mida saarel teha v6i n2ha on, v6i v2hemalt, et kust me infot leida v6iksime - ent ei saanud yhtegi vastust. Hotellit88tajatel polnud aimugi sellest, et mis nende kodusaarel teha v6iks. Aga see polnud iseenesest suur probleem, kuna meil oli internet ja saime ise infot otsida - ja tegelikult teadsime me enamv2hem niikuinii mida me n2ha tahtsime. Tegelik, ja l6ppkokkuv6ttes yletamatu probleem oli hoopis see, et Bacolodis ei olnud v6imalik motikat rentida. Kui me kohalikelt (sh hotellit88tajatelt) kysisime, et kust me motikat v6iksime rentida, vaatasid need meid sellise n2oga justkui oleksime me neilt kysinud, et kuidas me Kuu peale lennata saaksime. St, et selline asi oli nende jaoks t2iesti ennekuulmatu.
Kui me l6puks leppisime asjaoluga, et motikaga saare avastamine on v2listatud, hakkasime me alternatiividele m6tlema. Esimene m6te oli, et peame Bacolodist v2lja saama, kuna linn oli masendav ja ebameeldiv. Me uurisime, et kuhu me v6iks minna (ja eelk6ige, kus me leiaks ka taskukohast majutust). Paraku selgus, et kui me ei olnud just valmis terve p2ev bussis loksuma, et saare l6unaossa j6uda (kust me siis peaksime j2rgmisel p2eval kohe tagasi tulema, kuna meil oli j2rgmisesse sihtkohta lend Bacolodist), olid ainsad l2hemad v6imalused rannakuurortid, mis olid meie jaoks liiga kallid.
Selle aja peale olime me veetnud juba peaaegu kaks p2eva Bacolodis, linnas ringi uidates ja hotellis internetis uurimust88d tehes. Siis tuli meil m6te, et v6iksime v2hemalt teha p2evatripi loodusesse. Paolo leidis netist l6puks mingit ebaselget infot busside kohta (mis on peaaegu olematud - tundub, et k6ik muud turistid kes sinnakanti tulevad on piisavalt rikkad, et saavad end lasta taksodel igale poole ringi s6idutada), ja meil tekkis lootus, et me v6iks v2hemalt minna paari koske vaatama ja natukene metsas ringi jalutada. Paraku ilmnes p2rast veidikest edasist uurimist, et k6nealused kosed ja mets on yhe kuurorti omanduses. Ja nood loomulikult kysivad kylastajatelt absoluutselt k6ige eest raha, sh kuurorti sisenemise, koskede juurde minemise, kohustusliku giidi, rippsildade kasutamise jpm sellise eest. Poleks olnud yllatav, kui nad oleks kysinud raha ka iga astutud sammu v6i hinges66mu eest. See info oli p2ris muserdav ja j2tsime uurimust88 sinnapaika ja aktsepteerisime oma saatust, et pidime j2rgmised p2evad Bacolodis veetma.
Me proovisime asjast viimast v6tta, ja j2rgmisel p2eval l2ksime v2lja m6ttega, et kylastada piirkonna ainsat vaatamisv22rsust, mida kutsutakse Varemeteks, ja tegu on yhe Negrose kuulsa vana perekonna kunagise residentsiga. Esmalt oli meil plaanis sinna jalutada, aga p2rast poolt teed tohutult kuuma p2ikese all oli selge, et selliselt me sinna ei j6ua. Me ei tahtnud alla anda, ja proovisime leida jeepney't mis sealsuunas s6idaks. P2rast 15 minutit eba6nnestunut proovimist proovisime me jeepney asemel taksot v6i tricycle'it peatada. Nood aga proovisid meilt 4-kilomeetrise reisi eest kysida absurdset hinda ja keeldusid taksomeetri kasutamisest. L6puks v6tsime me seda kui kosmilist m2rki ja j2tsime plaani pooleli. Varemete kylastamise asemel l2ksime me hoopis yle tee leiduvasse ostukeskusesse, kus s6ime l6unat ja l2ksime kinno uut Kapten Ameerikat vaatama - mis oli teretulnud vaheldus masendavas Bacolodis olemisele.
Eriti kurb oli see, et ainus v22rt tegevus Bacolodis oli ostukeskustes k2imine, ja ma ei salli ostukeskuseid kohe yldse mitte. K6ige masendavam oli see, et me ei leidnud Bacolodis mitte yhtegi head s88gikohta, ja parim toit mis me seal syya saime oli ostukeskuste kiirtoit... Viimased poolteist p2eva Negrosel veetsime me hotellitoas lebotades, lugedes, filme vaadates ja edasise reisi kohta uurimust88d tehes, et kindlustada, et mitte kunagi enam sellist m88dapanekut teha.
K6ige kurvem asi oli see, et nii Paolo synnip2ev kui meie koosolemise 6. aastap2ev m88dusid Bacolodis. Omaette oli meil ikkagi l6bus ja v6tsime olukorda kui head v6imalust yksteise seltskonna nautimiseks, ent siiski - p2ris n6me lugu! Nyyd oleme me teel Palawani saarele, kus me saame kindlasti viimased paar p2eva heaks teha :)
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We had chosen the island of Negros as our second destination in Philippines, since we had read that it has some beautiful natural areas, including the beautiful Mt Canlaon volcano. We were aware that the main tourist centre is in the southern part of the island, where one can find nice beaches etc; but since we were interested in the nature in the northern part, we thought that it was a no-brainer to begin by going to Bacolod, the main city in the north, and the capital of the island. Oh how wrong we were!
We had not expected Bacolod to be anything worthwhile to see on its own, but we had hoped that we could get information and means from there to be able to visit the rest of the island. Unfortunately we had severely overestimated how well Bacolod is equipped to provide to tourists. Which is to say, not at all. After a stroll in the busy and ugly city, asking around hotels for information and/or clues to where we could get information, we were left empty-handed. Hotel staff were unable to give us any suggestions at all as to sights to see or places to go. But that wasn't really a big deal, since we had internet and could do our own research - and we pretty much knew what we wanted to see anyway. The real problem and an ultimately unsurpassable obstacle was that there was no way to rent a scooter in Bacolod. When we asked locals (including hotel staff) about renting a scooter, they all looked at us as if we had asked them how best to get to the Moon - i.e. it was unheard of.
When we finally settled ourselves to the idea that our plan of exploring the island on scooter was off the table, we started to think about alternatives. Our first thought was to just get out of Bacolod, since the city was depressing and very unpleasant. We checked for options of where we could potentially go (and, importantly, where we could also find affordable accommodation). Unfortunately, bar travelling for a full day to reach the south of the island (and then having to come back the day after since we had a flight booked from Bacolod to go to our next destination), the only options nearer to us were small beach resorts that were waaaayy out of our budget.
Having in this way already spent nearly two days idling in Bacolod and trying to find ways to get out of the city, we thought we had a solution for at least a day-trip to the natural areas. Paolo found some vague information about buses (which are indeed rare, since other tourists, it seems, are all rolling in cash and can afford to rent a car and/or a driver to visit places outside the city), and we thought we could at least go and visit some waterfalls and take a stroll in the forest. However, a bit more research revealed that this natural area was in fact inside a resort, which owned it. And, of course, were charging people for every little thing, including entry to resort, entry to waterfalls, guide fee, extra fee to use hanging bridges etc etc. I would not have been surprised if they charged you money per step taken, or by breaths inhaled. This was disheartening and we reluctantly dropped our research and accepted our fate of being forced spend the next two days in Bacolod.
We tried to make the best of it, and the next day went out with the thought of visiting the only worthwhile sight nearby - the Ruins it's called, and it's apparently the former residence of a prominent Negrense family. We hoped to walk there, but halfway through it was apparent that in the extreme heat, we weren't going to make it. We didn't want to give up though, and tried to find a jeepney that would take us there. After 15 minutes of trying to make sense where they were going and not making any progress (there was nobody nearby to ask either) we hoped to stop a taxi or a trike. These however were trying to charge us extortionate prices for the 4-kilometer journey, and were refusing to use their meters. In the end, we took all this as a cosmic sign and dropped the plan to visit the Ruins. Instead we went to a nearby mall to have lunch and then went to the cinema to see the new Captain America, which was a welcome distraction from our frustrating stay in Bacolod.
The sad thing was that the only worthwhile thing in the city was going to shopping centres, and I hate shopping centres with a passion. Most disappointingly, we were also unable to find any nice food in Bacolod, and the best stuff we had was some fast food in a shopping centre... Our last day and a half in Negros were mostly spent lounging in the hotel, reading, watching films and doing research for our next destination - to never again have a repeat failure like this.
The saddest thing was that both Paolo's birthday and our 6th anniversary of being together happened during our stay in Bacolod. I mean we still had fun among ourselves and took the chance to enjoy each other's company above everything else, but still - what a bummer! We are now on our way to Palawan island, where we will get to make up for our last few days for sure :)
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| Tyypiline Bacolodi t2nav // Typical street in Bacolod |
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| San Sebastiani kirik, yks v2heseid ilusamaid ehitisi Bacolodis // San Sebastian Church, one of the few nicer-looking buildings in Bacolod |
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| Paolo synnip2eva(riisi)kook // Paolo enjoying his birthday (rice)cake |
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