Nothing insurmountable: you only have to walk to an airport in the middle of the night, during the typhoon season… in the Philippines
There is a night bus that goes all the way to Manila. But Clark is 100 km north of the capital and I firmly refuse to go there. The last time I was there, the airport looked like an island. The city was completely flooded and it was very difficult to get out.
No, no and no, I don’t want to go to Manila!
I negotiate hard with the employee to get him to agree to drop me off on the way, about 100 km from the airport. But it will be in the middle of the night, around 2am. We boarded a very nice bus around 10pm. It’s colder than in Poland and I start fighting with the driver after half an hour of travel. I get up, I protest so that he turns down the air-conditioning, he complies by grumbling, I sit down again. He turns the air conditioning back on after 20 minutes, I get up, I protest and this little game lasts all night. It makes the 4 Breton guys I met at the bus station laugh a lot.
lI keep a close eye on my GPS to make sure that the driver doesn’t forget me. I suspect he has no idea where he promised to drop me off
Every cloud has a silver lining. I’m shivering and having a hard time sleeping, so i won’t pass the stop. Around 2am, I go to see the driver to check the GPS. I could tell from his expression that he wasn’t thinking about it at all. I reassure him, super GPS says that we still have 20km to drive. He stops the bus shortly after. But it’s not there, it’s still 10 km away.
Would the driver like to get rid of me? No, he discreetly calls someone to confirm that he has to get me off in the middle of the journey. I sit next to him, watching the road until we finally come to a big crossroads that looks like the right one. I pull my trusty rucksack from the hold. The driver gives me an incredulous look that could clearly be translated as “this woman is crazy“. Then I realise that he is really worried about me. He does everything he can to find me a vehicle, he waits for a car to come along, passing by by chance and which could take me away from this no-man’s-land. The frenchies try to take me back in the bus, they look at me as if I were on death row. “Good luck and have a nice trip in your fridge” are my last words as a convict. Hahaha.
I’m lucky, it’s not raining. It’s not even cold
I start walking a good mile in the quiet night. I am very lucky. It’s not raining and despite the late hour, I find a tuk-tuk. I kindly wake up the owner to drive me into town and he complies. He drops me off in front of the stop where my bus to the airport will stop in about 7 hours. “Do you know where I can have a coffee, use the toilet and wait quietly for daybreak? “. He nods, holds out his arm: “Gas station“. That’s a good idea! The gas station! Hop hop hop, let’s go.
A guard armed to the teeth and drunken companions: the best possible company to wait for daybreak
In front of the petrol station, I’m greeted by 5 revellers in a confirmed state of inebriation. I put my bag in the shop and ask for a coffee. The night watchman, strapped into his paratrooper uniform, looks like he just got out of college but holds an impressive assault rifle in his arms. I make a grand entrance, it goes without saying. The party people will keep me company until dawn and the nice guard will watch over me all night. Coffee, sweets, cakes and fun on the menu. A bit groggy but still solid on my legs, I catch the first bus to Clark around 9am.
Moral: when I tell you that the world is not as dangerous as we think, it’s true!
To read also if you are still afraid to travel alone
Travelling is full of surprises: learning to trust and change your attitude is one of them! Travelling alone helps a lot to gain confidence in yourself and in others!
