En route, part 5: I’ll take your 100 peso bed, Miss

Last 25 December 09, I traveled from Makati City to Cebu via land for the Holidays. 36 hours later and about P2,500 in expenses, I was finally back home. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Finally arriving in San Carlos City, I was just too tired and accepting of my fate spending the night here. Two hours and a half hours ago, the last ferry bound for Cebu left and during that time, I was still tracing the meandering mountain highway in Don Salvador Benedicto.

If not for that foul up in Caticlan, Aklan, I would have kissed my mother good night back at home. That critical four hours cost me precious time that I missed the last ferry (1630H) to Toledo City in Cebu. After that exhilarating traverse along the Bacolod – Murcia – Benedicto – San Carlos road, not being able to arrive in time for that last trip finally sunk in. Darn. I’m tired. Hungry. Wasted. It’s early evening already, Christmas lights along the streets gleaming and the provincial nature of San Carlos City at the eastern coast is all but a blur. A hazy memory that when bits and pieces of it surfaces from time to time, I might be left grappling, thinking of where that place was.

But I needed to encash first the Western Union deposited change from that Iloilo batchoy dish to remember, earlier in the day.

The best way to go around the city is via the pedicabs. Like the ones found in Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental, the bikes are big but with a certain retro charm to it. Its slow, airy, and non polluting and, in places like these, its the perfect leisurely ride.

Having come from a long trip, I just opted to dine at the makeshift streetside eateries buzzing with people. After a quick chow, I headed straight to the lodging house referred to me by the traysikad driver. I just want a cheap and clean bed for the night as I have to travel quite early the next day for four hours starting at 5 AM before finally reaching home.

Having inspected the room, headed back to the reception desk and said:

I’ll take your 100 peso bed, Miss.