My first Davao Jeepney Ride

[Terpe]

Of the many 'adventures' I've already had in first couple of months in Davao, I'm most proud of the one I had on Friday and involving my very first experiences of riding the Davao Multi-Cab Jeepney.

It happened that my wife was not feeling well enough to leave the house on Friday, but I had a water bill to pay and I wanted to become a member of our local S&R Shopping warehouse (Philippine version of Costco)

It's just a few minutes walk to the main road where all the jeepneys pick up.
A taxi takes around 20 mins at a cost around P100 depending on traffic conditions. The jeepney can take twice as long depending, but the cost is only P8.
So apart from the sheer enjoyment of the ride I get a better chance to discover my new location in detail and a good opportunity to practise my language exercises without wifely prompts. Not forgetting the cost benefits which are significant.

Like buses in the UK Davao Jeepneys follow designated routes. These are generally the main roads, not the side streets
Means you need to know which jeepney and which route goes nearest to where you want to go.
Here route is shown on the side of the Jeepney. Depending how quickly you can read the small print and depending how fast the jeepney goes (if it doesn't actually stop) there very little time to actually read and understand the route.

I admit to being a little apprehensive simply because I just didn't know which jeep to take and wanted to minimise the risk of ending up somewhere I didn't know.
Davao is one of the biggest cities in the world in terms of land area.

Since the place I wanted was on the same main road I, foolishly, thought I could jump onto any of them and it would surely go where I wanted.
I was really in the dark and knew I had a heck of a lot of learning to do. Anyway with a leap of faith I ended up in the jeepney and practised what I learnt by handing the driver my P8 saying “bayad po”
I told him where I wanted to go and he nodded. So far so good.

As we zig-zagged through the traffic picking up even more passengers I realised that no matter how many passengers are already squeezed-in the driver always believes there's room for another one.

I had a self-confidence as I recognised a number of 'my landmarks' on route.
However, the rain came down after about 40 minutes and I had some real trouble recognising my location.
After about an hour I realised we were on a one way street, which means not on the road I wanted. Well lets enjoy the ride stay as dry as possible and see what happens.

I enjoyed my tour of downtown Davao even if it wasn't part of the plan.
I was now feeling half way up that 'looking like a fool' curve and wondering what to do. I wasn't going to jump out and take a taxi, that would defeat the whole object and smell of failure.
It was about this time that a young couple climbed aboard and asked to go the place I first got on. Hmm, then I remembered most of the jeepneys are on a circular route. Once at there ultimate destination they return to their starting position. I felt OK. I could go back and start again.
After a while I actually saw the S&R Shopping warehouse so with a knock on the ceiling and a shout of "para" the jeepney stopped and I jumped out into the rainstorm.

The Davao City Water District was just over the road opposite S&R shopping and around the corner from NCCC Mall.
Perfect.
After 2 1/2 hours touring, meeting lots of people (mostly attractive ladies) and learning jeepney life I had landed on my feet.

I'm looking forward to my next jeepney trip. I'll be sure to do a better job.

[SimonH]

Great write up, you're a braver man than me

[Terpe]

Great write up, you're a braver man than me

Thanks Simon for the rep
The way I'd written it doesn't come over as a major issue, but for me it was.
I need to do these things on my own to really learn.
If I just allow the wife to do everthing for me I'll get lazy and not fully experience my new life here.

With the cost savings made I was able to buy a few extra bottles of Red Horse. Much to my wife's displeasure I add

[jake]

Public transport in the Philippines is fun for the first few years, however i do enjoy having my own vehicles. Do you think you might buy a car/suv in the future?

You are lucky the jeep runs on a circular route During my first few years here, i ended up in different towns on more than one occasion. Or the time i was supposed to get of the bus in Naga and ended up a few hours away in Legazpi city. It was the horses fault!

[jake]

I need to do these things on my own to really learn.
If I just allow the wife to do everthing for me I'll get lazy and not fully experience my new life here

Good points Peter. Very common to meet expats here, who even after a few years don't have a clue.

[Terpe]

Public transport in the Philippines is fun for the first few years, however i do enjoy having my own vehicles. Do you think you might buy a car/suv in the future?

Yes, I'm planning to get some transport a bit later down the line.
I feel I can manage to drive the major routes here but it's still early days yet.

The prices of second hand vehicles here are completely insane so I'll need a much better knowledge than just self-confidence If I'm going to minimise the risks of accidents.
It's anticipating what the other driver will do that confuses me.
I sometimes doubt they even know themselves

...You are lucky the jeep runs on a circular route During my first few years here, i ended up in different towns on more than one occasion. Or the time i was supposed to get of the bus in Naga and ended up a few hours away in Legazpi city. It was the horses fault!

Hahaha, that's scary. At least with Davao Multi-Cab jeepney I'm safe in the knowledge it's not going outside Davao City.

I've got such a lot to learn but so far it's been great with lots of laughs.
Lots of frustrations too but I find a way to switch-off the stress. Just wish my wife could

[SimonH]

I was looking at vehicles the other day here and chatted to a few people. To be honest I wouldn't trust buying second hand.
By the feedback I got there are some good deals to be had when buying new, I looked at an Isuzu suv and a Misubushi Fortunate, the Mitsubushi came in at about 15m php, the Isuzu about 12 I think. Both should be available over a 3 or 4 year deal, or maybe a discount for cash
I'm sure someone with more experience will give much better advise

[Terpe]

Good points Peter. Very common to meet expats here, who even after a few years don't have a clue.

The adventures I have and the many mistakes I make are all part of trying to embrace my newly adopted home without actually giving up my own culture.

Before I met my wife I travelled alone and settled in to different cultures alone. I was forced to learn how to live in those places.

I don't mean this in a negative way but my biggest problem is convincing my wife to allow me to make decisions and mistakes.
It's taken me a month to prove I can make it alone and be trusted to go out and about without being kidnapped, robbed or troubled. Davao is about as safe as it gets IMHO

I even go alone to the local market for groceries etc.
My wife always complains I paid too much for stuff. I do know that, but it takes time to establish myself as a regular customer (suki) at those places I choose to shop at and establish some prices good for us all.

Yesterday I paid P15 for a kilo of coconut charcoal. My wife told me it should be P10
I'll need to work on that with the owner of the stall. Hehehe

I like cooking on my home made charcoal cooker.
(more of that in another thread)

But you're so right Jake. It's all so very easy to fall into a lazy ex-pat life of doing not much, knowing not much and not enjoying life to the max. IMO

[Terpe]

Simon, I was replying to your post about car prices and my laptop crashed and now I seem to have lost both my reply and your post. Sorry Sir.

I did say that I wasn't happy to spend such a large amount on a new vehicle at this time.
Just to risky for me

[SimonH]

Simon, I was replying to your post about car prices and my laptop crashed and now I seem to have lost both my reply and your post. Sorry Sir.

I did say that I wasn't happy to spend such a large amount on a new vehicle at this time.
Just to risky for me

No worries Sir!
As you correctly pointed out in a previous post, residuals are fairly high here in the Philippines so my thinking is I'd rather get a deal on a new car over 3 or 4 years with a manufacturers gaurantee rather than risk the unknown
One example given to me was an apparent bargain could be a flood damaged nightmare that had been cleaned up

[Terpe]

No worries Sir!
As you correctly pointed out in a previous post, residuals are fairly high here in the Philippines so my thinking is I'd rather get a deal on a new car over 3 or 4 years with a manufacturers gaurantee rather than risk the unknown
One example given to me was an apparent bargain could be a flood damaged nightmare that had been cleaned up

You do raise some valid points.
Hopefully I can eventually find a goodish buy from a friend or close relative at special 'friends and family' prices.
One of my bro-in-law's might even gift me something gratis....

[grahamw48]

Haha...well done Terpe.

[Michael Parnham]

Good thread, I found any public transport cheap and safe, buying your own vehicle is very risky because if anything happens it's always your fault and insurance isn't as straightforward as you think. Fred would be the one to advise, but bear in mind he lives more rural and I'm sure he will comment soon. Regarding travelling around cities alone I always felt very safe but Maritess didn't like me to go anywhere without her because she always used to say someone would shoot you for a few peso's, It never really had any impact on me at all because Dumaguete being a small but very busy city I noticed the same faces around me all the time including other foreigners so I felt very safe and the best and most popular transport was pedicabs sometimes coming down the streets 4 abreast, also great crossing roads, loved it because you never had to watch the traffic once you got use to it you just walk across and everyone just drives around you, anyone on the forum who's experienced Dumaguete will agree I'm sure. Pleased to hear you are enjoying you new life in the Philippines Peter and I'm sure you will have many more adventures in your life there, embrace it!

[grahamw48]

I too have no wish to buy my own vehicle there...for similar reasons mentioned by Michael.

Public transport is just so cheap and readily available (or hiring an owner/driver)...not worth getting involved with motoring bureaucracy.

[Michael Parnham]

When we fly to Cebu we always get the Ceres bus to Dumaguete and it's a five hour journey, only costs p200. Now that's cheap

[jake]

buying your own vehicle is very risky because if anything happens it's always your fault and insurance isn't as straightforward as you think.

With all due respect Michael, I find your comments to be hearsay rather than fact. Have you ever owned or insured a vehicle in the Philippines?

[raynaputi]

I'm glad you're enjoying your jeepney ride Peter. But personally, I don't enjoy riding jeepneys anymore. I rarely ride one, only if the journey would only take 10-15 mins or there's no other means of transportation (but it's very unlikely). I wouldn't let Keith ride a jeepney as well (I don't think he'd want to anyway) because it's just too unfriendly for someone with arthritis like him. One time we rode in our L300 FB van that the family also use for product deliveries, he had suffered sitting sideways and his neck was hurting the whole time, which is not really good whenever that happens. Good thing we have a few cars to choose from that we can use next time we go there.

[jake]

I was looking at vehicles the other day here and chatted to a few people. To be honest I wouldn't trust buying second hand.
By the feedback I got there are some good deals to be had when buying new, I looked at an Isuzu suv and a Misubushi Fortunate, the Mitsubushi came in at about 15m php, the Isuzu about 12 I think. Both should be available over a 3 or 4 year deal, or maybe a discount for cash
I'm sure someone with more experience will give much better advise

I hope there was supposed to be a dot between the 1 and 5. If not the supposed long nose tax is getting ridiculous

Over the years we have bought new and used vehicles, using finance or cash. The most recent was a Toyota Fortuner in December, which we paid cash. After negotiating with several dealerships the best discount i managed to get was 55,000 from 1.6m, which is around 3 to 4%. I would imagine you can get a better deal in the UK?
One thing you will find in the Philippines is they DON'T like cash buyers at the dealership. The reason is the salesman always want you to take out finance through them, as they get a percentage from the lender they use. The first time we used finance we made the mistake of taking out the loan with the dealer. Turns out they where using the same bank as us and we could have gone direct, saving us around 1,500 pesos a month over a 3 year period
Finance rates have dropped considerably over the past few years, so compared to a few years back you wont pay a fortune in interest charges.

Have you looked at Range Rover prices here? You might get a shock!

[SimonH]

Yes, you're right, there should have been a dot

Not looked at Range Rover prices but a new one in the UK is close to 6M php or £80,000+

One trick I learned a while ago is if you're willing to pay cash then take the finance deal (the dealer makes commission) and then pay it off the following week

On another note I've decided to sell the Range Rover and Jag convertible when I get home and get a new Jag XF R-S, pointless having 2 cars and the difference will hopefully buy me a Fortuna over here later this year

[Longweekend]

We bought a 5 year old used vehicle and knew a local mechanic, ( he was known as the surgeon as he never really got his hands dirty with the mundane tasks, only when the final adjustment was needed) and we had no issues with insurance or other legal matters. A problem with buying used is if you are not exactly an expert with spanners it's good to know someone who is, but saying that if you live near family there is usually one member who knows his way around an engine. The positives of owning your own are many, the ability to travel when and when you want to is major....

[imagine]

When I bought our multicab, second hand it was bought privately, not from a sales garage.

We needed a sales receipt from the guy, for LTO. The motor had not been sold to him previously with a sale receipt, he had reported to LTO that some documents were lost. We paid for an attorney to sort out affidavit and sales, swearing by the seller that there were no other family members to get permission from. We still had problems with LTO. It turned out he had lied -the documents were not lost.

In the end, LTO suggested we see this guy for contacting the person he had bought from. LTO advised to go to attorney - all 3 of us - and a document of sale and ownership was made to be acceptable that the 1st guy lies to swear that he sold to us at the date we bought, bypassing any other sale. Now, at last, all documents were legal according to LTO.

It can be a great deal of hassle buying second hand.

I used the multicab for our project, so my brother-in-law was familiar with the roads, being a motor bike driver. I settled for riding on the back if Lolita was with us. Loved it, it was like we were Royalty, everyone smiling and waving at the forigner

[Terpe]

I'm glad you're enjoying your jeepney ride Peter. But personally, I don't enjoy riding jeepneys anymore. I rarely ride one, only if the journey would only take 10-15 mins or there's no other means of transportation (but it's very unlikely). I wouldn't let Keith ride a jeepney as well (I don't think he'd want to anyway) because it's just too unfriendly for someone with arthritis like him. One time we rode in our L300 FB van that the family also use for product deliveries, he had suffered sitting sideways and his neck was hurting the whole time, which is not really good whenever that happens. Good thing we have a few cars to choose from that we can use next time we go there.

Davao jeepney's are a world apart. Smaller and cosy.
During my journey the driver stopped to pick up a large guy withn a white stick. He actually got out of his driving seat to make sure he got up front safely. Amazing.
He wouldn't let anyone else sit up front. Previously there was always 3 ladies allowed there

[fred]

Peter..My Jeepney days are over!!
When we first came here to Tagbilaran we jumped into a multicab at the terminal and waited 15 mins to be jammed in so much my legs hurt.. Once they jammed both sides in I thought that was it and we would go..(Like in Manila). NO!!.. The conductor pushed a wooden bench in right to the front and about half way down the isle.. I couldn't believe it.. Then more get on to fill it. When that one is full he pushes in another bench!! Once that is filled up,they start getting on the roof etc..
After 20 minutes we want to get off but the isles are blocked.
I could hear people sniggering as my creaking bones finally managed to squeeze and push and eventually fall out of that vehicle.
It was then I said "NEVER AGAIN"!!
And I never have.
Second hand vehicles are pricey here but you must remember that they hold their value very well.
Best to get a Jap model IMO as there are always available spare parts..If original parts are hard to find then good generic brands are usually available.
My bro in law bought a Starex van and has had to have parts improvised in a local machine shop
as absolutely no supplies locally.. Also its only 6 years old and it is already ridden with rust..
IMO,stick with Mitsubishi,Toyota,Isuzu,Suzuki etc.

[stevewool]

Did you pay him any extra fare Peter, remember you took that seat up for a very long time think of all the extra 8 peso that may have come him way

[Longweekend]

Yes I agree with Fred, Jap vehicles all the way. By the way, sometimes being stuck between 2 nice local ladies is not too bad on the jeepney...

[grahamw48]

Dammit...you gave away my secret.

[proudMummy]

I can clearly imagine the route that you enjoyed then Peter. I am from Davao City and very familiar with what you've just shared. I miss Davao.

[Terpe]

I can clearly imagine the route that you enjoyed then Peter. I am from Davao City and very familiar with what you've just shared. I miss Davao.

Not been living here very long. So once I leave MacArthur Highway I'm in a bit of trouble

Once it stops raining I'll get out and about again on those jeepneys.

[Terpe]

Did you pay him any extra fare Peter, remember you took that seat up for a very long time think of all the extra 8 peso that may have come him way

No I didn't pay anything extra.
I guess I should have really.
Next time I'll give a P10 fare to cover my mistakes in not getting off when I should.

[andy222]

A great experience I love taking the jeepnies. Well done peter.
"After 2 1/2 hours touring, meeting lots of people (mostly attractive ladies) and learning jeepney life I had landed on my feet."
Thats called socialising Peter.