Smart, brave, or nuts? I guess it is in the eye of the beholder to bestow either of these adjectives on our plan to drive from Tacloban (Leyte) to Padre Burgos (Southern Leyte) on a 125cc motorbike.
Burned by the public transportation system to explore Leyte last year when we visited the island, we decided to take matters in our hands this time.
Leaving Tacloban city center on our Kawasaki we passed the van (V-Hire) terminal. Seeing half-filled vans and people waiting in the heat for the cars to fill up, we were convinced we outsmarted the system by opting for “self-service” this time.
Twenty minutes and five road forks later we considered our salves brave! Brave enough to dare the islands’ street signs, which require a vast amount of local knowledge—including the names and locations of major cities and municipalities—to actually be helpful for guidance. Being smart, we were prepared with a GPS and a google map print out (neither trusting our local knowledge nor the local dialect to ask for directions).
After two hours (with another two to go) our behinds were in such pain that we knew, we are nuts! What on earth had gotten into us to torture ourselves voluntarily?! Just as these thoughts crossed our minds, we crossed the Agas-Agas Bridge, the tallest bridge in the Philippines and home to the first Zip line on the island!
We pulled right over and gave our butts a rest by flying—face first—down a two-kilometer meter zip line! What a great thrill! Not only because of the adrenalin rush flying over the bridge and treetops at a height of 114 meters in a harness clipped to a steel cable. A thrill, too, because there is no legal safety net in case of an accident...
Bungee jumping or skydiving, I’m used to signing a waver or any sort of legal document of the site operator assuring safety and maintenance standards and accepting (well, in most cases not) liability in case something happens.
Well, judging by our own standards we considered the zip line to be “safe” and went for it. Nuts, you say? Yes, maybe! But it was worth every one of the 280 Pesos per person!
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