Bushman In The Philippines: Tuguegarao City

Photos by MJ Klein, except where noted

Dear readers, we sincerely apologize for the long interval without a new article.  With the recent passing of my father I wanted to leave his obituary at the top of the blog for some time; I’m sure you understand.  But now we must move forward with our next installment of my trip to the Philippines, and my visit to Tuguegarao City.  I was fortunate to be able to visit this city 2 times.  Once when passing though on my way to the Cayagan Valley, and then on my way back, so this article will be a composite of both visits.  I liked the city very much and I already want to go back there.  Here is what it’s like to visit Tuguegarao City:

This hastily framed photograph is of the terminal building at Tuguegarao Airport.  This is one of the smallest airports I’ve been to, but perhaps not the smallest.

This was our plane.  Notice the figures surrounding it.

There were Philippine military guards placed around the plane because apparently our passenger plane was also carrying a lot of Philippine currency that was being transferred.

Here is the armored truck that was being loaded.  The boxes are currency.  If you click on this or any other photo you will be taken to the Flickr.com page where you may view the large size and see more detail.

Apparently Filipino people are so used to security guards that having soldiers around, carrying fully automatic weapons didn’t bother anyone.

More currency coming down the conveyor.

Now you see bags coming down the conveyor.  These are bags of coins being transferred.

Finally, after about 45 minutes (where nothing was explained, at least in English) I see my bag coming down the conveyor (the blue one).

Now it’s time to leave!  But how will we be getting to our destination?

By the standard mode of transportation in the Philippines – Jeepney!

This is Sonny (my guide in the Philippines) and his wife making their way to the Jeepney that will take us to their village (another article).

Each Jeepney runs on a fixed route (but not necessarily on a fixed time).  Written on the side and front of each Jeepney is the route it will take.

Horse drawn carriage is a common way to get around Tuguegarao City.

Seen in our last article, these tricycles are sitting idle, awaiting passengers.  

Unlike some places we’ve been before, water buffalo in the Philippines are tame and friendly.

We’re heading into the main city (on our way back from the village).

We visited a newly-built mall area.  Gotta love the green color!

Sonny took me on a walking tour around to check the place out and do some shopping.

This is a fairly typical Southeast Asian street scene.  Tuguegarao City reminded me of places in Thailand and Laos, but the signs were in English!

Photo by Salvador Rivera

The people that I met on the street were exceedingly nice.  These girls came over to Sonny and asked if they could have a photo with me.  Sonny said “sure” and he took this photo.

The number of tricycles is amazing.

I had to photograph this mass of wiring.  This must be a real nightmare for service people to deal with!  Don’t worry though, that bundle is all telephone and cable TV lines, nothing hot.

We went to this store to buy something for my wife.

Back on the street, we continued walking around, checking out the place until it was time for my flight back to Manila.

I didn’t try the horse-drawn carriage, but perhaps next time.

Some overhead shots taken from the second floor of that green mall building.  

Overall, I had a great time in Tuguegarao City, and I want to go back there.  The people there are fantastic, so warm and friendly.  The shopping is a lot cheaper there than in Manila and if you want to buy a watch or have one repaired, or buy some good shoes, I can recommend going to the City. Thanks for reading!  You may leave us your comments below, and please use the icons below for social media sharing.