Freedom of Movement!

Thanks to Derek, another Englishman who has taken refuge here, I have rented (very cheaply) a small Suzuki clone pickup 4WD pick-up truck, for an opportunity to get out and see around the island. I've never had independent transport before, so it's a great improvement.

The island roads are somewhat of a problem; some of them have concreted stretches, including the main route from General Luna to Dapa, the port and 'main town', but even that is littered with sleeping dogs, wandering pigs, chickens and children, and harvested rice or copra (coconut meat) laid out to dry in the sun.

The rest of the roads are a bit of a nightmare, with long unpaved stretches of rubble and potholes. Most of the island transport is by motorbike or jeepney. Motorbikes use only the one relatively smooth trail on the road, and the jeepneys are modified trucks, expected to bump and grind their way over anything.

Our little pick-up is great though; at least it gets us there, albeit at a maximum speed of 40kph. I'll go into some of our daytrips in detail, with pictures, and include a map, in later posts.