9°19'31.5"N 123°16'02.2"E

It was in a post from Feb. 2017 [Down By the Okoy River - Part Two ] that I first made mention of a new road being constructed in Magatas, Sibulan. That post was written during the very early days of construction and quite a lot has been done since then.

For one thing, the road now connects to the National Highway just south of the Okoy river bridge in Sibulan. We also know that this road - called the Diversion Road - will be, when completed, a bypass around the heavily congested areas of Dumaguete. There is talk that the road will eventually connect with the National South Road. When that day comes, it will be a Godsend to the area.

At this time, vehicles can enter the Diversion Road from the North and travel toward Dumaguete. Any traffic wishing to continue on into the city must exit onto the Magatas road and head into Camanjac. This side road will take you to Rovira Drive.

One can continue along the Diversion Road, rather than take the detour, but there will not be a proper road to exit off onto after this point. There are a few "pig trails" exiting the Diversion Road that can handle motorcycle or small car traffic - but no large trucks.

I wanted to travel the entire length of the Diversion Road to see just how far it went. Unfortunately, it comes to a complete dead-end before reaching Rovira Drive. Using an app on my mobile phone, I located the coordinates of the dead-end. - 9°19'31.5"N 123°16'02.2"E.

 I'm not able to post any new photos taken along the Diversion Road - or the dead-end. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the memory card for my digital camera was damaged and I've yet to get a replacement. The first photo in this post is a screen shot of the location of the road's dead-end in Camanjac. Google Maps does not show any section of the road as it now exists.

One photo below shows the road as it was in Feb. 2017. The final photo was taken about a month ago.

Congrats To Me

Over the past couple of years, I've published a few posts about the photos I've uploaded to Google Maps. I've haven't made mention, however of the photos I've uploaded to Google+. Not only have I posted the occasional photo to my profile, but I've uploaded a few photos to a Google+ community - Street Photographers, posting the photos in either the Asia - Street Photography category, or the, so called, Weekly Challenge.

I recently upload two of my photos to the Weekly Challenge, #Backstory. These two photos [the traffic jam and the tricycle] managed to break a personal record for me regarding the number of 1+ (likes) I received. The traffic jam photo received more 1+'s than any other photo (with 38 at this writing) until the tricycle photo doubled that total with 75+'s and 3 shares.

I've learned that one of the secret to getting 1+'s in this community is uploading black and white images. Color photos don't seem to do as well there.

A Bridge Crossing The Banica River

For several months, the bridge that crosses the Banica river on Pedices avenue has been undergoing an upgrade - an improvement project which has necessitated one lane being closed. That hasn't helped the flow of traffic in Dumaguete. I can't recall when the work on the bridge first began, but I did make some mention of the bridge in a post from March and another in April.

I try not to visit that side of the city unless I absolutely have to, so I'm not exactly certain when the work on the bridge was completed. I found myself having to cross the bridge this afternoon and was surprised to see both lanes open and traffic going in two directions. I was so surprised that I took the first right turn past the bridge in order to make my way down by the Chinese Bell Church and cross the bridge again - getting photos this time.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that this relieves a bit of the traffic congestion.

Dumaguete's New One Way Streets

In order to get a handle on the horrific traffic problems in Dumaguete, the powers that be have initiated a plan to increase the number of one way streets in the city. Prior to the initiation of this plan, three of the four main north/south arteries - Rizal Blvd., Perdices, Real and Cervantes streets - were already one way from 6 AM until 8 PM. Now, a number of streets running east/west, which had previously allowed traffic in both directions, are now one way only.

The police in Dumaguete had recently begun to take double parking seriously. This increased enforcement had eased some of the traffic snafus and many are hoping the new one way streets will improve the situation even more.

Yesterday, my wife and I had reasons to travel into the city twice. That morning, I needed to go to the immigration office on Dr V Locsin street to get information concerning my annual report due soon. It was around 9:30 AM as we passed Lee Plaza - the traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly. It's difficult to say from this incident how well the traffic will improve; at that time of day, the traffic in front of Lee Plaza isn't usually a problem.

In the afternoon, I drove my wife to the Manulife office near Robinson's Mall. This would be the ultimate test of the new traffic regulations. Unfortunately, the bridge crossing the Banica river on Perdices street is being widened now, and this repair work is causing a traffic jam around the Ceres Bus terminal. However, other than the jam caused by the bridge repair, the traffic on the south side of town seems to have improved slightly.

All in all, I'd say the one way street scheme appears to be of some help. It will bring about a on my old routes for getting from A to B, but I can adapt.

Yes, the one way streets have helped, but I'm afraid the traffic situation won't be 100% smooth flowing until something is done about the number of tricycles in the city and until the city deals with the lack of parking spaces available for automobiles.

VW Beetle # 21

It was noted on a local Dumaguete oriented Facebook page, that one of the bridges crossing the Banica River would be temporarily closed for repairs and traffic headed south towards Robinson's Mall would be re-routed. Traffic in Dumaguete is an hair raising adventure at the best of times, and this bridge repair work would guarantee that these would not be the best of times.

I needed to take my wife to work this afternoon to an office not far from Robinson's Mall. That put me slap dab in the middle of a number of  bumfuzzles. One positive outcome, however was the fact that one particular traffic headache put me in a spot where I might not have been otherwise and I was able to take a photo of another Volkswagen Beetle roaming about Dumaguete. This particular one is painted a sort of indigo. In many ways, it looks like some of the blue VWs previously photographed, but even with the similar coloring, the white wheels prove it to be unique among my photos.

Although this post is my 13th VW in Dumaguete posting, it is my 21st VW Beetle due to several being photographed and/or posted together.

There's One in Every Crowd

Like every other urban area, Dumaguete is afflicted with congested traffic. It doesn't help that Dumaguete doesn't have many traffic offenses which the local police appear to believe is worth the trouble to enforce. Dumaguete may not be the largest city on Negros island, but it's not tiny by any stretch of the imagine, yet, there are no traffic lights or stop signs to be found here.

As of late, one traffic offense which the city has deemed worth dealing with is the problem of vehicles parking on the side of the National Highway. The local police have been aggressively writing tickets to drivers they find parked along the Highway.

Unfortunately, there is one area where enforcement is still a problem - the area where the runway of the Dumaguete airport meets the National Highway. Of course, there is a fence bordering the runway, however, there is a wide space between the fence and the highway where produce vendors will congregate in order to sell their fruits and vegetables. They'll gather by the side of the road come late afternoon/early evening. When these vendors are there, and people pull over in vehicles or walk across the road, the traffic becomes unbearable. This is done while most folks are going home from work and it makes driving to Sibulan from Dumaguete a nightmare.

I don't know if the election of Duterte has actually had anything to do with the change, but it wasn't long after he entered office that signs began popping up along the National Highway warning motorists not to park along the Highway. These signs have also been set out along the portion of the Highway that runs along the airport, but this area is technically outside the city limits of Dumaguete and it becomes a different jurisdiction. For months, vendors have continued to set up along the road.

Within the last day or so, the warning signs have been replaced in the area by the airport. The new signs specifically say that vendors are not to be in the area, and as of last night and this afternoon, the biggest portion of the vendors have not set up in the area. As can be seen in the photos, there is still one hold out. Just how long he'll be allowed to be there is anyone's guess.

Our Latest Trip to Cebu City

Our recent trip to Cebus had its own positive and negative aspects - its own ups and downs - its own Yin and Yang.

My original plan was to take the first fast craft leaving Sibulan for Liloan, Santander at 5:00 AM. With the time involved in traveling by water, then the bus ride from Santander to the South Bus Terminal, we should arrive in Cebu by 10:00 AM. With luck, we might be able to finish our business with Immigration in time for the last bus returning to Santander that afternoon.

Unfortunately, a defective alarm clock put the kibosh on that plan. We woke up too late for the 5:00 AM departure, taking the 7:00 AM trip instead.

The heavy traffic from the South Bus Terminal to the J Centre Mall, where the Immigration office is located, didn't help either.

On the positive side, everything went better than expected at Immigration. I was able to get my I-Card with only a five minute wait. Getting all the paper work, for my status conversion from probationary resident to permanent stamped, approved and paid for, also went surprisingly well. The fee turned out to be 2000 pesos less than I had expected, and on top of that, we were finished by 2:00 PM. We wouldn't be able to make the last bus to Santander, but it was theoretically possible to catch the last bus going via ferry to Dumaguete. We might not have to spend the night in Cebu after all.

The 10 kilometer taxi ride from the Mall back to the terminal took two hours. We had even bypassed stopping at Krispy Kreme in hopes of still making the bus.

We did make it in time for the last bus, but it was so crowded, and we were so far back in the pack, taking the bus would have involved standing for the five hour trip. We weren't up to that.

My wife and I decided, instead, to head the the hotel where we normally go when staying over night in Cebu. Fortunately for us, there's a suitable cafe adjacent to the hotel. We could get a decent meal and go to bed at a respectable 7:00 PM.

Up before four, we were out of the hotel by 5:00 AM, and in a taxi heading for the terminal. We managed to get a light, non-nutritious breakfast across the street from the terminal and were able to catch the first bus to Santander. It was so early when we left Cebu, the Krispy Kreme located not too far from the hotel was not yet open. We would be leaving the city sans glazed donuts.

We'll be returning to Cebu toward the end of next week for an interview with Immigration. The appointment time is 10:00 AM which means we'll have no other option than to travel to Cebu the day before the interview. We'll be able to be at the Immigration when it opens at 8:00 AM and with a bit of luck, we might even be able to bump up the interview time. Stranger things have happened.

Even with the scheduled 10:00 AM interview, we'll have no problem getting the afternoon Santander bus. We might even have time to go by Krispy Kreme.

Parking in Dumaguete

I've written a few posts on what it's like driving in Dumaguete. I've even uploaded more than one video showcasing how it looks to one parked by the side of the street. I haven't, however, written anything on the parking situation here.

Dumaguete shares with every other city, the problem of finding suitable parking. Whether the situation is any better or any worse than anywhere else might be just a matter of opinion.

A few days ago, my wife and I had business in the city. Our first stop was at a bank on Real Street - a one way street that's usually one of the busiest. Surprisingly, we found a spot directly in front of the bank. My wife went inside to take care of business while I remained in the car.

While waiting, I noticed a group of four or five, college-aged Filipinas walking up the sidewalk. The group began glancing at me and talking among themselves. One finally worked up the nerve to tap on my passenger side window. Naturally, I rolled down the window to hear what she had to say.

They were University students, working on an assignment taking a survey on the parking situation in Dumaguete. Would I agree to take the survey, she asked? No problem, I told her.

I was given a short, printed survey and a pen. The questions were varied. Was I a student, tourist, business owner, or employee working downtown? Did I drive a car, or motorcycle? Did I have difficulties finding a parking space? There were more questions, but you get the idea.

Perhaps, I was just feeling good at having been able to find a good spot in front of the bank, but I gave all positive responses; nothing negative. When I finished the survey, the students thanked me and went on their way. When my wife finished her business, we drove to Lee Plaza where my parking experience that morning was very different.

At Lee Plaza, there is underground parking available for customers. Pulling into the parking garage, you're given a ticket by one of two security guards at the entrance. One helps you find a spot to park, guiding you into your place. No bumping other cars there, you can be sure. Before leaving the garage with your car, you must present the guard with the validated ticket.

The validation process is straight forward and simple. Upon leaving the Mall, you see the cashier at the liquor store; you hand her your receipt and, if you've purchased Php 200 or more, you get free parking and you ticket is stamped. If you don't spend the minimum, you're charged Php 20 per hour in the Mall. As I said, you give this validated ticket to the security guard on your way out of the garage. We've done this time and time again with no problem.......until that morning.

That morning, there were two guards, one with a white uniform shirt, the other guard wearing navy blue. We had parked on the upper level, and as we made our way to the exit, the taller man, wearing the navy blue shirt, was directing a car into a parking spot. He approached us, I rolled down the window and handed him the validated ticket. He even thanked my wife, saying "Salamat, ma'am", rather that "sir".

When we exited the garage, we were stopped by the 2nd guard who asked for the ticket. I gave it to the other guard, I told him. Oh, no, the guard in the navy blue shirt says we did not give him the ticket. This was less than 2 minutes after handing it to him. We would not be allowed to leave until we produced the validated ticket.

No matter how we argued, this guard insisted that we did not give him the ticket.

My wife and I went back into the Mall, located a store supervisor and explained the situation. We still had our grocery receipt showing that we had purchased more than enough for free parking. She went with us to the cashier who had validated the ticket who told her that we had been there just minutes before.

The three of us, my wife, the supervisor and myself went back to the parking garage. The supervisor explained to the guard that we had our ticket validated.....there was no question about that. He still insisted that he did not receive it.

Not speaking Bisaya, I don't know exactly the conversation going on between my wife, the supervisor and the guard but we were finally allowed to leave. I wanted everyone involved to know that I would be returning and would do my very best to have this security guard fired. I made a big show about getting his name from the patch on his uniform.

When we arrived home, my wife asked me not to pursue having the security guard fired. He was a jerk and a moron, sure, but we shouldn't have someone lose his job over this. Besides, she said, because the ticket had disappeared, there would be an investigation by the security guards' supervisor.

We've needed to purchase groceries and school supplies since that incident, but we've chosen to shop at Cang's rather than Lee Plaza. Cang's also has underground parking. This week was the first time we had used the garage there, and, needless to say, it was a much better experience than our last visit to Lee's.

Video: Traffic in Dumaguete

Driving in the city of Dumaguete is a unique experience, very different from driving in an American city of a comparable size.

This is another spur of the moment video taken while waiting on my wife. While only 3 minutes in length, the video provides a good example of what we have to go through whenever we travel into the city.

You Know Times Are Hard..........

........when James Bond has to drive a pedicab in Philippines.

Video: Watching the Traffic Go By in Dumaguete

Last month, I published a post on what it's like to drive in Dumaguete. Today, while waiting in the car while my wife was on an errand, I videoed the traffic as it passed by.

What one sees in this two minutes is a relatively tame example. The traffic wasn't so heavy, so the driving wasn't horrible.

There are, of course, cars, buses, large trucks and small trucks. There are tricycles making u-turns, motorcyclists carrying umbrellas; some folks in shorts and others wearing hoodie jackets.

Maybe next time, I'll video the joys of driving near the downtown market during lunch. That will give an example of Dumaguete traffic at it's worse.

Driving in Dumaguete

It had never been my intention, when arriving in the Dumaguete area two years ago, of ever driving an automobile in this city. I don't drive a motorcycle, and I was content to make my way about Dumaguete by way of easyride or tricycle.

My only reason for obtaining a Philippine driver's license was because I wanted to have a local ID. Some things are easier when you use a Philippine ID instead of a U.S. passport.

When I applied for the license, I was told I could have simply converted my Georgia license to a Philippine license, had the GA license not expired. Because my license had expired, I had to take the written test, in addition to the drug test and biometrics. It was this written test that lead me to believe that there were traffic regulations in Philippines. I can't speak to other parts of the country following the traffic laws, but I can say without fear of contradiction, that whatever traffic laws there are, none are enforced in Dumaguete city.

Rumor has it that helmets are required for motorcyclists and their passengers. If you see a helmeted cyclist, you can bet it's a foreigner. Not every foreigner wears a helmet, but the percentage is much, much higher than the percentage of Filipinos wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle. I don't have an exact figure, but I seriously doubt if 1% of the folks in Dumaguete wear a helmet.

In Sept. or Oct. we purchased a car. As I said, it had not been my original intention to drive a car, but it was raining quite a bit at that time and it was difficult for my wife to take our son to school on her motorcycle in the rain. I wrote in an earlier post that the current drought is being blamed on El Niño -made worse by rising global temperatures. I'm blaming the current drought on our decision to buy a car. We bought it because of the rain and it probably hasn't rained five times in the several months since we got the car.

At certain times of the day, there are places in the city where only a masochist would voluntarily drive. Driving downtown around lunch time is stupidity. Cars, motorcycles, easyrides and tricycles push bumper to bumper. There are no stop signs or traffic lights anywhere in this city of 121,000 people. Rome, GA., where I called home before coming to Dumaguete, has a population of about 36,000 and more than a few traffic lights. Driving in a city this size without traffic lights is worse than you can imagine.

When arriving at an intersection, it's the one with the biggest cojones who has the right of way. If you can force your way through, you have it. Some intersections will have traffic cops during rush hours, but they're as useless as tits on a bull. If you decide to disobey his signals, well, I don't imagine he has much power to do anything about it.

Someone in the U.S. once asked me which side of the road you drive on in Philippines. In Dumaguete, it's any @#^%&a; side you want. If the vehicle is going too slow to suit you, you pass on either side. If there's oncoming traffic, they're obliged to slow down or pull aside to let you have your way.

Being an election year in Philippines, there are several road projects going on in Dumaguete and Sibulan. (and other areas too, I'm sure). These ubiquitous road repairs don't help the traffic situation.

Driving at night? Don't do it. As bad as daytime driving is, it's nothing compared to driving at night. Motorcyclists will drive on the wrong side of the road.....without their #$%@* headlights on !!!!! What sort of idiot drives at night without headlights?

I wrote in 2007:

"Because I don't live here year round, I can look on all of this as a romantic,exotic adventure. I don't know if I'd have the same high regard for this sort of transportation if Dumaguete was my permanent address."

No truer words were ever written.

Oh, yeah. One last word. I used the above photo in a post from 2007. This time, I changed the coloring from RGB to Grayscale. I hadn't noticed, until now, the sign above the vehicle parked on the right.

Nuff said.

Typical Motorcycle Driver in Dumaguete.

Here we have an example of a typical motorcycle driver in Dumaguete.

As you can see. he has covered his head with a baby blue piece of some sort of clothing. The reason for this is because he is more concerned about the sun not tanning his skin than he is with driving safely.

You can use the Petron gas station on the right as a frame of reference for judging his speed and the time involved in the four photos.

More on the traffic in Dumaguete

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry,when it comes to driving in Dumaguete,the primary rule seems to be "every man for himself". I've gotten used to the fact that crossing the street here is unlike anywhere else I've ever been......you take your chances. There are no stop signs or traffic lights. You cross the street while traffic is moving and you hope the oncoming driver will stop (or slow down) for you. It's always best to cross when others are attempting to cross. Maybe there is safety in numbers. Given a choice,I'd rather cross at an intersection....at least the drivers are forced to slow down to keep from crashing into other tricycles.

I feel more comfortable crossing one way streets like Perdices. You only have to look in one direction as you dash across.

I thought that I had seen everything when it comes to driving here, but yesterday evening,after buying a few groceries,we left the super market at Lee Plaza to take a tricycle to the terminal and I witnessed something I thought I would never see in this city. Behind us, I saw a Dumaguete traffic control officer (yes, they do exist) giving a ticket to a tricycle driver. This was not the first time I'd seen a traffic officer but it was the first time I'd ever seen one do anything. The most puzzling thing to me is just what the driver's offense could have been. How can someone break a traffic regulation in a city that doesn't seem to have any such regulations?

Perhaps the ticket wasn't for a driving offense,per se. I think, maybe the driver did not have the proper tag or permit. Like everywhere else in the world, Dumaguete has it's share of government officials looking to make a dollar (or peso, in this case). The traffic police may not be able to stop the insane driving,but they might be able to enforce a tag or license regulation. As it's often said - if you want to know why something is the way it is, you only have to follow the money.

The Ubiquitous Tricycle

Where would Dumaguete be without the ubiquitous tricycle ? It would be an exaggeration to say that there are no automobiles in Dumaguete but they are as rare as hen's teeth. Motorcycles are everywhere but for the most part the average person relies on the motorcycle with a side-car called a tricycle. It's a loud and bumpy ride.

As for the traffic laws....the law of the land seems to be "every man for himself". When approaching an intersection it's the bravest driver that proceeds first. If there's a traffic light in all of Dumaguete, I have yet to see it and it seems as if you take your life into your hands when crossing the street.

I have no idea how a driver can possibly earn a living. The fare is either 6 or 7 peso per person (I can never remember how much) and the price of gasoline is comparable to the cost in the USA.

Because I don't live here year round, I can look on all of this as a romantic,exotic adventure. I don't know if I'd have the same high regard for this sort of transportation if Dumaguete was my permanent address.