Basey Samar

Basey to Sohoton Basey is a neat little fishing town on the southern coast of the island of Samar. It rains so much that many of the motorbikes have makeshift roofs. The road leading to the Sohoton National Park turns off the main highway nearby. It's a muddy wet road that gets driven mostly by motorbikes. Its quite slippery and we saw 2 bikes not make it up that hill behind the caribao. It's muddier than it looks but we prevailed. At the bridge you can organize a boat to take you to the Sohoton cave. It's probably best to hire a guide unless you are an experienced spelunker. From this point you can get river transport to the cave or elsewhere. Take along rain gear because you never know what the weather is going to do. The little Honda TMX 155 is a good little scrambler to get you through the mud. Most of the local bikes used for transport have been modified so they can hold 5 or 6 people. Some of the fishermen's homes along the banks of the river in Basey. Here in downtown Basey the roofed over motorbike is used along with an assortment of tricycles. These are ingenious contraptions that seem to not be affected too much by the wind. Most traffic in the provinces is under 50 kph and on the side roads it is often under 10 kph. Peddle powered tricycles are used extensively in Samar and Leyte. This bloke is hauling long bamboo poles used in construction and also for the outriggers on the boats. Roof over motorbikes parked at the cock fights. It was Sunday and the fights are a big deal anywhere you are in the Philippines. In fact the entire economy seems to be based on cock fighting. Here's another view of this clever design. Often they have a roll up windscreen of clear plastic. Caribao are used extensively in the rice fields. They are such a tough beast of burden. Southern Samar  still has a very unique character. It is often overlooked by tourists because the infrastructure is so undeveloped but that is the main draw to me. These caribao are such a versatile animal. I rode one once but the caribao was clearly agitated having a foreigner sitting on it's back but they are a smooth ride for someone that is familiar with the animal. Its about a 2 1/2 hour ride back to Catbalogan but I had to stop for tube repairs. I managed to poke 3 holes in the tire. This helpful bloke fixed the 3 holes for 60 pesos which is a little high for a Filipino but way less than the foreigner price. He had offered to do the job for 50 pesos but I was happy to be able to get it fixed and be back on the road again so I gave him 60. It was Sunday nite and we had been on the road 3 days already. See ya later! 2008    www.dutchpickle.com

 

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