Rites of passage

We say, where I work, that if you haven't been to Baguio City, The Philippines, you can't say you work for us. A little over a year ago I was of the outer circle but within two weeks of joining the company here I was in Baguio City.

When a new chum joins we emphasise the arduous nature of the journey. 28 to 30 hours just getting to Manila and that's the easy part! After you arrive you have to travel from Manila to Baguio and we go on at length about the journey. Sufficient to make the new chum extremely apprehensive.

Indeed, last month, the way I knew I was travelling to Baguio yet again was the boss ribbing me about the 8 hour drive. He thinks the last part of the journey is the worst part, which shows how he and I differ about certain things. I think the journey from Phoenix to Manila is dull. Hours spent on planes or sitting around in airports waiting for the next flight. Where it gets interesting is when I emerge from the safety of the airport into the Manila smog, for there it is that I get to see things I would never see in the safe sanitised world of Australia or the US.

People who accept it as natural that they should travel with a face mask to filter out the smog. Tiny houses with dirt floors, no glass in the windows and a large screen TV set. Jeepneys and trikes overloaded. Roadside markets selling the largest crabs I've ever seen and street vendors strolling through heavy traffic selling cigarettes by the piece.

There are things I'd rather not see; the wet markets and trucks overloaded with livestock but as one who eats meat I know I'm being a hypocrite. Animals go through a horror we don't want to think about; but go through it they do.

I've done the journey seven times and each time my driver points out that I can recline the seat and sleep. It's tempting given that I don't get much sleep on the plane but it's just so damn interesting watching Metro Manila and all the other towns on the route to Baguio.