Tag 184 - Down to the south of Cebu's - Oslob

Hi everyone!

Oh boy, today was a day... We didn't actually do anything and yet experienced soooo much!

So let's start from the beginning:

This morning we decided to leave the city behind us definitively and head south. We slept in, got ready, and checked out. One day earlier than we had booked, but that didn't matter to us. Our journey began at 10:30 am.

To be honest... The experience of getting out of Mactan was horrific! So much traffic, unbelievable number of trucks driving like crazy, smell and dirt... It's hard to describe in words. We read various reports in which it was advised not to travel to the south on our own. At first, we thought it was because of the distance... No! It's just about the route until you are out of all the - sorry - dirt! There are traffic jams here that we can hardly imagine in Europe! Two children were sticking to a car and knocking on the windows non-stop - then they noticed us! They tried to cut us off, hold us (we are white and blonde and have luggage = money!), Kevin stepped on the gas and drove through the heavy traffic as best as he could. At that moment, I was incredibly grateful for his driving skills! As mentioned yesterday: The kids here are much more dangerous than some adults...

Thankfully, we left them behind at the traffic light. The countdown at the traffic light was from 200! Then we could continue the journey. We drove through an unventilated tunnel. The air was so thick to breathe and it felt like 1000 needles pricking our skin (because of all the dirt in the air). Then we reached Cebu City. Much better than Mactan, but still: dirt everywhere you looked! We passed rivers that smelled like the sewage of our camper and garbage as far as the eye could see. We needed three hours alone to get out of all that. Then we found a small turnoff towards the forest. There was the first break with a beer and cigarette - well-deserved! Our butts hurt, we were covered in dirt from head to toe from the air, and already completely exhausted...

We kept going. My personal goal was Oslob, but yesterday Kevin thought it was simply too far and not achievable. But... we drove and drove... We neither saw a hotel, nor a restaurant, nor a tour operator. All zero touristy... We reached a spring where we took a few photos. There were also lots of children there. I thought they were decent... Until they started shouting "give us money"! We are probably just a kind of cash cow for them... And onward we went!

We ate in a hotel restaurant that had been under construction for a year. Zero guests, three people working on the construction, and three people cleaning the pool!

Well... And suddenly we were actually in Oslob! After about six hours of driving, completely exhausted, we reached our hotel. We booked a room for one night and immediately sat down at the bar.

By the way, we are still sitting at the bar :).

Now we're going to relax a bit from the day with a few drinks and let ourselves be surprised by tomorrow :).

So, see you later!