Morong, Bataan, Philippines

I recently took a journey to Morong in the western province of Bataan using the local bus service from Subic Bay. I say bus, I shared my seat with a live chicken in a box, other goods being carried were 26” television, single tub washing machine, an 18th birthday cake, three sacks of rice and numerous other boxed up provisions – oh and did I mention the 20 odd passengers!

The trip to Morong takes about 40 minutes and is a bit of a white-knuckle ride. Narrow roads take you through the jungle and as you climb over mountaintops, steep drops ensure you keep an eye on the driver to make sure he is still awake. Similarly packed buses heading the other direction, with each driver not willing to give up his wee bit of road its not for the faint hearted.

Once over the mountains the Bataan peninsular comes into view bounded by the South China Sea. As we descend down the road from the mountains, little communities become apparent along the way. Passengers depart the bus all along the route with their TV and washing machine; others jump on with yet more sacks of rice. You begin to recognise that the very dark skinned people with the curly lighter coloured hair in this region are slightly different from the general population. These are the Aeta indigenous people who live in the scattered isolated mountainous regions of this area of the Philippines. They tend to have features such as being small in stature, small nose and dark brown eyes. They are thought to be some of the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, possibly from Borneo. Note to self: – check Wikipedi for headhunters in this area before next bus trip!

I depart the bus at a little community called Sabang, where I spend the day exploring the area. Existing industries in this region are mainly mango/cashew production, rice growing, vinegar making from the nipa palm nut, basketry from jungle vines and of course fishing.

Tourism is also a valuable source of income, with beach resorts all along the coast.  I continue to Morong and stay overnight with some friends at one of these resorts, the Coral View Beach Resort.  Most of the punters at these resorts are from the more affluent areas of Manila, enjoying a weekend break from the big city.

The return bus journey home the next day is a lot less frantic, although still very busy with sacks of rice and fruit being dropped off along the route at various roadside sari-sari shops.