I expected a long day of travel ahead, so had set the alarm for 0600. My clothes were still wet and the only way to dry them was to wear them. I left the hotel soon after 0700 and went to the jeepneys. I found one that went straight to Solano without having to change at Lagawe; good start.
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- Rice in banana leaves, like in the neighbouring countries.
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- Jeepney to Lagawe.
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- On the jeepney to Lagawe. Two banks of 10 pax.
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- Bye bye Banaue.
When we got to Lagawe, I was the only person left onboard so the driver put me on another jeepney to Solano. That was the original expectation anyway. The two jeepneys took less than 3 hours in total.
It didn’t take me long waiting at the bus shelter at Solano for a Victory Liner to come along bound for Manila’s Cubao and Sampaloc stations. It turned out to be a Deluxe bus with 3-across seating and cost a little more. I was happy with that and 7 hours later (instead of the 9h northbound), I was back in Manila.
With a taxi ride, I was in the Tune Hotel at Ermita after 11 hours of travel. I had been hanging out for dumplings in hot and sour soup, so headed to the Suzhou Chinese restaurant across the road.
Having paid for the air-con credits at the Tune Hotel for my brief nightstop, I stayed in for the rest of the evening. There’s nothing else around Ermita that interests me … I’ve done all that I want to do around the neighbourhood.