Trip part 1-Pagsanjan

Thom decided that he needed a breather, away from the city. "I want to go someplace green," he said. So off we went to Laguna, armed with nothing but a guidebook, our wits, and P 7,500 in cash. I wanted to see if I was hardy enough for that sort of thing, since I wanted to go into travel writing, after all.

Backpacking fun.
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I decided that I wanted to go to Caliraya, Laguna. But since the prices of lodgings there were out of our reach, we decided to go to the city next to it: Pagsanjan, Laguna. We set out at 2:14 p.m. from Buendia.

After a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at the boundary to Pagsanjan, in Sta Cruz, Laguna. Immediately, locals offering us boat rides and lodgings swarmed us like flies. I knew why we were subjected to this harassment: Because Thom was white, and I was Pinay, and thought that we had money (more about this in a later entry). I was already at the point of losing my temper, and began snapping at the people. Thom, being an experienced backpacker said that this was normal, since tourism is their main source of livelihood. I should keep calm, since remaining irritated would do nothing. I decided to heed him and let him go through all the trouble haggling.
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We set our sights at the Pagsanjan Garden Resort, which the guidebook said had "pretty gardens, a swimming pool, and was right by the lake." Accomodations for a room with a fan started at P 400. We considered this reasonable, and took a tricycle to get there.

We arrived at 5:30 p.m., more than ready to eat and rest after our journey. The gardens lived up to the guidebook. However, We were informed that we could not use the pool, since it was located by the guesthouse, which rents out for P 8,000 a month, and since the guesthouse was occupied, we could not use the pool.

Strike 1.

We looked at the accomodations. The room was depressing. It smelled of stale sex, and was furnished with one single bed, another double-deck bunk bed, and the walls were covered with fake wood panels. The air-conditioned rooms, which cost P 1,200 a night, were of the same depressing quality, with the air-conditioning. We both wanted out but since it was too late to look for another place, we decided that we could withstand the stinky room and spent the night there. We had no private bath, and had to use the public dormitory restroom. Thom argued with the management to give us discounted rates since their rooms were substandard, but management won.

We ate dinner at their restaurant. their prices definitely did not deserve the quality of their service and the food. I noticed that the employees were talking snidely about us behind our backs. I told Thom that it would pay for him to be nicer or to be less argumentative. "I just smile sweetly, bat my eyelashes, and they give me what I want, with something extra."

"No chance of that sweetie. I'm white. They'll never give us anything at the right price."

to be continued



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