13. Jeepneys

Hi Everyone,

After Tricycles, the means of transportation that fascinates me most are the jeepneys. The jeepneys are a creative adaptation of the military jeep from the American occupation during World War II. Filipinos have made them into little buses that are in every place we've been in the Philippines.




The place we're staying in Baguio is called the "Green Valley Turnaround". It's kind of the end-of-the-line for jeepneys who take people to and from central city-- where everything is-- the massive shopping mall called "SM", the universities: The University of the Philippines at Baguio, Saint Louis University, University of Baguio, and others I haven't run into yet. In this photo we see the contrast of a brightly colored jeepney contrasted with the rugged mountainous landscape of our "turnaround" area.





Before Baguio, I was photographing jeepneys as we drove past them in Iloilo, Manila, Quezon City and Dumaghete. The iconography is wonderful. This one has a cowboy theme with the picture of a cowboy on the door and a horse on the front. Don't quite know what to make of the gladiator's head with cat's whiskers on the front fender. It's very eclectic.






Here's a picture of me trying to take pictures of jeepneys. I am grateful for not having to drive in this crazy traffic and can spend my time taking pictures of tricycles and jeepneys. This is one of the occasions when we had a driver transporting us around.





Here's a jeepney called "D' Only Boy". I better get out of the way or it WILL be "D' Only Boy" on this road.







Since the Philippines is 80% Roman Catholic, you will see a lot of religious sayings and imagery on the jeepneys. The "text" on the jeepney kinda matches the graffiti on the garage door in this picture.





Another popular theme is Disney and Warner Brothers characters. Inspectors of Disney copyright violations would go nuts in the Philippines.





It took me a while, but I've actually learned not to bump my head getting in and out of these vehicles. As you can see, the drivers don't wear uniforms.

It amazes me to watch jeepney drivers make change while driving in the crazy no-holds-barred traffic. People pass money up and they pass their change back. They also seem to keep track of who pays and who doesn't as people jump on and off through the back. Usually two passengers sit up front with him too. Occasionally I'd see a guy jump on the back of the jeepney and ride hanging out the back end-- never really entering the jeepney. They even pay full fare for this privilege. It's hard to figure out when the driver is supposed to stop. He just stops when someone flags him down or tells him they want off. It also gets very crowded riding in these things. They always try to squeeze one more person in. You have to crouch down getting in and out.




Heide and I often go to Catholic Mass at 6 AM in the morning here in Baguio. At that time there are several jeepneys lined up in this "turnaround" area. This is my favorite one with this gorgeous picture of Snow White and her animal friends on the side. Although we walk to church at this time, when we do catch the jeepney to go to central city, it costs 13 pesos apiece-- which is roughly equivalent to 27 cents. We actually get a few more pesos knocked off for our senior discount.





Isn't that cool-- Snow White and the American flag. Once I rode back from central city in a taxi that was playing Beach Boys music reminiscent of "California Girls". Taxis are not as colorful as jeepneys however. They are just plain white. And the total cost for the same trip is usually 76 pesos, which is about $1.60. It's a good alternative if you have four or five people with groceries. Also, you're not expected to tip taxi drivers.

Inspired by this Snow White jeepney which we see every morning, I also try to make friends with animals in Baguio. We walk past the same turkey who wanders freely about the street, chickens with peeps walking behind them, and various stray dogs. All these creatures seem to take more to Heide than to me-- especially Denzil's dogs, who always bark at me, but allow Heide to pet them. Maybe it's because Heide feeds them and I don't-- or maybe it's just because she's more like Snow White. I'll follow up with photos of the turkey and even the goat that looks in our window and wakes us up in the morning.


Duane and Heide.