Avoids Cheating

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Avoids Cheating
How do we go to Pagudpud, Philippines without cheating?
Introduction:

My Thailand Girlfriend has been surfing the internet and reading the Lonely Planet trying find an acceptable Hotel in Pagudpod, Philippines. We are on Hotel Budget of 600-800 Baht per night for two people. This is the room budget we have paid at the beaches of Thailand,

17.50 -23.50 US Dollar
600-800 Baht
850 - 1125 Pesos

I personally I should be tarred and feathered, ran out of town on a rail for admitting we may pay these prices. I feel like I am completely letting down the Backpacker community when I pay more than 10 dollars per night for a room, whether one or two people in the room.

What is great about Thailand, I can often go down to 3-5 dollars per day to offset the more expensive days, however here in the Philippine the average room price has teetered around 900 Peso level, wheter single or alone.

Here is my Thailand Girlfriends great and truly insightful way of viewing cheating. I agree 100 percent with her views on cheating, if something is difficult to understand and then do, it is cheating.

Thanks from Andy Graham of HoboTraveler.com
Saturday, August 8, 2009

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Vigan, Philippines
Southeast Asia
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Vigan Hotel
---------------------------------

Map of Pagudpud, Philippines, often called the “Boracay of the North.”

Map of Pagudpud, Philippines

CHEATING
Cheating is a type of lie and stealing your money.

By Thailand Girlfriend, no name given.

Example:
My Mom sick and I need money to take care Mom, but the truth is she just want money for something else.

How do we go to Pagudpud without cheating?
- What and how do they cheating you?
1. Price of bus ticket
2. Price of small truck/motorcycle/taxi around the city
3. Price of room
4. Quality of room and the price that you pay

Some of solutions for avoid the cheating

1. Price of bus ticket
- searching from internet or tourist information center
- ask another passenger about the price do they pay in the same city that you want to go
If you can find, just ask how many hour or how distance do they take bus and compare your price
with their hour/distance
- read or ask the price from many company and look at the real bus compare with their ticket price.
Some time ticket same price/not much different but seat or type of bus really big difference.

2. Price of small truck/motorcycle/taxi around the city
- walk away from the bus station, it usually get a normal price and you can should taxi that you
want, not just old/bad taxi which sit around the bus station to waiting good tourist who always
say yes.
- ask local ppl on the bus before get off or local ppl around the bus station
Exp. By Tricycle in Vigan, It’s twenty peso from bus station to hotel (about a kilometer) but
tricycle ask 500 peso for survey ten hotel around Vigan (there is about 10 blocks or not more than
500 squaremeters) It’s not mean every driver bad but you have to keep asking till you find honest
one or normal price its should be.

3. Price of room
- ask bus driver/ppl on the bus from previous city. It’s possible to find the person who move city to
city example salesman, branch manager etc they usually live with their budget.
- taxi
- lonely planet
- walk in the hotel to ask the price
- searching from internet
- tourist information center
- ask local people
- sign, it usually have sign of hotel between town to town, bus station, big market/department store,
some junctions
- Analysis the map, normal or cheap hotel always put them another block of expensive hotel
to make ppl have a choice. So give you a chance to find some.
- take a taxi for tour around city/street of hotel
- ask hotel where you find hotel for the price you can pay
- negotiate price to hotel
- live with the local live
- get the single room for two person
- make the decision how much you can pay for room
- stop thinking about your money and my money but good decision for both
- wait out the owner of hotel

4. Quality of room and the price that you pay
- searching from internet or tourist information center
- look at the room
- compare with another hotel

ANDY HOBOTRAVELER.COM WRITING BELOW

INTERNET PRICES - Cheapest
3000-4000

LONELY PLANET - Cheapest
1400

This is over budget any way we do it, the country feels like a bad deal.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Villa Del Mar
We found in the Lonely Planet, the searched on the internet for a webpage.

Lonely Planet says
Telephone 0920 553 4161 Number does not work
1400 Fan
1700 AC .

We found on Internet:
http://www.villadelmarpagudpud.com/rates.html

Cheapest price on Internet is 1700

Imelda Benemerito-Llanes
0921.2958196
No answer 3:06 PM

Elizabeth Benemerito
0919.8995673
Talked to her, I asked, what is the cheapest room for two people?
She says,
3500
Then she said -1800
Then she said 1200.

Sunday, August 9, 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------

Northridge Resort
1500 P
Telephone - 0920 220 5089
- I called the number, they women said the room with AC for 2 people is 800 Peso
Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thanks, this is a work in process, we will go to Pagudpud, Philippines beach tomorrow. I personally feel this is a lot of work just to see a Philippines beach and hope it is nice. My Thailand girlfriend is a tourist anyway I look at it, she is frustrated, it is difficult for here to pay money to go somewhere that is not a sure thing.

Tourist enjoy their vacations, they choose sure things.
Traveler see the real world, we read between the lies.

Thanks
Andy Graham of HoboTraveler.com
And My Thai Girlfriend

Avoids Cheating

Living On The Road | Money | Scams |

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Reader Submitted Comments | Deleted Comments (2)

Mobile Mac said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 11:57:07 AM

Hi Andy,

Sounds like youre having a nice time in Philippines - my favorite Asian country.
Nice people and great beaches.

I am now attending THE annual National Hobo Convention at remote Britt, Iowa. Surprisingly large attendance, with many genuine train-hopping hobos providing entertainment. Around the traditional hobo campfire: free food, free music, free beer:

http://www.hobo.com/convention.htm
August 6 to 9 - two more days left, you might want to tell your old friends in nearby Indiana to drive over.

At the big stage, this years King of Hobos asked if any special announcements or questions from the audience. Anybody youre looking for, etc.
I put our a call for you, Andy, as we thought you might attend the Hobo Convention:

King of Hobos: We have a question here from Mobile Mac - is Andy the Hobo here today?
Long pause, no answer.
He repeated: ANDY the HOBO....
Some scattered laughter, but no one recognized the name.
Hobo King looked back at me, looking a little puzzled. - and upset.
Somebody shouted, Never heard of him - Wheres he from?
I told Hobo King what to say, so he shouted into the microphone:
ANDY the HObo from IndiANNA !!
Still no answer from crowd. They looked puzzled.

Confused, the Hobo King made one last try, adding a bit of humor:
ANDY the HOBO from INDIANA, YOUR MOM IS LOOKING FOR YOU !!
That got a good round of laughs from the hobo crowd.

Anyway, I tried. And at least your name got mentioned at THE Hobo Convention, Britt, Iowa. Nice place.

Glad to read youre at Pagudpud.
I once had a girlfriend from nearby Laoag, thats a good place too.

AsiaBill said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 04:41:25 PM
http://www.casacamillaboracay.com

The two times we went to Pagudpud we drove and I remember checking out a few palces before finding one for P1000. The TIP in a seldom visited location like Pagudpud and for that matter almost all the coastal resort areas in Luzon is for YOU the guest to TELL the caretaker, manager, resort staff that you need a P1000 room or you need a P700 room PERIOD. Dont forget whatEVER the published room rates are in the Philippines its always possible to pay from 1/3 to 1/2 especially if its low season like now AND quite often the owners NOT there so the staff are stealing or rather need money for themselves as their salaries might be irregular.

Tip 2, Never walk around checking out places to stay with your backpack or luggage otherwise youre THREE TIMES LESS LIKELY to be granted a discount simple human nature and poker player psychology because the resort staff thinks youre pay their ed rate rather than lug around the weight. So if 2 or more people are traveling then one person stay with the baggage / backpacks and the other hike around looking at places to stay and bargaining. It helps alot when seeking a discount if you are staying from 5 to 10 days and willing to pay for the whole stay in advance.

GOOD LUCK! Thailands always been a great place to travel but the Philippines will ALWAYS be HOME.

JD said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 08:02:54 PM
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BaguioCityPhilippines/

When looking for cheap places to stay in the Philippines when in more remote towns or provinces, you might try talking to student nurses who may be in the area. They travel from the colleges of nursing in the larger cities to the remote towns to do clinical rotations. The student nurses have a budget of about 150p per DAY!! They are very adept at finding cheap eats, safe transient houses or dorms to stay at.

The student nurses always travel in small groups and usually will wear the duty uniform proscribed by each college when they report to their community for duty. It is not hard to spot a few nurses in uniform walking to their duty post. Most of their duty may be up to 4 days at a time in a remote area and they will travel up to 12 hours each way to get to the clinic or community for their duty.

Finally, it is a safe bet that many of the student nurses are from those remote areas they are serving. Ask them (in english!! They must complete nursing studies as taught in English). Ask them about the hotels, hostels, transient homes in the area you want to visit.

JD

Andy HoboTraveler.com said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 08:38:02 PM

Student nurses, I would also recommend this as a way of finding nice girls.

Thanks Jd,
Andy and Thai Girl now in Laoag City, one of the Bus Hubs of North Luzon, as best I can figure, Baguio and Laoag City are where you try to reach.
http://www.hobohideout.com/philippines/laoag-city

Andy

jay said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 10:42:45 PM

oh brother a thai girlfriend...
ugh

Andy HoboTraveler.com said on Saturday August 8th, 2009 10:43:49 PM

Northridge Resort called us, this was very nice of them, we are in Laoag. They was worried we coming today as I told them. They said very windy and the Hotel has no power, the weather here in Philippine is rainy and threatening typhoons. August 9, 2009. Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Cornbread said on Sunday August 9th, 2009 01:05:30 AM

Hiya Farmboy!
Good Googa Mooga! ..Took me a while to catch up on your escapades. Seems to me youre about knee deep in worry warts.
If I may farmboy... for all your schemes...you still stand out like a punk American. Especially in the P.I.
Get a haircut, throw some USMC jargon around...better yet ,find a cover associated with the USMC. I can pretty much promise you will meet up with folks speaking english hollering...USMC number 1, Japanese number 2.
For all your traveling advise, you dont say a whole lot about such things as how Christian Americans died for the countries you visit. They surely remember, if you remind them this day and age.
Angels and prayers farmboy.

Cornbread said on Sunday August 9th, 2009 01:05:54 AM

Cornbread said on Sunday August 9th, 2009 01:05:58 AM

hoz said on Monday August 10th, 2009 01:24:20 PM

Sorry Ive been away from a computer the past two weeks. Im glad to see you are exploring northern Luzon, but I cant understand why you have a Thai GF in tow.

Why not sample local cuisine?

Andy HoboTraveler.com said on Monday August 10th, 2009 04:45:43 PM

Hoz, does Max Restaurant serve Filipino food, we went in their for breakfast and was confused by the menu. Gai has eaten Philippine food three times in Vigan because she wants vegetables and rice. However, there is no names on the food, it is not easy to learn the names of foods or get explanations.

I guess we could find some names on the internet, then go search for it.
Andy

Old Fashioned Cook said on Monday August 10th, 2009 05:25:40 PM

OLD FASHINED COOK Good to know you have not been blown away or hurt in typhoon. Let yourself be surprised at what comes out on your plate as long as it is fit for human consumption. Need your strength to travel with a fiesty woman.

Max Headroom said on Monday August 10th, 2009 09:31:39 PM

Cheap rooms Philippines.

I usually ask a maid at a hotel that does decent job cleaning if I could stay at her house and pay her for a room instead of paying the Rich Hotel Owner

Usually she says It not so nice maybe you not like...

I say , you clean so well it must be clean and that is all I want.

She says, Yes very clean. I dont know is 400 pesos OK for you or 300 hundred if you not like too much ? your own room. I will go with my auntie until you leave.

I say lets check it out .......It usually is very basic but a lot of fun. She shacks up with Auntie or sister and I get a room for 5- 8 bucks plus 4-5 tour guides in the house makes for a good day.

Hidden Costs

Yes it cost another 5 bucks entertaining the younger siblings with a walk around their kingdom and Halo-Halo for all (Sickly sweet insulin dependent Philipino Ice Cream)

but what a blast ! New friends for life and the option of staying a week or more for 300 pesos a night.

Cant imagine in my wildest dreams hitching a ride through liberal California and asking a maid at the hotel If I can crash at her place for 10 bucks then take the family kids for ice cream and a tour....with (Parental supervision of course)

I would be locked up or at a minimum questioned and told to leave and be on THE LIST!

Try it Andy. Ask a Maid if you can stay with her because she is such a good maid and have the time of your life.. The whole family will act as body guards and will assign one member to sit with your computer and valuables (A 40 peso tip for the one who sits all day with your lifeline) and they often have internet ! slow but free.

I like this method works 80 of the time and have a long list of friends to come back too.

And it really averages out. You stay at a super nice place and get sweet sleep and then average it with the maids home. with the money saved you can go back to the 4 star for a excellent rest and go on your way.

MAX

Andy HoboTraveler.com said on Tuesday August 11th, 2009 02:16:47 AM

Max, that is great idea, I will try it, truly an inspiration. Couch surfing would allow me to live free, however maybe I do not like the person. With your strategy I would already like the cleaning person and it would be fun.
Andy

samn said on Monday September 28th, 2009 09:52:33 PM

I was browsing some sites looking for a nice and cheap place to stay in PagudPud. I end up on your blog. I hope you don't mind I read the entire thread, I enjoyed reading your post and even got facinated with the strategies that you suggested in finding a nice place as well as the things that needs to be done so as locals wont get "cheated"

It is true that there are some locals that would offer a high price for transportation and food, where in fact the price that they have offered is often times more than 100 times the usual. I agree with you that you need to ask people around so as to get an actually idea on how much food and transportation would actually cost and where you could you could eat good food without paying too much.

It is a good thing that there is internet and we can surf for information that will help us and our journy. I agree with you on the publish rates, room rates can go down 50 to 75 (depending on the season) when you negotiate directly or personally with the owner.

I never been to Ilocos/Pagudpud but we are scheduled to go there by the end of October. I hope we will enjoy our vacation as much as you did.

Thanks for the insights!! -)