I am planning a motorcycle tour of the Philippines in November 2005.

· Buying a suitable second hand motorcycle in Manila.

· Riding from Manila around Luzon and down south to Matnog.

· From Matnog catch the ferry to Allen in northern Samar.

· Ride down the length of Samar to Pintuyan (or should that be S. Ricardo) and catch the ferry to Surigao on the northern tip of Mindanao.

· From Surigao, ride along the northern coast of Mindanao to Dapitan City.

· From Dapitan City, catch a ferry across to the southern end of Negros.

· Ride up the eastern coast of Negros and around to Bacolod City.

· From Bacolog City catch a ferry to Leganes on Panay.

· Ride from Leganes around the southern end of Negros and up the west coast.

· From the northwest tip of Pasnay catch a ferry across to the southern end of Mindoro.

· Ride up the eastern coast of Mindoro to Calapan.

· From Calapan catch a ferry to Batangas.

· Ride from Batangas around the western side of Laal Lake and return to Manila.

· Leave my bike with a friend in Manila for him to sell on my behalf.

All up, the trip should take 3,000km to 3,500km. I should need to only average about 200km per day on my tour of the Philippines. This is not far for an Australian rider who thinks nothing of riding 1,000km to 1,500km per day while touring.

Yes, I know riding in the Philippines is nothing like riding in Australia. I have spent some time riding in the Philippines; Metro Manila, the full length of Cebu, and southern parts of Mindoro.

If any others have done similar in the Philippines, your advice would be appreciated.

Richard
Cairns, Australia

If you've done some riding in Manila recently then you know how amazingly bad the traffic can be. This has been my experience in most of the areas of Luzon I've been. GF is from San Fernando/Angeles City. We spent a couple of months there last year. I think the tollways now allow (at least on paper) larger motorcycles on but there have been problems there. There are still many opportunities for kidnapping as well. It almost happended to us on a van trip up to Baggio but we had a smart driver who know when he was being bullshitted by a fake cop.

Check out http://motorcyclephilippines.com. They are a motorcycle advocacy group with lots of helpful people.

All that said, the phillipines in my experience is a great place. I'd love to do a bit of riding there someday. Maybe on my next trip.

Kurt