A Ferry Tale Ride

I’ve been used to travelling through planes, and always looking forward for airfare promo but lately, most of my travels have been to some of the off-the-beaten-track destinations and most of the time this means I’m riding a RORO or a ferry to cross from one island to another island. Before, whenever someone say to me that ferry or roro is the best form of transportation I always disagree and explain why the heck he/she needs to ride a ferry or a ship or a RORO if the fare for a ship is almost the same as the airplane fare, but now I do understand why some prefer to travel by ship and spend long hours on the sea rather than riding a airplane which is much more faster.

Cuyo Port, Palawan

People have a lot of reason why they prefer to ride a ship, or a ferry or a roro or whatever they call it, basta yan yung super duper malaking bangka na lumulutang at lumalayag sa karagatan.hehehe! Anyway, one of the reason people prefer to ride a ferry is the fare, it is much cheaper compared to a regular plane fare, except if you scored on that super cheap plane fare promo. Another reason people prefer to ride a ferry is that there are no airline companies plying the route or that destination and their only option is to ride a ferry or a bus. Another reason is comfort. Yes, you’re correct, you have just read the word COMFORT. You might be wondering how can travelling by a ship can give you comfort if riding a plane is much more comfortable than riding a ship. Okay, this might sound weird but years ago, I also have the same question but as I’ve been used to travelling via ferry or a ship, I’m starting to understand why sometimes it is much more comfortable to ride a ship or a ferry. First, if you're travelling on a plane, you need at least an hour or two to be at the airport for check-in and well, for most airlines, they are always delayed and you end up just sitting on the airport and waiting for the plane, but on a ship, most of the time all you need to do is buy a ticket, ride the ship and sleep for the whole trip. There’s a check-in requirement of at least an hour but most of the time it's not that important. You can go to the ship even 10 minutes before the estimated time of departure.

Montengro Ferry. Dalahican Port, Lucena City to Balanacan Port, Mogpog, Marinduque 

Inside the Montengro Ferry. Dalahican Port, Lucena City to Balanacan Port, Mogpog, Marinduque

Balanacan Port, Mogpog, Marinduque

Ferry ride from Sta. Cruz, Marinduque to Dalahican Port, Lucena City

Well, the reason I’m loving riding a ship or a ferry is that I am always being able to save for a hotel room especially when I’m travelling at night. So that means a free ride for paying for an accommodation in the ship or let me put it this way, a free accommodation for paying for a ride.hehehe! Riding a ship also gives me time to relax and contemplate, nakakapagmuni muni kasi ako habang nasa barko.hahaha! The ferry ride is among the best mode of transportation kung gusto mong magmuni muni.hehe! Imagine this setting, you’re in a ferry for a 12 hour evening ride and you've slept the whole night and upon waking up early in the morning, you are greeted by a beautiful sunrise while on the sea, with the changing hue of the sun, with a beautiful color of the sky and a blue sea as a view while you’re sipping on that hot cup noodles. Isn’t it nice, right? Makakapagmuni muni ka talaga sa napakagandang umaga. Or unless you’re travelling on a typhoon season and the sea is rough, hindi ka lang nyan makakapagmuni muni, makakapagdasal at rosary ka nyan ng sobrang dami.hahaha!

Masbate Port. Ferry from Masbate City to Cebu City

Masbate Port. Ferry from Masbate City to Cebu City

Inside the Montenegro Ferry from Bogo City,Cebu to Cataingan, Masbate

Anyway, another reason why I’m loving riding a ferry is that you can get to talk to most of the “masa”, the local people. Madami kang pwedeng makakwentuhan. You’ll be able to socialize with a lots of different people. You’ll be able to know and hear their life stories. You’ll be able to learn new things and you’ll be able to learn stuff about the place that you’ll be visiting. Parang libreng information na directly from the local resident. Most of the time, people are more than willing to share their stories and share information about their island especially when they know that you’re not from the area or from the island. Some are more than willing to help you find a place to stay, a guide, a boat or anything that you need to make your stay at their island the most memorable that you’ll ever had. Those are what I loved the most, the Filipino hospitality.

Ferry from Danao City to Consuelo port, Camotes island, Cebu

When you’re travelling by a ferry, you’ll also be meeting other fellow traveller who shares their stories about their travel and through this, you’ll be able to learn a lot of things from different individuals. You’ll be able to learn more about life, the life of other people and you can reflect on a lot of things that you’ll be learning. Travelling is not just really about the destination, it’s also about the journey through that destination. It’s also about the things that happened and you’ve learned while travelling to reach your destination. You’ll learn a lot when you travel. You’ll learn so many things about life. Sabi nga ni St. Augustine, "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."