Why is it whenever I travel to developing countries where people are poor, I am overwhelmed by how happy they are? Each day, as I sit in my favorite restaurant, I listen to the girls giggling. They laugh, they tease, they call out to people on the street. People always greet you. Often, because they want to sell you something, by just as often, they are just being hospitable.
One day in El Nido, as I was hiking to town, a young man on a motor scooter drove by me, stopped, and said, "Do you want a ride?" I said, "Sure" and hopped on the back of his bike. When we got to town and I hopped off, I tried to pay him, and he refused to accept money.
Speaking of scooters, again, I cannot help but comment on how efficient transportation is in the developing world. You literally just stand on the side of the road, and within seconds, someone on a motor bike, or scooter, or tricycle, stops and picks you up. Compare that to Italy, where you can stand on the side of the road for hours, just to have the overcrowded, overpriced bus pass you by!
We leave tomorrow. We will miss the Trippy Hippy...Steve the restauranteur, who made being in Moalboal, so quite so boring for me!
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