Running on Empty

The general policy on Camiguin Island is to rent out motorbikes with almost no gas in them.  I think this is sneaky, because a few liters of gas costs the same amount as the rental, so my goal for my day of biking (besides enjoying the scenery, feeling the breeze in my hair and not hurling myself off a cliff) was to return the vehicle with absolutely no fuel left in the tank.  That turned out to be a tough feat.  The vehicle had no odometer and I didn’t know the length of my route, which is why yesterday afternoon you could have found me lurching into a small coastal town on a wheezing bike.

The Sunken Cemetery

Asking around for I could find some gas, everyone directed me to the convenience store under the mango tree.  They could give no other distinguishing characteristics.  An enormous man offered to hop up behind me and show me the way, but I was dubious about the power left in my bike and my own steering abilities.  Eventually I ended up just stopping at every store under a tree, which, it turns out, was a lot of stores.  At each one they would stand outside, under their own trees, and say, “No, not here.  Go to the store under the mango tree!”

A stretch of road

I eventually found the right place.  I tried to memorize what a mango tree looks like, but I still don’t think I could pick one out of a line-up.