In the hotel in Manado they will probably tell you (like in my case) that airport tax is 30000 INR. Do nat trust them – it is 100000 if you fly abroad…
At 5.30 I took motocycle taxi (ojek) to the Manado airport. 30000 INR for 11 km distance. On the km 7 we got flat tyre, but I reached the airport on time anyway. 28 passengers only in 737 plane (lucky me – a week ago flight was cancelled as not feasible).
After 1,5 hour flight over the blue Sulu Sea we landed in Davao on the Mindanao Island. I got 21-days tourist visa on arrival for free. Taxi to the town after bargaining cost me just 100 peso (they pay here 40 peso per USD). Then I got a dark but cheap fan room at Royal Downtown Homestay for 350 peso – Lonely Planet guide book is accurate.
Davao is big, smoky town. Here are the cathedral and two temples to see – just for one day of stay. But I am already in the different world: after weeks of rice diet in provincial Indonesia here I have a bakery at almost every corner and almost everybody speak some english. People are nice but not as cheerful like in Indonesia. I was a curio there – I saw (in average) one white tourist per 3 days. Here I saw 5 tourists in one day! Much better score…
