So the Philipines was my first experience in being robbed.
Well... attempted robbery... let me explain.
Our time in the Philipines was spent on Boracay, a tourist island well known for it's White Beach. We spent two weeks there at a budget hostel called Trafalgar Cottages. Trafalgar is a well known spot and is quite charming, I enjoyed my stay. It's located near the less developed side of White Beach, making it a good budget travel location. I have no complaints about Trafalgar Cottages despite it being the location of our robbery.
During the second week of our vacation, I'd come down with a terrible stomach illness (which turned out to be a bacterial parasite... no fun). This illness made it so I couldn't sleep through the night without diaherra, gas, and stomach pains. Yet, it's gastric distress that saved us all in the end.
Being ill, I'd gone to bed early that night, trying to recover on my own (unaware of the bacteria eating my intestines). I slept lightly and left the door to our little cottage unlocked allowing my friends to stay out later. My compainions, Ryan and Daniel, came in later that night. The last one being an inebriated Daniel, who slumped into bed without locking the door behind him.
You can tell where this is going I'm sure.
So after Daniel returns around 2am, I'm rolling around in bed wishing my stomach would leave me in peace. Lying still and unsettled on my foam mattress I desperately pray for sleep. As I lay there, I barely hear the cottage door open. I glance over to see a slight hand reach in through the door from outside over to the nightstand by the door. The hand gingerly plucks something from the nighstand and retreats.
My immediate thought was "why would the girls need their cell phones this late at night?" (Note: us boys were travelling with two girls who were staying in another room. However, since the boys had the power adapter, we were in charge of cell phones). Innocent though my thought was I immediately sat up and wrenched the ajar door all the way open. I was met with a surprised Philipino man wearing his T-Shirt on his face. He immediately turned about and dasked off, his flip flops slapping on the pavers outside our cottage. Without thinking I shouted, "HEY!" at the top of my lungs. Leading both boys in the room to jump up from their sleep.
At this point the thief was long gone, but my friends and I were hardwired for a fight. To be perfectly honest I'm amazed how quickly they went from dead asleep to ripped and ready to rock. However, the thief in the night had long since vanished into the dark corridors of the nearby mall. We flicked on all the lights and searched the cottage, thankfully only one thing was taken.
"My cigarettes!" Ryan cried when he discoverd their absence. "That M%$^& &*%3 stole my cigarettes! I'll kill him!"
So gastric distress saves the day!
Had I not been awake to hear the door open, the thief could have easily made off with several cell phones and some money. Had he decided to enter the cottage and root through our bags who knows what else he'd have made off with!
Needless to say it was a lesson in caution that I was able to share with our hostel neighbors in the morning. I realized then why we'd been targeted for robbery.
Primarily, I'd made the mistake of turning off our porch light before turning into bed that night. The staff at Trafalgar makes a point of turning on all the cottage's porch lights. As a sensitive sleeper, I'd deactivated ours. I hadn't realized how these light deterred crime, discouraging thieves from being seen.
Secondly, we'd forgotten to lock our door. Having spent a week at the cottage we'd grown too comfortable with the atmosphere. Trafalgar is a great spot to stay, friendly and cozy. However, it is near a destitute local population, without an exterior gate or CCTV, anyone can come and go from the premesis. I don't find this as a fault in the hostel, it's a great place to stay in Boracay. However, it is a cautionary tale not to get too comfortable when travelling in South East Asia.
Had I slept through the sound of the door opening... Had the thief been violent, drunk, drugged, or more desperate... Had any one of a million possiblities occurred other than me waking up to scare him away, this cautionary tale may have been a horror story.
So lock your doors
Keep tabs on your travel buddies
And don't leave your cigarettes by the door
No comments:
Post a Comment