Road trip: getting lost

So when we were set on Pagudpud, I consulted google maps to sort out which towns we would pass by during our road trip to reach our final destination. The provinces I saw on the map were Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and finally Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

From Pampanga, I wanted to pay homage to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Manaoag, Pangasinan. I read that with the TPLEX (Tarlac - Pangasinan - La Union Expressway), it now takes only about 3 1/2 hours instead of the normal 6 hours to get to Manaoag.  Yet D deemed it would be better if we made this side trip on our way back home.

A colleague of D mentioned the town of Bolinao was a good place to visit in Pangasinan. So I read up on its attractions and found out from Bacolor, Pampanga to Bolinao it would take roughly about 5 hours. 

At the San Fernando exit, we had a quick McDo breakfast and by 8:22 A.M we were again on the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), then on the SCTEX (Subic - Clark - Tarlac Expressway).  

D was going 100 - 105 kph on our 20+ year old vehicle and I was simply enjoying the imposing presence of Mount Arayat, the now inactive volcano.

NLEX - SCTEX - 240 pesos toll fee

SCTEX (Clark Airport Exit) 67 pesos toll fee

SCTEX - TPLEX entrance - 104 pesos toll fee

We had just entered the TPLEX when things got complicated. I was using WAZE on my mobile phone to guide me through the numerous exits. The app told me we should take the Tarlac City exit. But D said we should take the Ramos Paniqui exit. 

Confusion ensues but to make the long story short - we did INDEED take a couple of wrong exits. It certainly didn't help when the toll booth tellers themselves told us differently and kept referring us to the next toll booth operator for directions. We ended up paying more (unnecessary) toll fees and also lost about 2 hours of travel time.

Toll fees weaving in and out of wrong exits -  251 pesos

This brings me to several factors which may or may not have contributed to us getting lost on an expressway, of all places: 

• Inadequate road signs - our expressways sorely lack appropriate road signs. They don't list down all the exits. So what you get is like ‘Next exit: San Fernando 500 meters.’
• Using WAZE - for me this mobile app is very useful. Yet it does have a tendency to occasionally point you to a dead end, a one way street or a really narrow street where you suddenly come face to face with a 4 wheeler truck!  The thing is D doesn't completely believe in this app ... ergo he tends to just go on his gut (yet mostly WRONG) instinct.  
• Asking for directions - when we were already in the national highways which connected towns, we could just stop by the side of the road to ask tricycle drivers if we were on the correct path.  Yet when we asked the toll booth tellers, they all gave us wrong information. We even got lost just making a U-turn to return to the expressway.
• Be prepared - I did mention that I only had two weeks to figure everything out. From researching about attractions to booking accommodations and reading about dining options.  I admit that I failed to properly map out the expressway exits. But I did have a million and one things to arrange before our road trip that I simply ran out of time. In fact, I was hoping that D would be the one to research about the exits but he would come home really tired so barely was online to look up google maps.

Despite getting lost, I'd say the road trip was a resounding success. I like to credit D for not blaming lil old ME for the snafu. He just drove and would shake his head when we made a U-turn to return to the expressway. He would lament how the tellers would trick us and wished there were more road signs for guidance. Bless him! =)