The elevated line is a cheap way to see a long stretch of the city from above the traffic instead of inside it. Ride it from Monumento to Baclaran once. Here is how.
Before you go
- Early morning is calmer. By eight the platforms are full and by five in the afternoon they are a different sport.
- Keep your bag in front of you. The carriages are crowded, and everyone is polite about it, but everyone is also pressed against everyone else.
- Buy a stored value card if you plan to ride more than once. The queue for single tickets gets long.
The ride
The train climbs above the road and you begin to see the city from the height of the second floor. Billboards, rooftops, a church, a basketball court with a net made of rope. The stations pass with the same name repeated over the speaker in two languages, and you stop listening around the fifth.
Take the window if you can get it. If you cannot, take the doorway and hold on.
Getting off at Baclaran
Baclaran drops you near a market and a church, and the first thing you hear is someone selling something. Walk. Eat. Turn around and take the train back, because it looks completely different from the other side.
Fares and times above are samples, not travel advice. Schedules and fares change.