Thursday, October 22, 2009

Palawan Island - P is for Paradise

Palawan Island is only an hours flight from Manila. The first stop is Puerto Princesa, the island's capital city. Puerto is a clean (very unusual for Philippines) little town, it doesn't have alot going for it, but it does serve a very good base for the area. We stayed at Manny's Guesthouse a lovely old converted dutch house. Manny was a good host, producing coffee in the mornings and discounted tours. Our only problem was that at 3am it sounded like it was in the middle of a rooster farm with canine fencing.

We decided to check out the Underground River in Sabang which is in the running to be one of the Natural Wonders of the world. Eons of water erosion has produced a 8km long cave complex. You can catch a small paddle boat 1.5km into the cave. The cave was very cool, but with only 1 light per boat (operated by clueless lady up front) the tour was only ok. Formations that look like corn (?!), mushrooms (ok) and the Virgin Mary (it is a catholic country after all) were pointed out to us.















The next day we headed to Honda Bay for our first dose of island hopping. And a nice dose it turned out to be. The water around Palawan is like that of the travel photos, a clear azure blue. We saw some cool fish while did snorkeling on a submerged reef, had a lovely lunch on snake island where the mangroves burst with life, and finished the day with a sunbake on a "private" island.

The following day we headed by bus to El Nido on the north tip of the island. With the poor state of the roads, we had an 8 hour (actually considered a good time!) slow and bumpy ride. The bus stopped every few moments to let locals crawl over chickens and boxes to any available seats. When the seats were full, people just climbed onto the roof. But the journey was well worth the effort. We found a reasonable beach surrounded by majestic limestone cliffs. Ha Long Bay eat your heart out. The first day it rained so we just sat on our veranda reading.















We booked an island hopping tour (the one thing here), hopeful of the brilliant sunny day that greeted us as we awoke. For the rest of our time in Palawan, the weather gods turned it on! We saw a couple of hidden lagoons, Umbrella island, the boatmen BBQ'd fresh fish on a secluded beach for lunch, and we snorkeled our little hearts out. A great day.

We followed it up with another tour to hidden beaches and great little lagoons. Lunch was fresh fish again, although this time it had been chopped up with a cleaver. Quartered fish anyone? Unfortunately the coral wasn't in the best condition, making snorkeling a little less rewarding than other spots. Dynamite fishing and Crown of Thorns star fish taking their toll.

We hired a scooter and headed out to a long quiet beach. The road was such a rocky monstrosity that a new term was coined for our frequent stops: stretching the bum. We found it after about an hour in the saddle. The local village kids took a great interest in us, asking our names and getting their photo taken. I had to shoo them away to get some peace (and a swim). We sun baked blissfully unaware that the local sand flies were making merry with our exposed legs. For 3 days Tash made a great effort at removing her entire skin from the itching, while getting annoyed at Greg's lack of bites!

With the recent bus ride still fresh in our memories, we hung around for another day to share a banca (local boat) ride to our next stop, Port Barton. Ear plugs proving essential on our 5 hour ride on one of these growling boats. Port Barton is a fantastic place to relax. We had an A-frame detached beach front room, metres from the water for the equivalent of $15AUD. Its a place to read relax and watch sunsets. It is also home to a wonderful little place called Jambalaya.

Jambalaya only has 3 small tables for 2. Its been inspired by Zydaco music, from the deep south of the USA. Old album covers are everywhere, Zydaco music coming from the speakers. Little hand written signs with homely suggestions and requests hang on the walls. Loads of books wash around the shelves, the beach is an arms length away! All of which would count for less were it not for the food and service. We had to the entire planet's most polite waitress (you're welcome, thank you, you're welcome, is everything ok?, you're welcome, thank you etc.). We feasted on the best bowl of special cornflakes in the world. It contained: Cornflakes, bran flakes,
choc cereal, white and black sesame seeds, coconut (caramel and normal), cashews, dried apricots, banana and loads of fresh milk. Quite a Bowl!

We decided to go back for dinner and get garlic (GARLIC!!!) bread, succulent cajun tuna and jambalaya rice. Followed by an awesome choc banana crepe, a top ten meal. All to soon we had to say goodbye to this paradise and head to Puerto once more. We took a jeepney (think half old army jeep, half bus, painted as bright as possible), squeezed in with the locals who looked bemused. The following day we said a sad goodbye to a fantastic place, but its time to move on once more..........

No comments: