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January 15th 2011
Published: January 15th 2011
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Modern man lives in modern cities in modern countries. Depending on your personal sensibilities, these cities are held to be either technological and architectural marvels that provide modern man with all his comforts and pleasures in a fully integrated, completely controlled and almost totally homogenous environment, or simply as pullulating pustules which irreparably disfigure the earth's skin, pollute the surrounding environment and which are, over time, irreversibly changing mans relationship with both nature and himself. Personally, being something of a romantic, I place myself in the latter group. I have an innate abhorrence of cities and city living, and can only find genuine peace and happiness when away from their stifling embrace. I am also something of a technophobe, and it is this fear that feeds my biggest apprehension as regards cities. Technology is driving modern man ever faster into new realms of living, communicating and working; but these new systems, so perfectly integrated into city living are, I believe, creating a paradigma shift in human consciousness that, once achieved, will be almost certainly irreversible. We will be like the Mayans; only with us a great knowledge will be lost without the physical destruction of the society that held it.

This is most likely paranoid thinking of the highest order and symptomatic of the superannuated thinking that the new memes will eventually replace. My views are, whether I like it or not, of the lowest evolutionary order. There are certain aspects of humanity however, that I strongly believe we will be significantly poorer without; one of these is our mystical attachment to the natural environment, otherwise known as our sense of wonder. One of the ways that humans have always engaged with the mystic is through their relationship with the stars. Up until less than one hundred years ago every man on this planet would witness the stars at least once every 24 hours. Today, about forty percent of our planet's population is unable to view even a single, solitary star. The light pollution from our cities and towns is such that it precludes the viewing of all astral bodies, bar the moon, for all of their inhabitants. For confirmed urbanites it is not inconceivable that it could be many years between one view of the heavens and the next. For many this is not seen as such a great loss, but to me, and many like me, this loss is symptomatic of modern mans disengagement from the natural and the mystic, at the expense of his pursuit of concepts, information, ideas and opinions. These structures are the new filters with which modern man engages with his world, they have replaced the direct insights he previously gained from nature and it is therefore no wonder that people are starting to collectively lose their bearings and are becoming dangerously disorientated.

On Cacnipa Island, five miles out to sea in the Palawan Passage, there is only electricity between the hours of six and ten in the evening. There, on a clear night at midnight, I saw a sky so inundated with stars that it seemed as though there were more points of light than dark. The stars as I knew them must have proliferated massively since I last saw them, for, from horizon to horizon, the heavens were bursting with millions of tiny points of chrome. We swam in the sea that night. I lay on my back in the gently swelling ocean and allowed my gaze to rest in the heavens. The entirety of my visual field was filled with constellations, planets, the moon and the thick band of the Milky Way. It was a staggering sight, made all the more magical for it being, for me, so comparatively rare. I shall not attempt to describe the feelings this sight engendered in me; suffice it to say that I was powerfully moved and felt that the experience, the witnessing itself, was as much the point as any possible insights gained. Sometimes it is necessary to simply stand and stare or, as in my case, float and witness.

During the day Cacnipa Island is just as beautiful as at night. It is a wild and unruly island that rises steeply from out the ocean and is covered by a luxuriant growth of forest. It has two picture-postcard-perfect beaches on its east coast, one of which is the location for the islands solitary accommodation, the low key "Coconut Garden Resort". The Swiss owner has managed to tame this small part of the island and in doing so has created a little Switzerland on the small piece of land that backs the beach. Here there are three or four "chalets" and several rooms in a beautifully manicured hilly area, as well as a comfortable restaurant that served very tasty, if a little expensive, food. We spent our time here exploring the two white-sand beaches, playing with the resident monkey, drinking beer, being eaten by sand flies and swimming.

Whilst there I paid particular attention to the old Swiss owner as, after reading Sophie and Dale's blog which pertained to their stay here a year ago, I was wary of his legendary curmudgeonly attitude. And, just as Sophie and Dale reported, this man is a paragon of melancholia whose general depressiveness was in stark contrast to the joy of his surroundings. This man is obviously well aware of his deep friendship with the black dog as, upon his desk in the corner of his restaurant, he has a natural daylight lamp; just like those used in countries of a northerly persuasion to combat seasonal affected disorder, or SAD. It only serves to highlight the severity of this poor man's depression, when the 12 hours of pristine daylight he receives for nine months of year is insufficient to bring him even a little internal sunshine. It is truly unfair to mock the afflicted, but should anyone who reads this blog be inspired to visit this beautiful and well run resort, I would advise you to deal as much as you can with his exemplary staff, as opposed to the great Swiss grump himself.

Port Barton is the town from which most people travel to Cacnipa Island. It is a small barangay on west coast of Palawan, about half way between Puerto and El Nido. It is a delightfully somnolent town, populated by a people who go about their business languidly, yard dogs that can barely muster a yelp, let alone a bark, and cockerels which have a welcome predilection for late mornings. The long, gently curved sandy beach marks the towns westerly edge, whilst barely a kilometre to the east, Port Parton's dusty streets give way to thick forest and the single, rutted and bumpy road out of town. There is not very much to do in Port Barton but the town has such an abundance of charm that doing nothing here seems like the most exciting activity imaginable. If one is feeling particularly active then it is possible to walk, as we did, to the northern end of Port Barton's gorgeous beach, through a simple village, over a rocky headland, to eventually arrive at a couple of deserted beaches that will almost certainly be yours, and yours alone, for as long as you choose to stay there. By hiring a bangka, it is possible to broaden ones horizons and reach hundreds of perfect beaches, all utterly deserted and all completely gorgeous.

Like Cacnipa Island, Port Barton only has electricity for a limited period each evening and consequently shares with the island a spectacularly starry night sky. This fact, coupled with the poor state of repair of the towns sole connecting road, has so far kept any large scale development of Port Barton to a minimum. From the travellers perspective this is, of course, an absolute blessing. Port Barton looks pretty, undeveloped, rural; it looks and feels like stepping back in time 50 years. It is a place to visit now so that, in ten years time, you can be one of those annoying travellers who can sit in a place that no longer matches the guidebooks antiquarian hype, and say "how it was so much better it was in the day". Speaking to the residents of Port Barton however, garners a very different take on the town's lack of decent communication and basic infrastructure.

The business here, almost all of which are connected in some way with the tourist industry, bemoan the lack of electricity. They have to rely on expensive and polluting generators to power their freezers and lights and, what is more, the electricity here, when available, is some of the most expensive in Palawan. The poor infrastructure of Port Barton does not draw in the more gratuitously rich tourists that a place like this demands. The nearest airport is in Puerto Princesa, a four hour bumpy drive away and which is itself, besides, still a one hour flight from Manila. Your average vacationer from the west is simply never going to be persuaded to go through so much hassle just to get his or her week in the sun. Which means, for your averagely committed backpacker, there are still towns like this in Palawan, in the Philippines, in the World, that are still beautifully basic, perfectly quaint and charming and full of enough "reality" to keep even the most culturally sensitive traveller happy. Just don't expect the residents to share in your enthusiasm for their honest, quaintly rural ways; they'd much rather have 24 hour power, broadband Internet, a decent income and the opportunity to be as hypocritical as you (and me).



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15th January 2011

Cacnipa island..a strange mix of heaven and hell!
When we were on Cacnipa we never met with grumpy Swiss owner (probably a good thing from what you say). We did, however, find the island a perfect mix of heaven and hell. Heaven due to the isolation, gorgeous beach and resort but hell due to those sandflies...the island seemed to be infested by them and we just seemed to itch the entire time and most of the time the staff probably thought we had ants in our pants because we couldn't keep still! Fab photos, enjoy the rest of Palawan!
15th January 2011

Awesome
One of the best things I've read on Travel Blog. The first three paragraphs almost encapsulate my own views but you put them into words much better than I could.
15th January 2011

Insightful
Enjoyed the read. Nicely written. Philippines is truly a beautiful and amazing place.
16th January 2011

The first 2 paragraphs are probably the best piece of writing I've read here on travelblog. Enjoy the Philippines!
16th January 2011

Grumpy Man
So pleased to hear the bundle of joy is still there welcoming his guests with open arms! Wouldn't you think that if you hated it that much you'd just leave?! Such a lovely place to live too.. why is he like that?! Like you say though the local staff who are there more than make up for him, such friendly welcoming people which made our Christmas stay one to remember. You had me laughing out loud reading about him again so thanks guys! Totally agree with Donna & Neil about the sandflies there.. as soon as that sun was on it's way down there was no way we'd linger on that beach to become dinner for them! Your writing is just wonderful to read, it's such a treat when your blogs come up and makes my day :o) Have fun up in El Nido and will look forward to reading the next instalment.. take care xx
17th January 2011

HOLA FROM LA PAZ
Hey couple!! Hola from Bolivia, it seems the weather has improved in your paradise, we´d like to be there with you for one day at least, cause here in la Paz we don´t see the sea. Everything OK here, we spent new year´s eve in Sun Island in the bolivian part of Titicaca Lake, we had amazing views of bolivian mountains over there. Now we are heading to the Yungas, beggining of the jungle, to stay for a while in a ecological farm, as volunteers. Afterwards we´ll try to go deeper into the real jungle, because now is the rainy season. Take care, lots of kisses from your spanish friends and happy 2011!! See u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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