Philippines - Puerto Princesa & Port Barton

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Suzanne here...

We arrived in Puerto Princess, Palawan, at about 6.30pm. We considered getting a trike but it was relatively cool and our hotel, although right in the town, was only a twenty minute walk from the airport. So we headed off on foot. The hotel - Orchid Lagan Palawan - was fine. Cheap and cheerful but a decent size room and the all important air-con. We dumped our stuff and headed back out for food and drink.

Our first priority was to find the Palaweño Brewery - a craft brewery I'd read about in The Guardian months before, and then again in the Philippines Airlines flight magazine. San Miguel is ok, but we wanted something a bit tastier. We found the brewery easily enough, although at first it looked shut. We persevered though, popping around the back, and lo and behold there was the tap room and it was open after all. Hurrah! Ok, so it was more expensive than San Mig (three times the price), but this is proper, tasty craft beer not mass produced pilsner. I had the Honey Koelsch and Ambog Ale and David had the Oatmeal Stout and a Belgian Wit. All very good. We got talking to the owner too, a lovely woman.

The Brewery closed at 9pm, and in any case they don't do food and we'd not eaten. We sat down at a nice looking chicken barbecue place, but found the menu uninspiring and the music was terrible so we left. After a wander around we ended up in a diner called Belly Busters. Not exactly what we'd had in mind but actually it was ok. Then it was back to the hotel ready for an earlyish start.

Our plan was to catch a jeepney to the bus station, for 15 pesos each. However when we got outside it began to pour with rain. A trike offered to take us there for 150 pesos, we counter offered 100 pesos which was agreed, with some good natured grumbling about how wet he would get. He did indeed get wet, as did David. I was ok, but wedged in, in a very uncomfortable position. Anyway, we got there, we gave a tip, and he made sure we were taken to the right bay. Lucky as the bus station is huge, very spread out and a bit confusing for newcomers. It was 10.30am and the next mini bus to Port Barton was 11am. Perfect. Of course this is Asia so that's not what happened. After a long and boring wait the 11am bus left at 12.30pm, with as many of us crammed inside as possible.

The journey was around five hours, and bar a section of bumpy, unpaved road it was fine. The hostel (yes, we decided it was time to be more budget-conscious) was a way out of town so as arranged we asked the tourist office to give them a call so they could come and get us, which they did. While in the tourist office they made us pay an Eco tax, but it was only 50 pesos each.

Harmony Haven Hostel itself was rather nice, and right on the beach. There were a few issues. Within five minutes of arriving we wanted to strangle the loud, show-offy and frankly twatty French group. Maybe we're just getting too old for the hostel crowd. Our (private) room was large but hot (fan not aircon, with electricity only running from 6-10pm). We also felt too many people shared the bathroom. It was kept clean, but was a pain if you needed a wee while someone was in the shower. The hostel offers a truck into town. Free for first pick-up and drop-off and 100 pesos per truckload at any other time. We were happy to stay at the hostel but some others wanted to go in to town only to be told the truck was unavailable. This was poor, when it was a service that was promised, and left people trapped and having to eat and drink onsite, which seemed a little too convenient for the hostel to me. There were also times we agreed something, and everyone was happy, only to be told the opposite a few hours later by the same person. Food choice was limited (basically chicken or pork with rice while we were there) but tasty enough. Cold beer was in short supply too, madness in a hostel. The staff were friendly though and overall we enjoyed it there. We also met a girl from Ireland, Una, who we got on well with, she was good company and easy to talk to.

We only had two nights in Port Barton and our plan had been to mooch around the local beach. However another guest recommended the island hopping tour, which at 700 pesos each was a bit of a bargain. The hostel told us we needed to hire snorkelling equipment from them at 100 pesos each. Annoyingly untrue as it turned out, it was free on the boat. Still, it was a brilliant day. Some of the stops were too rough for me personally to swim (so I've still not seen a goddamn turtle) but we got to see some good fish and the island stops were lovely. The first one had a fab beach bar, and was where the crew served us lunch. At the second we just sat relaxing in the shallow sea. At the end of the trip we decided to get off with a family at a nearby resort rather than wait to be delivered back, and walked along the beach to our hostel, seeing lots of small starfish.

Back at the hostel we were asked to move rooms. Nobody explained why, and it was a bit of a pain. But actually the new room was rather cooler. We were happy to stay at the hostel again (just as well), having dinner, drinks and a nice chat with Una.

We did have a shock the next morning when one of the staff asked if we'd booked a boat into town. Er, no. You personally told us that we'd be taken into town at 7.40am to get the 8am El Nido mini bus. Not happening apparently, the jeep was in Puerto Princesa. She was lovely and apologetic, offering to order a boat or get motorbikes. We were not keen, dressed in travelling (not beach) clothes and shoes, and each with a backpack. We stood our ground and in the end she got the mini bus to drive up and collect us. Obviously it then took a good hour to get everyone onboard, squeezed in as usual. But we were on our way at last. Despite a few niggles we would have liked to have stayed one more night to spend the day on the local beach, but the next hotel was already booked.

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