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Puerto Princessa
From our hotel rooftop cafeWilliam and Christina write:
This is the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Did you know that the Philippines is over 7,100 islands (many of them quite small)?! It was not easy to chose one to explore! In the end we extended our visa here and stayed an extra week so we could go to another 2 islands ~ Cebu which was our gateway to the tiny island above it called Malapascua.
We decided to come to Palawan after spending about a week on the larger Island of Luzon where we went to visit a psychic healer which was our main reason for coming to the Philippines in the first place. (Christina will write an entry about this experience). While we were in Bali some people told us that they really like the Philippines and it was worth exploring. So William studied the travel book to see what else we might do here.
I will say, that for me (Christina) being here was a total "love ~ hate" relationship! The people were wonderful and friendly and many places so beautiful but as in other "third world" countries there are just some things that it is not easy or possible
Our Bus
Dirt roads for hours (for westerners) to become comfortable with. For us, being big vegetable eaters, organic food fans and not eating pork and shell fish made eating well here difficult and the sanitation and public lu facilities were often horrendous! (unless you go to the mall!) Most of the population here in the Philippines is Catholic or fundamental Christian though there are some Buddhists and most of the Muslem population lives in the very south. In so many of the Catholic countries I have visited I find the ambiance of the place to feel oppressive and the populace repressed... I don't enjoy that (it's a sort of mindless obedience and trust in religious "authority" that seems to create apathy in a population) but I must say that while large churches are everywhere the actual practice of the religion isn't all that visible. Certainly nothing compared to the religious life of the typical Balinese.
There are western tourists here, but tourism is not as big as in other parts of SE Asia and they aren't quite as oriented to it - both a blessing and a pitfall. We found ourselves among many Philippino tourists as April and May is their summer vacation time and
this made it even more difficult to book flights and hotels at "reasonable" cost. Westerners come here for adventure, the diving, or beach life and it's great for all that in many areas.
On Palawan one of the main attractions is a little town called El Nido where the scenery is stunning due to the huge limestone cliffs and the many little islets rising and towering over the bays and lagoons. This is a famous diving area where the coral reefs are still intact and the water is gorgeous. The town is a bit shabby and fishy smelling in some areas but as it sits beneath these amazing, towering rocks it has awesome views everywhere and an unusual feel to the place. A great place for some rock climbing and that can be arranged be we didn't see anyone doing it.
It was an adventure getting here. We took a flight from Manila to the main city of Palawan which they boast to be the cleanest, greenest city in the Philippines. We think it was as there was absolutely no litter anywhere! After one night here we took a 4 hour "jeepney" ride to the beach village of
Sabang where we spent a few nights in a little hut on the beach. We came here because we were curious to see the largest underground river in the world (a "world heritage" site).
A Jeepney is a type of transportation for the poor folks which is an old large looking jeep or truck left over from the war days. The bed has a roof over it and it has benches. There were lots of these in the streets of Manila. Our only other alternative to head north on Palawan was to take a much more expensive van ride and since we couldn't find a group to go with that day to share the expense, and we had missed the regular buses we succumbed to the "Jeepney experience". Another thing to know about Palawan is that while a road is being put in all the way from Puerto Princessa in the middle of Palawan to the top where El Nido lies it is still very rugged to get around this island by any land vehicle. Some people fly from one place to another but this is not cheap. Palawan is one of the least developed of the larger islands
but I bet not for too much longer. It is a very rugged island with many steep and jagged hills. Many of the people live very simply but seemingly wholesome lives there. Most have electricity only a few hours a day.
We stayed one night in Puerto Princessa coming in and 2 nights on our way back out of Palawan. We stayed both times at the Puerto Pension on the north end of town which was popular. It was next door to a good internet cafe. The rooms we we had were small but clean and the place had a nice ambiance and helpful, lovely staff. Leaving Princessa at noon our Jeepney embarked with not too many people aboard and we hung on as it swayed over the roads, most of them dirt. Some kids rode on the roof, and a couple chickens were tied in the back. Supplies for people were piled on top (underneath the kids) and dropped off at various villages along the way in the lush tropical forests (very beautiful). I even saw a live pig strapped to the roof of one of the jeepneys at the terminal. Besides the dust these vehicles are also
very loud, almost like a tractor. We did arrive in one piece very hot and sweaty after about 4 hours and were greeted by a friendly guy who helped us get to the place we planned to stay and the beautiful beach. This guy and others like him do not charge for this service and he turned out to be very helpful to us over the several days we were there. Don't remember his name now.
We enjoyed the beach and ocean at Sabong but the little cottage was a bit rugged. The cheapest place we've stayed yet at $5.00/night! but mostly the lodging in the Philippines was not so cheap for what you get. The cottages at Mary's were a wonderful spot at the end of a beautiful beach and the water a perfect temperature for swimming though there were some large jelly fish that we saw at certain times. Christina hated the bathroom we had in this place which was basically a toilet base with some water in it that had to be flushed with a giant ladle or a bucket of water. No sitting and this was a common situation in the Philippines for public bathrooms
except in the malls and better restaurants etc. Also typical of bathrooms in accommodations like this is the small size of the bathroom where the shower is right next to the toilet and always gets it wet (but no matter when you have no seat and lid). Budget travelers get used to this but I can't stand it more than once in a while. This cottage also had no sink for washing anything.
A boat stop along the way to El Nido was a little island which had a nice small resort on a beach called Coconut Island resort owned by a Swiss guy. That was a worthwhile stop over for two nights and the food was good. The boat to ferry us to El Nido with everyone's luggages was a 25 foot large canoe type boat with bamboo plantoons on the sides to help it stay balanced. This is the the kind of boat the fisherman use here. The bigger ones are snorkel excursion boats. There were 14 of us passengers on board the day we went to El Nido which was a few more than we should have had aboard.
The 6 hour ride started out
calm and good until about an hour into it the engine shut off. I watched as the 22 year old (or so) guys that were the captains, scratched their heads looking under the floor at the engine. They got it going again and we all smiled, content on a calm sunny day, until an hour later when it stopped again. This time I got a little green when I saw one of the guys jump out of the boat with a hammer in his hand and started banging underneath. He got back in after a while. We got underway again and one of the boys occasionally was using the hand pump to bring up the oily looking water from the bilge. Then the wind came up and the seas started getting rough... the tiny ship was tossed....if not for the courage of the fearless crew.. (sorry about the song) up and down with the swells. We were in the front getting drenched every so often. I finally got out my large umbrella, and it helped, but it's trash now!
By the end of this journey pretty much everyone in the boat was soaked! How 'bout that for an adventure?
I kept a watch on the faces of the guys, they seemed calm, so I relaxed most of the wet rough journey, until C & I both had to pee... real bad. We held it as long as possible. I went first. I climbed past the other passengers, over the engine hood, over the captain, to a large wooden box that had 3 sides, no top, and was hanging off the stern. I looked inside the box, wooden planks on the floor with a hole. Holding on with both hands for dear life, I managed to hit the hole at least 20% of the time. The water splashing up as the boat dipped into a trough washed away the rest. Well, I was successful, and felt better and climbed back to my seat. Then it was Christina's turn. She waited a while until she couldn't wait anymore.
I am happy to report she is still here with me.
One of the coolest things along the way were the many, many tiny flying fish that we saw emerge from the incredible satiny deep blue water and shoot away in some direction their tiny wings beating furiously. Christina had never seen
them before. Very cool and fun to watch! Nearer to El Nido we saw hundreds if not thousands of huge jelly fish floating by our boat about 1 to 3 feet down. They were the kind that you don't want to touch!
We were rewarded as we got closer and closer to El Nido with incredible views of the limestone cliffs and islands surrounding the area. WOW! so impressive!
We took a one afternoon snorkeling excursion to several areas while here and really enjoyed ourselves in the water and out on the boat.
Our lodging was a nice place away from the town so we walked a lot, spend time at the internet cafes which were pretty fast even here, and chilling out on our balcony. We were going to try the rock scramble climb up the cliffs next to town but it turned out you need a guide (we could not find our way up through the brush and steep rocks). After we tried doing it on our own one morning at 8 a.m. and got totally sweaty we decided we didn't care about doing it! It would have taken us all morning.
To get back to Puerto
Princessa we decided to take a 7 hour van ride and the next day fly out to the Island of Cebu. This was actually a last minute change as we were going to leave the Philippines after Palawan. But talking to another traveler and learning about the little island of Malapascua tempted us into spending a little more time. Though our stay there was wonderful, in retrospect, for what it cost us to extend our visa ($50. each) and the expense of extra air travel I don't think it was worth it for only one more week. But Cebu and Malapascua were every bit as interesting as Palawan....
Cebu City on Cebu island is the 2nd largest city in the Philippines. It is more attractive than Manila and hilly but, not much more! We stayed there one night before and one night after the trip to Malapascua. It was long enough and we managed to find a small natural food store and organic middle eastern cuisine restaurant. Now that was a highlight! I restocked on some pro-biotics and vitamins from the U.S. and some organic Quinoa which we had the facilities to cook on the tiny island of Malapascua.
Coconut Island Resort
The only place on this small island, had a small white sand beach. Snorkeling not to good. A fishing village was isolated on the other side. We found this store and restaurant in one of the modern malls.
The bus ride to the tip of Cebu was about 4 hours on a pretty good road through some very scenic areas where sugar cane was the main crop. The road passed along the coast in some places and through small towns where people looked like they lived well enough. Only at the fishing village at the top of Cebu did poverty seem more apparent. The boat ride to Malapascua was a half hour and the water is so beautiful.
We could see this even more on our return trip which was earlier in the day and sunnier.
Our first night on Malapascua was on the large beach where most of the tourist lodging is. We stayed at a place that is cheap and many Philippinos go to but we didn't like the accommodation for the amount we had to pay. Around $20. for a tiny, hot bungalow with a hot foam mattress, uncomfortable pillows and and intsy-weentsy bathroom. When we turned on the faucet for the small bathroom sink the water from the sink drained out onto the concrete floor below. We immediately set out the
following morning to find something we would like better.
We looked at the 4 bungalows at the other side of the tourist beach and there was one we almost took. But as we walked away to see what else was around a couple of Swedish college students told us about a place we should look at beyond the first village. It took us about 10 minutes to walk there from the beginning of the village and going through it to get there. "Pilar's Heaven" was on the narrow cement road a little past the most expensive resort on the island. Of course this may soon change as this little island is marked for higher level tourism and is undergoing some destruction in some places and development in others. We hope that they will not destroy to local character and quaintness of the island in the process! But we hear that even many of the villages, most of them who fish will likely be displaced and moved to other islands. There are at this writing about 4 small to medium size villages on the island. You easily walk from one end to the other in a little more than 1
Rough Seas
Christina in the 'toilet' box at the stern of the boat! hour. Pilar's Heaven was on the west side about in the middle. It is Pilar's villa which had 4 quarters for guests in the house on the hill and then 2 rooms up some steep stairs in the open air building next to the beach. We chose to stay up in the villa in a lovely room with a mural on one wall. The kids who worked at the place called her and we negotiated a price for the room. She hasn't been renting them out but the place will be turned into more of a guest house than a private villa. In the past she had also used it to house some doctors who would come to the island and provide free health services to the villagers.
We negotiated the cost of $22. per night and had the whole place to ourselves for 5 days. The young people who took care of the place were attentive to us, friendly and helpful. We got our exercise walking to and from there to go to eat in the tourist area and around the island as well as the divine swimming.
We had fun one afternoon snorkeling from a boat which
took us to several very interesting coral areas. We saw some really different and beautiful soft corals, the fish however were not in great numbers. Well duh! It's a fishing island, only some small fish left. We saw some great sunsets. It was the best place to stay on the island! So we wanted you all to know about it. Also, a guy named Dani who is a single parent raising 4 kids by himself. His wife had died the year before from something like Leukemia. He helped us find a place and move our stuff and arrange things for snorkeling. We hired his boat to take us. He spoke English well, was very friendly and helpful so we felt good about using some of his services. You may have a chance to meet him as you disembark the boat onto the tourist beach.
Malapascua was a good respite and walking thru the villages was always an adventure. If you go this year (2008) you might see it still in its less developed state. I hope you do. I think in another year or two it will be quite different. It is prime for more resorts and development because
it is a unique dive spot where divers may be able to see or swim with the thresher sharks that live in deep waters near the island. This is one of the only places in the world where divers can find them.
On our way back to Cebu City we got a ride with a middle class Philippino family. The parents and their one early twenties son who spoke English very well and worked as a journalist though still lived at home (it is a common practice in many non-western countries for children to live in the family home till they marry and even after that they may stay in one of the families homes with their spouse). We enjoyed talking with them but it was a very sad day for me as this day we had our third involvement in 2 months with killing a dog. In most of the countries we have traveled in people don't care too much about dogs. In the Philippines there are many dogs on the roads as well as many chickens running around freely even in the cities but they are better about getting off the road in a hurry. This day
I saw a really cute HEALTHY looking, perhaps young dog crossing the road wagging its tail. He was probably someone's pet (some people do have pet dogs but many are just ferral or stray). Our car was coming and the driver didn't even try to slow down or brake, or make an attempt to avoid the dog.
Next thing I know we just ran over it. I cried out because I always feel pain when I am involved in something like that. To make it all worse, later at a roadside lunch stop some dogs were hanging out by our table. One of them was such an ugly, terrible site in such a painful condition it was hard to look at him. He was like a bag of bones walking around with such mange that his skin was more raw with more sores than I have ever seen. I could barely imagine how he could still be standing much less walking around! It made my heart hurt even more to think of the unjustness of this poor dog living in pain and starvation and the other healthy dog being carelessly run over. Such is life in SE Asia... and such
Great Sunsets
From Our Balcony, El Nido is life....
Another glaring irony I must report has to do with the way SE Asian countries are chasing after what used to be thought of as the "American dream" you know, all the conveniences and the consumerism that goes along with it. Well, maybe it's not only the countries but the big corps who are pushing this on them, slanted in the way that will appeal their cultural sensibilities. While many people in western countries are learning to conserve energy and live more wisely on the planet (as well we should be) there is no such movement visible here in the Phillipines and some other areas of Asia. Billboards in Cebu City brazenly, graphically promote the wonders of credit (and debt) to none other than the women and big energy consumptive things. These two billboards really caught my eye:
One promoting the use of credit to women said: "You've always had the Power, Women on Top... the Femme Visa". Always a little bit of truth and a lot of lie in the propaganda. Another billboard was advertising the new 10 Cubic foot freezer and said "Think Bigger" over a photo of the thing... selling the energy sucking life.
Of course most Philippinos are not wealthy enough for either of these but no matter, those who are should consume, consume, consume! With the number of malls in the Philippines they are covered!
One more thing I have to say about the Philippine people is: they are really into their Kareoke... actually its Videoke nowadays. Everyone is doing it everywhere, practically all the time. And NO ONE is singing in tune but, at least they aren't shy!......
....So.....
this "Journeying" is an interesting lifestyle.... sometimes rough and hard and sometimes wonderful and a bit exciting. Sometimes we sleep in huts that we would call slums in America, sometimes we find a good price at an OK hotel. The food may be good or at least interesting. We meet locals and other world travelers daily. The travelers we meet exchange stories of places they have been and things they liked.
We make decisions about what's next as we go, though we did have some specific ideas of places we wanted to go and in what order and time frame. Since we set out in January we made a major shift by deciding not to go to New Zealand at this
Waiting At Airport
We are on our way to Cebu City, Philippines time. This partly because our budget changed and we didn't want to spring for the cost of flying from Bali down there. We were always going to go the the Philippines so we kept this plan. It seemed to make sense to stay in SE Asia and visit some of the places we didn't get to last year. We also had recommendations from several people to visit China and so are considering that. Currently we are fantasizing about something that seems even wilder..... we found a travel guide the other day about the 'Trans-Siberian Railway' from Beijing through Mongolia and Russia. Christina is reading it... I am shuddering... a little.... but smiling...hhmmm maybe the food is good there...
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olja
non-member comment
el nido or malapascua
Hi, I just booked a flight to Cebu and was going to spend 3 days in Malapascua, but am now changing my mind an was maybe thinking of going to El Nido. Seems as though I can fly there quicker from Manila than trying to get to Malapascua from Cebu. Which would you recommend. I like pretty places, but the main goal is to relax on the beach. Thx.