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Published: June 18th 2015
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exotic beach, port barton boat trip When travelling with a free mind and not much plan (unlike the first time which was v. structured) you would be surprised at how many places you learn about along the way that you had never heard of when doing the initial planning. Port Barton was one of these. When i typed it into google images, I couldnt beleive that I hadnt! So after El nido, we went south for a bit of peace and quiet. Previously Port barton was on the road up to El nido so it was a popular spot with travellers in palawan. However the road has been upgraded and passing by it is no longer needed so it has been told that the town is much quieter than it used to be which is a realshame.
PB is a sleepy bay town that only has electrcity running between 6pm-midnight daily, though some places may have generators. I thought that this would be really difficult to deal with (mainly for the lack of fan) but it actually was ok. The place we were staying was great and was right on the beach, with loads of shade and hammocks. We were paying the same amount as el
nido, where we were 10min walk from the beach and didnt even have a toilet flush,so it definately feltlike a step up in the world. No beach vendors, no hassle, it was great. We spent a couple of days lounging around and one of the days we took a boat tour (almost half the price as up north) which showed us some amazing beaches and snorkling. We were in the area to view sea turtles but i wasnt lucky enouygh to see one,though others did. The coral there was really impressive and because it was much quieter everything was more relaxed and slow paced. Like the Filipino people (who are polite, kind and sweet)..the dogs are nice too. I had one particular dog friend who will remain in my heart forever! I met her on the hammock and she was young, maybe 6m-1year but quite small. She came up and lay on top of me on the hammock while i petted her. The rain started and i sat outside my cabin, with her on my lap getting cuddles. I called her Raggie after ragdoll and you could pick her up and rearrange her on your lap as you pleased. The
next day we met her again and i bought corned beef for her but she mustve wandered off so i missed her til the next day. Bought another can of corned beef( had given it to another dog) and she absolutely loved it! she didnt leave the outside, so i put down a little blanket for her and she stayed there all night!! The next morning we fed her some more,but we had to move on as we were going camping on an island. As we had left the room and were hanging around reception i thought she had gone off again, but once our boat arrived to pick us up she came bounding over! I said goodbye, and would you beleive the little thing jumped on the boat! Had to put her into the water and then she swam chasing the boat for a good distance. I couldnt beleive it and suddenly felt bad to leave her. I would have loved to take her home with me!
Off we went to Palawan camping, going from quiet town to absolute solitude! 30 mins on a boat and we arrived at the island, which has 7 tents under
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the waterfall huts, complete with carpet, tables, hamock etc on the most amazing beach you can imagine. We paid 1300pesos each a night, (about 20pounds) which included everything, 3 meals a day, water, camping and use of all equipment. Buying drinks there was quite expensive so Gary went with the local boys on a supply run and stocked up on some rum, which cost the same for a bottle as it did for one glass! We planned to stay for 3 nights but ended up staying for 4, it was so nice just to laze around doing absolutely nothing and being looked after. One day, to break things up we took a kayak out to a nearby waterful. We were told it was 20 mins away, i didnt have a watch on but i can tell you it didnt feel it! We were rowing away in the blistering heat not a cloud in the sky i honestly thought i was going to die. 10 minute walk to the waterfall he said, again very generous timescales, abotu 15 then had to walk up the hill to get to it! it was ok, nice enough for a photo but nothing amazing.
We had
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beach near waterfall to get back to puerto princesa to catch our flight to manila, so we got dropped off at the nearest town to get our ride. The town was a shithole to put it politely and stunk as there was a huge fish market and was on the coast. It was just dirty and smelly so you can imagine how we felt when the bus departure kept getting delayed because they didnt have enough passengers. There was nothing to do and the internet cafe was so slow you couldnt even open your email in basic mode. We thought we were going to have to take the 6 hour public bus which doesnt even have any windows because we figured it was better toactually get moving than it was to just sit around waiting on folk for our van. Luck was on our side and a family of 5 boarded which meant we were off! Cannot explain the delight of getting the journey started (with aircon!) yipeee. 4 noneventful winding road hours later we were back in Puerto , wound down for the night before the flight to manila.
I felt a bit sad leaving palawan, I knew myself that we
would be hard pushed on our trip to spend time somewhere so remote, friendly and beautfiful with the kind of beaches they had, combined with super friendly people. But needs must, everything comes to an end, so we got on the flight to manila. I hadnt really thought about it much to be honest, so i dont know what i was expecting, but i definately wasnt loving it. First impressions were it was huge, roasting, dusty and busy. It didnt help that our hotel was in a crap location and we had to walk for 10minutes down a motorway to get to the subway. Steffi who i was in the run with at Soi dog was there at the same time so we hung out with her. We went to an area in Makati which turned out to be the red light district. IT was so unbeleivably seedy and when i think about it apart from 1 other couple we saw it was entirely filipina women or western men in the pubs looking for a hook up. A lot of the girls were so young and pretty and it wasnt nice seeing what went on. There were loads of lady
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manila skyline boys too offering 'massages'.Ha! We had a good night people wathcing and the next day went to see manilas 'top attraction' which was the old town which is still within the old walls. Going from trip advisor we were expecting somethjing great and wer definately disappointed to see it was just like a normal area but with a cathedral and a couple of nice buildings. Even more so after having travelled 1 hr and walked across an expressway in 35 degree heat. We went to rizal park which was nice for a brak then decided just to head up the road. the next day steffi had left so me and gary went to the other part of makati city and found a nice (but posh) area which lifted our spirits. We felt safe there and h ad some lovely parks and walks and coffee shops so manila redeemed itself. The next day beforeour flight in the PM we went to the cinema where the film was entirely in english (no subs) which shows you the level of english spoken. That was great and the cinema food was dirt cheap so we enjoyed ourselves.
When the time came to go
to the airport to go to bangkok I think we were both ready to leave manila, not having enamoured ourselves with it. Despite manila and the town where we caught our bus, i can truly say i loved the PHillipines. The weather, people, beaches, even the food by the end I loved. I would love to go back some day, but it is so far away, but we will see. you never know!
Onto thailand now...........
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