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Published: April 15th 2016
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Wednesday 13th April 2016 It was sad to be leaving El Nido today, we’d been here for 5 days and had a great time. This place truly is stunning and within the next 10 years it’ll be one of the best known spots in Asia to visit, no doubt. We had to be up just before 6am and we made our way by tricycle to the bus terminal, which was basically a dusty piece of land with a shelter in the middle. We waited for 20 mins and there was a bit of a scramble when the mini bus arrived as there were no designated seats. The mini bus really was mini and when we managed to find a couple of seats inside we were shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh with other people. The journey only took 4 hours with a couple of stops, but it was so uncomfortable that it felt like much longer.
We arrived in Port Barton at 11am and paid the entry fee to the area and registered with the local tour office. Gemma had booked a tree house for 2 nights at Ausan cottages which is located right on the beach. We weren’t
able to check in until 2pm so spent the next couple of hours sitting in the restaurant area looking out to sea as the heavens opened and torrential rain fell. We watched with trepidation as the rain fell over our tree house hoping that the roof was water tight.
Once we were given the key we were quick to climb the stairs up the tree and through the trapdoor that took us into our very basic, but absolutely amazing tree house. The room was quite small and had a mattress on the floor and a small fan above the sleeping area. There were plug sockets which was a nice surprise as we weren’t sure if the tree house was connected. At the bottom of the sleeping area was a door that led out onto a balcony. Here we had a small table and chairs and uninterrupted views of the beach and sea which we were basically situated above. We spent the next few hours sitting on the balcony and then watched a beautiful sunset directly ahead of us which turned the sky into many different shades of pink and red.
In the evening we ate some food at
the adjacent restaurant before heading to the tree house at 8pm both shattered. We were asleep before 9pm and it wasn’t until the power cut out at 3:30am that we noticed the noises all around us. As we were not the only ones living in a tree, we could hear all sorts of creatures running over the roof and along tree branches. We were glad that we had locked the trapdoor as there was sure to be something down there.
Thursday 14th April 2016 We awoke at 8am and headed down for breakfast. We were given a massive pile of banana pancakes which unfortunately defeated us. After food we walked the 10 metres to the beach where we sat down for the next few hours occasionally heading into the warm flat lake like water to cool off. It was strange how flat the water was here, there wasn’t a ripple in sight which we put down to being a bay and not facing open water directly. Whatever the real reason for the calmness we didn’t really care as we felt very relaxed and just soaked up the sun.
After a lunch of burgers and chips we took
a stroll down the beach to have a look at what the other resorts looked like, but also to locate the pickup point of the bus we need to catch back to Puerto Princessa the following day. When we located the resort that ran the bus service we were told that they would come and collect us in the morning which will save us from lugging our stuff down the beach.
We then returned to the tree house around 3pm and spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing reading and listening to music. When the sunset a gecko did a poo on my leg which was the main highlight of the evening’s entertainment. After dinner we headed to bed as we were to be up relatively early the following day.
We’ve only had a short time in Port Barton which is a shame as it’s a very relaxing chilled out area. Not many people visit Port Barton and that probably allows this place to stay so quiet when El Nido attracts the crowds. There are boat trips you can do in Port Barton, but we simply didn’t have the time, but we were happy to relax
by the beach and not do much else. Things to point out about Port Barton though, which we didn’t know before we got here is that they have a really poor supply of water. Our shower was a bucket of cold water and a ladle as there was not enough water pressure to use the shower. Water trickles from all taps and when someone complained to the hotel, they explained that this is not an isolated issue and that the whole of Port Barton experiences this. The hotel worker even asked the complaining guest if he wouldn’t mind writing to the local mayor as it might persuade the government to do something about the water supply as they don’t seem to be bothered about it. So, if you are travelling to Port Barton, you might want to take a supply of baby wipes.
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Paul Holmes
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Burgers and chips
All that way and you eat burgers and chips haha. I must admit though to having some western food withdrawal symptoms a few times since beginning travelling i January. I have however managed to remain gunk food free :)