View Larger Map
Having spent many days with unbeatable views of the surrounding rice terraces it was time to leave the mountains and find some nice beaches that are not affected by the rainy season somewhere in the south.
At a whim Marlieke booked us tickets to Palawan, a lengthy island that stretches from mainland Philippines (Luzon) to almost Sabah, Malaysia. I can't remember the reasoning behind why this was chosen, perhaps it was the mention of some sort of beach, but we made our way out there via a terrible bus journey to Manila, where the bus kept on breaking down and a preemptive tipsy flight to Puerto Princessa. Having met Brie and Donny on multiple occasions in Northern Luzon we just so happen to have the same flight to Palawan, so whilst waiting for the flight we ate and drank.
One thing I found interesting was that at no point did I need to show my passport let alone any kind of id, Marlieke had to prove her identity for the two tickets but I was never asked. (Terrorists, don't take note).
So Puerto Princessa, situated in the dead middle of the island, the main hub of Palawan was pretty lifeless, I suppose maybe it was just out experience there and what we saw but as it says in the guide book, "an over grown small town". People come here for other things though, whether it is island hopping on a boat, zip lining, and the most popular activity being boating the underground river (at a hefty price) we chose none of these and opted for a motorbike to simply cruise about. We did attempt to go see the underwater river but unfortunately we got caught up in the worst of the downpour and found ourselves seeking shelter at small family houses who were always kind enough to offer us hot drinks to keep warm and by the time we made it to Sabang (where the tour starts) neither myself or Marlieke wanted to be on the roads at night so we scratched that plan and headed back to PP.
The rest of our time in Puerto Princessa was simply chilled and quite uneventful, and the only thing I can think of worth mentioning is the food place we found offering, what I'll call 'upperclass fast food' for cheap and with UNLIMITED rice!!! I took full advantage of that offer.
When the rain from the monsoon season gave us a break with great views
Got to love these motorbikes made to look like a car… practical, yes. safe…...? perhaps not
No comments:
Post a Comment