My travels, pictures and stories: Palawan, Philippines

Palawan is an island on the west side of the Philippine archipelago known for its untouched nature, great beaches and dense jungle. We decided on going directly here from Manila instead of spending a night there to see the city.
We took off from Saigon at around 2 am and arrived at Manila airport about 4 in the morning. After taking our stuff, we found a nice (considering the options) place on some kind of terrace where we could take a nap until we got the connecting flight at 11. I laid down on my gigantic golf-kite bag and put my earphones in. It can’t have been more than 15 seconds before I was asleep. A couple of hours later I woke up, fresh as a rose and my back shaped after the bag :-) Juan Carlos didn’t sleep much more comfortable on the chairs in the terminal either, he looked like the letter Z when he got up and looked 10 years older.
Flying to Puerto Princesa with Cebu pacific was quite an experience. Looking out the windows we could see coral reefs, untouched islands with mountains covered in mist. Spectacular. Somehow, I expected this. What I didn’t expect was the kind of in-flight entertainment we were about to have, which was made possible by the contribution of the passengers themselves. About 50 minutes after takeoff, one of the flight attendants happily announced that now it was time for the “love song competition”. 10 passengers immediately raised their hand to participate and one by one they came up to the front of the cabin to sing in the PA system, followed by roaring applause.
Our entertainers on the flight were first a guy in his 60ies dedicating a love song to his wife, smiling from ear to ear, with his wife of course blushing, second came a girl singing "you were there" by southern sons (I know this, because we captured the event on video from this point on). The session ended by a girl doing a super short version of "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston. I have never had better in-flight entertainment in my life.
If I get a freakin TV screen with videos and games next time I fly I will get upset. From now on, my expectations on in-flight entertainment have definitely gone up a couple of notches.

Our Airbus 320 passed over Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan, made a really sharp turn just before the mountains and finally took ground on the minuscule airport. Well outside the aircraft the Philippines and Palawan gave a very warm welcome, the weather was really hot that day. After getting the luggage and my gigantic kite-bag, we jumped on a tricycle to go to the hostel. It was quite obvious that they weren't made to take on such big luggage, so we had to tie it on the roof.
The hostel staff proved very friendly and after a quick shower we wanted to go to the beach ASAP, there was a reason we ditched Manila for Palawan! We were desperate, nevertheless the hostel staff didn't encourage us to go to any of the beaches close to the city, but we didn't care. So, prepared for something "not so good", we stopped a tricycle and went in full speed (about 15km/h) to something with the somewhat pretentious name "pristine beach". But man, this was a surprise! From the air, everything looked like paradise, but well on the ground... Crap!! It turned out that name "pristine beach" was much more than an overstatement. It was a dirty, shitty place by the water (with some sand here and there) filled with litter and hordes of filipinos getting drunk, on drugs and what not. We stayed for about 20 minutes and aired our concerns with some canadians that also found their way there. This must have been one of the most nasty beaches I have ever been to. We got back to the hostel and the girl at the counter just smiled at us when she saw our faces and said "I told you so".. :-)

Anyhow, the next day we went on an excursion to Honda Bay to do some snorqueling and island hopping. That was really something! We visited a coral reef in the middle of the ocean, followed up with an island not bigger than a sand bank and then got to a little bit bigger island that was like taken out of a robinson crusoe story. We stayed there to have a swim in the crystal clear water, drink some coconut juice and just walk along the beach which was virtually untouched. There was a nice breeze too, so I really regretted not having a kite with me there. It was the total contrast to the beach the day before, this one being so beautiful you had to pinch your arm to see if you are dreaming or not. There were people living permanently on this island as well, I can really imagine that they have a very different life out there.

Monday morning we got up early to go and see one of the "seven natural wonders of the world" and on the UNESCO world heritage list, the underground river at Sabang. We got there in no-time, our driver kept the speed just under the limit of sliding off the road in the sharp turns. The river itself was kind of cool, as it is an 8 km long cave, but frankly, what impressed me was the scenery when we got there. Waves!!! Big waves, and not a soul in the water! Add to this the usual phillipine ingredients - crystal clear water, pretty untouched jungle, and palmtrees hanging out over the water and I think you get the picture. It was just perfect.
To get to the underground river we had to take a boat down the coast, which meant we passed some pretty impressing scenery on the way, with completely empty beaches, also these like taken from a postcard. Juan Carlos and me got on two different boats, and once we met again on the beach, both of us simultaneously with equal amazement and enthousiasm started babeling and had serious trouble to put words to how great the place was "Man!! Did you see that beach?!? And.. It's like... Ah!!" :-)

Trust me, it was paradise.

Well back at the hostel, after trying 5-6 times, we finally managed to get a moment with stable enought internet connection to book a flight to Caticlan, which is the airport closest to Boracay.

Going to Boracay was going to prove to be a lot more difficult than we thought. The morning after at the airport in Puerto Princesa, the hustle began. I was going to check in my (enormous) kite bag, and yes, it weighed under the limit (good) but was bigger than the average tourist bag (not so good). I tried my best to convince them to take it as it was, but in the end, they wouldn't let me check it in, and I had to run out from the terminal to a shed a bit further down the runway where they handled cargo, and then send it to Caticlan as cargo instead of luggage. This ate up our time buffer, and I got a bit nervous when I saw our plane taking ground, while the guys at the cargo counter were still lazing about looking for a pen that worked.
1700 pesos later, I was back at the departure hall, and just in time to get on board. We had a stopover in Manila, and eventhough I asked 10 times if the cargo was going to ship directly to Caticlan, the freaking bag turned up together with everyone elses at the baggage claims. They didn't put any indication whatsoever on the bag that it was going to Caticlan, so I was not really surprised. I am glad I trusted my instincts on this one and didn’t just suppose that it was going to work because one of the high-caliber guys at the cargo office said so.
After a plastic noodle meal in the departure hall we went down to catch our flight. Here came another surprise. I have had a lot of cancelled flights in my days, but this was a new one. We were re-scheduled to Kalibo, an airport about 2 hours from Caticlan due to "sunset limitation". I could hardly keep myself from laughing, "sunset limitation Sir, no flight today". Are you kidding me? There's no lights at the airport runway! So, with yet another delay, we finally got to Kalibo, caught the bus to Caticlan and then consequently the boat to Boracay.

Oh, one thing I have to mention as well, in the Philippines I have taken up an old addiction from Thailand - fresh mango shakes. They're unbelieveable good here, and cheap too! You get a fresh shake for just 50-60 pesos, which is less than one euro. I think I’ve had at least one a day since we got here, I will really miss that once back home.

Yey! In flight entertainment just got better! It was a bit hard to hear the singing in the PA system, but either way, excellent!

On our way to Palawan we passed plenty of these kind of islands

Touchdown in Puerto Princesa

Some information from the government. We don’t have this problem in Sweden.

Coconut and ice cream dessert, and someone very keen on the leftovers.

The (not so) pristine beach.

I might take some of this back to work, eventhough now the focus is on 4G. Sorry for the bad joke :-)

We went snorqueling on a reef in the middle of the bay. You had to wear a life jacket, as it kept people from diving down and touch the coral.

A pretty calm day, perfect for going around the islands.

Good name for a boat, isn’t it?

This island was basically just a big sand bank.

Not much here…

…apart from the main inhabitants, the starfish

Also this day we were practically the only westerners. Everyone else from the Philippines

Having a rest before continuing on

Well on the next island we had a coconut

Perfect for relaxing at the beach :-)

This island was a bit bigger, with a beach encircling it and some pretty dense jungle in the middle.

Some fishing boats

All of a sudden a caveman jumped out of the jungle and threw a spear at us :-)

More relaxing on the beach…

Some strange fruit growing here. No clue what it is, but it looks kind of good. There were a lot of these.

Day 2 we went to Sabang to see the underwater caves. The driver guy was like a maniac with the poor minibus.

Some pretty nice nature on the way

Some monkey we met on the way

We passed quite a lot of rice paddies on the way there. See the huts in the background?

The Sabang beach. Absolutly noone there, and there were such great waves! Kind of cool with the low clouds touching the mountains.

This lazy dog found a favourable resting position

Some barbecue before going on.

Some kids fixing the fishing nets on the beach.

Again, we were practically the only westerners there. This is the boat we took to get to the next beach where the entrance to the cave was.

Some pretty good waves that day. :-) Man it was tempting to go surfing!

On the beach :-)

I guess Tarzan would have had a great time here.

Aaaaaiaiaaaaa!

Huh?!?? :-) Just passed the entrance to the caves. A really funny picture of the guide :-)

There were quite a lot of monkeys around. Some even wearing t-shirts. :-)

A Filippino family that took the trip together with us. It was really cool to hear some stories of what the country been like 40 years ago. Really nice people.