10 March Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island
Although a 1:35 a.m. flight
departure from Kuala Lumpur might seem inconvenient, it gave me all day to pack
up, take in some sightseeing, have dinner, then get to the airport with plenty
of time for check-in, immigration, and security. Also this put me into Manila in
time for a morning connecting flight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island. I
paid $161.53 for the pair of flights including extra fees to check a bag, but
didn’t pay for meals or seats. Luckily nobody was sitting next to my aisle seat
and I moved to the window. As Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 502 took to the skies from
Kuala Lumpur’s KLIA2 on an Airbus A321neo, I watched the patterns of light in
Kuala Lumpur’s suburbs pass below. The flight took about 3½ hours and descended
over the outskirts of Manila in the darkness with a patch of red glowing on the
eastern horizon.
Arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 3
went easily. I first had to show the QR code for my health declaration, went
through immigration where I got a free 30-day permit, picked up my bag, then
walked through customs. I had time to hit up an ATM for 20,000 pesos (one US
dollar equals about 55 php) and get a sim card for my phone with unlimited data
for 30 days plus limited calls with Smart for 1,500 php/$27.50; I was very happy
with the cell service. I then dropped off my bag for the flight to Puerto
Princesa, had a snack, and hiked to the departure gate for my next flight,
luckily in the same terminal. Delays set back the departure of Cebu Pacific
Flight 5J 637 from its scheduled 8:05 a.m. for about an hour and a half. I had
the good fortune of receiving a window seat to watch the vast city of Manila
glide below as the A321ceo climbed into the partly cloudy sky. The route headed
southwest across Luzon, Balayan Bay, western Mindoro Island, then a bunch of
tiny islands covered in jungle and ringed by white-sand beaches. The flight path
next crossed Basuanga Island—where I plan to visit the town of Coron for scuba
diving—then northern Palawan Island with its many sand-fringed islands, another
area on my wish list for scuba diving. Lastly the plane flew over the
mountainous interior of Palawan, swung out over the Sulu Sea, then curved around
to land at Puerto Princesa International Airport.
I caught a tricycle—a
motorbike with side car all enclosed by a funky-looking shell—for the short ride
to my abode, Orange Mangrove Pension House, where I had reserved a very modest
room for three nights through Booking.com at a cost of 2343.33 php ($42) total.
It’s minimalist with two bunk beds, a tiny private bath (cold shower), a shelf
for a desk, and air-conditioning, though no bigger than the bathroom of my Kuala
Lumpur apartment! Common areas have lots of greenery and staff are very nice. I
chose it not only for the central location, but because it’s near Namaskar
Vegetarian House, where I headed for a lunch of an eggplant-tofu-rice dish,
spring rolls, ice tea, and mango lassi. I rested afterward, then did some
writing in the evening before crashing. I have a big day of sightseeing planned
for tomorrow!
11 March Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island
Yesterday I
had booked online with Klook for a tour to Palawan’s top sight, the Puerto
Princesa Subterranean River National Park, for 1850 php ($33.70). The limestone
cave holds an 8.2-kilometer river that’s a very popular boat excursion in the
lower part, accessed from a lagoon near the beach. The lower half of the cave
river is said to be brackish and tidal. A van of Wild Expeditions Palawan with
guide Leon, driver, and seven other tourists—a mix of Westerners and
Filipinos—came by my guesthouse this morning and picked me up for the
74-kilometer, nearly two-hour drive northwest to the port of Sabang on the other
side of Palawan Island. We first drove on Puerto Princesa North Road, seeing a
great many recreational cyclists out for a spin on this hilly highway. We turned
left up a valley on a road across Palawan Island, then skirted Ulugan Bay, with
a rest stop at a lookout on the way. At the little port town of Sabang our guide
arranged for two small motorized banca boats—large canoes with an outrigger on
each side—to take us up the coast to a beach near the mouth of the cave. The
20-minute boat ride would have taken about four hours by trail! We had good
views of the jungle-covered limestone mountains, landed at a beach, then walked
a short way to the lagoon, where we got in a smaller banca, this one paddled by
a boatman. Because noisy tour groups would disturb the bats and other life
inside the cave, each of us received an audio guide that provided narration for
the entire trip, and we were asked not to talk in the cave. To further protect
the cave and its life, no lights have been installed, and we relied on the
headlamp of our boatman to see the cave features, some of which have been named.
We saw lots of bats hanging high above, with the caution to keep our mouths
closed when looking up! Many sections of the cave had a lofty ceiling, including
the impressively vast Cathedral Room near the turn-around point. Our tour inside
lasted about 45 minutes and is said to take in the most scenic sections. Back on
the beach, we hopped into our bancas for the ride back to Sabang Pier, but a
traffic jam of bancas there delayed our getting off. A drive of just a few
minutes brought us to a restaurant in the jungle where we had a good buffet
lunch. Afterward I walked a short trail among the trees.
The
restaurant’s sitting area had several coffee-table books including an impressive
photo book on underwater life of Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, a 96,828-hectare
(239,270-acre) atoll reef in the middle of the Sulu Sea east of Palawan Island.
Scuba divers proclaim it the best diving in the Philippines and one of the
world’s top-ten dive sites. The March-June dive season had just started and I
would have loved to go there, but the only option is on liveaboard boats and
they’re extraordinarily expensive, so I decided not to try for one.
On
the drive back we had the option of detouring to Ugong Rock, a limestone hill
riddled with caves and a viewpoint at the top, part of a community-based tourist
project. Luckily everyone in the group wished to go, and we each paid 300 php
for a guided tour. Our route first entered the hill through a cave at ground
level, then we began a climb inside the hill on stairs and a steep rope-assisted
section to the summit, which has a fine view of the village and surrounding
limestone hills. Afterward I cooled off with a soursop smoothie, a sweet fruit
that has been described as a “combination of strawberries and apple with sour
citrus flavor notes, contrasting with an underlying thick creamy texture
reminiscent of banana.”
Back at Orange Mangrove Pension House, I headed
to Namaskar Vegetarian House for a tofu-veggie-rice dish and a mango shake. In
the evening I caught up on journal writing and photo sorting.
12 March
Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island
Sunday is a slow one in Puerto Princesa with
most of the museums closed, so I did a slow day as well, just hanging out near
my guesthouse. Namaskar Vegetarian House was closed, so I tried nearby Fatima
Halal Food Hub (Taste of Indian Spices) and went with a light lunch of hummus
and pita bread with milk tea, then returned for a dinner of another hummus &
pita bread plus dal with chapattis and a couple milk teas; it’s a tiny place
with good food and just five tables. I decided to stay another day and made a
booking for tomorrow night at 792.99 php ($14), again with Booking.com, cheaper
than paying the guesthouse directly. I also reserved space in a van through
Klook for the ride to El Nido—my next destination—in northern Palawan and again
handled by Wild Expeditions Palawan. I used Booking.com to reserve four nights
at a simple guesthouse in El Nido.
13 March Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Island
On another sunny morning I had the guesthouse’s simple breakfast of
scrambled eggs, toast-butter-jam, and a banana along with my own Earl Gray tea.
In the afternoon I made a walking loop to see the sights, heading first west to
the white spires of the 1872 Immaculate Conception Cathedral and for a look
inside. Across the street an old gate leads to Plaza Cuartel, a park with small
memorials to the site of the Palawan Massacre. Here on 14 December 1944 the
occupying Japanese herded American prisoners into underground chambers, doused
them with burning gasoline, then tried to shoot any who escaped. Of the 154
prisoners, only 11 survived by running to the sea and swimming to safety.
I turned east on Rizal Avenue—the main east-west street in town—lined with many
ugly concrete buildings. Unfortunately in the Philippines it seems that low-cost
construction nearly always wins out over architectural beauty. South of Mendoza
Park I stopped to visit the two-story Palawan Museum, where exhibits tell the
story of people on the island from prehistoric times to visits by Asian and
European traders and military, then colonial eras under the Spanish and
Americans. Examples of a writing system used by some tribes illustrate a script
derived from India. Upstairs I admired collections of mostly Chinese ceramics
recovered from shipwrecks along with a showcase of very pretty seashells.
Farther east I found the Palawan Heritage Center hidden behind the Provincial
Capitol Building. Large colorful artworks by local artists stand outside on the
porch and many more cover walls inside. My visit began with short videos of
Palawan Island and about life of a tribe. Young guides in each gallery
introduced me to exhibits about history and traditional life of Palawan Island.
Here too I saw ceramic treasures from shipwrecks and pretty seashells.
I
walked back toward my guesthouse and continued a few doors to Namaskar
Vegetarian House for a vegetable-tofu-rice dish, spring rolls, ice tea, and a
mango lassi.