Philippines: Palawan
TIL: there is an edible delicacy based on bat poop.
April 19: What an awesome day. Sweet van ride to Port Barton; made some German friends. Got to my hostel and booked a room with a Dutch friend I met in Moalboal and a Canadian she met on her boat trips in El Nido. We spent the afternoon on the beach: swimming, reading, and having some beers. Had a delicious Filipino dinner, and everyone was tired so we decided to head to bed quite early. There’s an adorable dog at this hostel named Eesha. She is so fluffy and adorable … when she’s not barking haha
April 18: The Puerto Princesa Underground River was TOTALLY
worth it. A van picked me up at 7:30am and drove 2 hours to Sabang. We got a on
a boat to a beach, then walked a bit to the waiting area for the cave. A boat
for 10, with a guide paddling, took us on a tour through this UNESCO world
heritage site, named the 7th natural wonder of the world. I’ve never seen anything like it, and the geo
kid in me was flipping out. It was difficult to take pictures in the dark, but
I did try … and we were given an audioguide.
Some of the rocks look like vegetables. This is a banana heart. The ecosystem is VERY fragile within the underground river, which is why humans are only able to easily traverse 1.5km into it by paddle boat. We were asked to keep our mouths closed to avoid swallowing guano (bat poop) and various minerals that drip from the ceilings.
It started to rain on the way back, so we weren't able to zipline, but we did stop at Elephant Rock, an Amazing Race stop for 2 seasons.
It started to rain on the way back, so we weren't able to zipline, but we did stop at Elephant Rock, an Amazing Race stop for 2 seasons.
I decided to look
into work visas for Australia and New Zealand. Ended up applying for a working
holiday visa to Aus and got accepted within a half hour!!! There was literally
no time to process. I applied on a whim, thinking it would take a few weeks to
hear back, and then I would have some time to figure things out. Uh, nope.
Stunned.
I met up with some local Couchsurfers for dinner, and tried
tiny lobster for the first time, along with a bunch of other seafood. The vibe
in the joint was so cool; it’s the best restaurant in Puerto, apparently. If
you’re ever in Puerto Princesa, I strongly recommend Kalui for dinner. And it’s
an art gallery for daytime hours, as well!
April 19: What an awesome day. Sweet van ride to Port Barton; made some German friends. Got to my hostel and booked a room with a Dutch friend I met in Moalboal and a Canadian she met on her boat trips in El Nido. We spent the afternoon on the beach: swimming, reading, and having some beers. Had a delicious Filipino dinner, and everyone was tired so we decided to head to bed quite early. There’s an adorable dog at this hostel named Eesha. She is so fluffy and adorable … when she’s not barking haha
In Port Barton, the electricity in the rooms only works
5:30pm – 1am, which means that charging any devices and using lights AND THE
FAN only happens for about 6 hours. It is thus imperative to fall asleep while
the fan is on, otherwise, it is just too damn hot to be able to cope.
I woke up at 2am to many dogs yapping, a gecko singing (for
lack of a better term), and a migraine. Yay, puking ….
Geckos are BIG here. There are tiny lizards that eat moths and flies and are found everywhere, but these dudes make A LOT of noise and are quite large. I was on a mission for 3 weeks to find the thing that made this sound. I was told it was a gecko but could never actually find one; they're nocturnal and don't really like people.
Geckos are BIG here. There are tiny lizards that eat moths and flies and are found everywhere, but these dudes make A LOT of noise and are quite large. I was on a mission for 3 weeks to find the thing that made this sound. I was told it was a gecko but could never actually find one; they're nocturnal and don't really like people.
April 20: Migraine fun. Woke up to try to eat something …
had a smoothie then went back to bed until 11:30am. Slowly made my way back to
the restaurant and had an iced coffee, veggie salad (SO RARE HERE), and a
lemonade. I cannot say enough amazing things about this place: they use bamboo
straws and glasses, make everything from scratch including their hamburger
buns, use wooden bowls, and super fresh ingredients. Their commitment to
sustainability is incredible. Plus, there’s good music and a chill vibe. I
really love it… so read a few chapters of my book and stayed for a little
while.
My friends all went to White Beach, which is said to be
absolutely beautiful but I was sleeping half the day so decided just to sit on
the beach and read for a couple of hours. The humidity here is so high, and
even when it rains the humidity doesn’t break. I now understand why Filipinos
shower so often – at least twice/day.
When my friends got back we had some dinner, played cards, and went to bed early.
April 21: Island hopping! It really should be called reef hopping, I think. We stopped at several spots in the ocean to snorkel around reefs checking out the fish and coral. It was really great. We went to a private beach for a great lunch, and some of the guys climbed palm trees to grab coconuts for us to drink!
We stopped at a scuba site just as a thunderstorm was rolling over the next island, so quickly got back on the tiny motorboat, which stalled as soon as we reached the pearl farm. I would not have known it was a pearl farm; all that is visible is a bunch of buoys. Turns out, each buoy has two sets of 4 traps/nets = 8 pearls/buoy. Choppy seas, harsh and chilly rain .... quite the harrowing adventure. As soon as we could manage, we made our way to the turtle area and saw one about 5 minutes after getting in the water. After the cold outside, the water felt like a hot tub and it was glorious.
The final stop was a tiny sand island/bar where starfish like to congregate. The Swiss guy had a drone so we took some fun photos ha Who travels with a drone?! I guess if you've only got 3 weeks and own a drone, you may as well. We landed on the Port Barton beach for happy hour and enjoyed a couple of drinks before dinner.
April 22: White Beach day. Had an incredible smoothie bowl for breakfast full of healthy goodness and walked an hour through mangroves and a coconut farm to a beautiful beach resort with loads of hammocks in the shade. It was a SUPER chill day of swimming, napping, reading, and eating, then happy hour beers with a new friend and dinner.
Got back to the hostel hoping to sleep around 1030, but was kept awake by drunkards. Seems that whenever there are several Brits traveling together, they turn the place into a bar in which things get very sloppy, dirty, and loud. The communal bathroom was a prime example of the dirt .... it was fine, and then was disgusting.
April 23: THIS WAS THE BEST DAY. We booked an island hopping tour with Happy Bar. The five from my hostel happened to be the only ones who booked the tour, so it was private and we got to decide where we wanted to go. I have more burns but it was totally worth it.
We went to two reefs, stopped at Paradise Island for an AMAZING lunch and I had a nap while waiting for it to be ready (worth it). We ate to our heart's content, and hopped back on the boat. We saw two turtles together at the turtle stop! They had fish attached to their shells!!!
We stopped at two places within one reef to fish. Some of the guys made fishing rods and were able to catch little fish. Then they would use a small fish to catch a bigger fish. Our boat captain managed to catch a huge Red Panther for us! It was incredible, and also absolutely horrifying to watch it suffer and die.
When we got back to the beach, the bar and boat owner, Rizza, took a picture of us with the fish and said she would add it to the birthday feast that night. We were asked to return at 7 for a big fiesta. So, for the second time, I was invited to join a neighbourhood for an incredible meal and drinks and cake! We were celebrating Rizza and Tomas' birthdays, so there were lots of cheers and drinks. Rizza's bar closed at 10, so she invited us to her treehouse. I should have taken pictures. This woman legitimately lives IN A BAMBOO TREEHOUSE. She has a working shower and toilet, lights, a fan, and a mosquito net over her mattress. She wants to put a bar underneath her house for her friends to enjoy. Also, there's a goat outside her window haha What a cool woman. I LOVE hanging out with locals!
We wanted to continue celebrating Tomas' birthday, but Rizza needed to be awake at 5am to run her business, so we went to the reggae bar i.e. the only bar in Port Barton that is open after 10pm. When the lights went out at 1am, we kept drinking and playing guitar/singing songs. THEN, we noticed all of the incredible stars. AND THE BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON. HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL. I felt like a fairy and just kept dancing through the water: running, jumping, making them move. It was absolutely perfect and incredible and I am so, so grateful. Wow. Wow wow wow.
April 24: Despite staying up late, being hot, and drunk, I was awake at 7am due to the heat. Surprisingly, not hungover! Not really sure how I pulled that off. Had a quick breakfast and hopped on a van to Puerto Princesa to chill at the airport.
The not so fun side: took us 35 min to leave Port Barton because we were picking up as many people as could possibly fit into the van, including moving all of the stuff that was in the back onto the top so that more people could sit in the trunk. We made it to the bus station by noon, and were then told we needed a motorized tricycle to get to the airport.
Made it to the tiny airport, said goodbye to the guys who were flying to Cebu, and waited for 3 hours. Tried to check my bag, but apparently I was a day early for my flight. Womp womp. I could have spent the day on the beach again. Sigh. So, decided to go back to the hotel I stayed at the week before because I knew the internet was good and there would be a fan on me all night long, in a private room.
It was a good choice, in the end. I got to watch some movies on HBO, upload a bunch of photos to Facebook to make space on my phone, have a real shower (used a bucket in Port Barton), and sleep. I have heat rash all over my butt and lower back; looks like a lot of pimples and is a little painful. But mostly, my sunburns are uncomfortable. I am excited to sleep in Manila with air conditioning.
When my friends got back we had some dinner, played cards, and went to bed early.
April 21: Island hopping! It really should be called reef hopping, I think. We stopped at several spots in the ocean to snorkel around reefs checking out the fish and coral. It was really great. We went to a private beach for a great lunch, and some of the guys climbed palm trees to grab coconuts for us to drink!
We stopped at a scuba site just as a thunderstorm was rolling over the next island, so quickly got back on the tiny motorboat, which stalled as soon as we reached the pearl farm. I would not have known it was a pearl farm; all that is visible is a bunch of buoys. Turns out, each buoy has two sets of 4 traps/nets = 8 pearls/buoy. Choppy seas, harsh and chilly rain .... quite the harrowing adventure. As soon as we could manage, we made our way to the turtle area and saw one about 5 minutes after getting in the water. After the cold outside, the water felt like a hot tub and it was glorious.
The final stop was a tiny sand island/bar where starfish like to congregate. The Swiss guy had a drone so we took some fun photos ha Who travels with a drone?! I guess if you've only got 3 weeks and own a drone, you may as well. We landed on the Port Barton beach for happy hour and enjoyed a couple of drinks before dinner.
April 22: White Beach day. Had an incredible smoothie bowl for breakfast full of healthy goodness and walked an hour through mangroves and a coconut farm to a beautiful beach resort with loads of hammocks in the shade. It was a SUPER chill day of swimming, napping, reading, and eating, then happy hour beers with a new friend and dinner.
Got back to the hostel hoping to sleep around 1030, but was kept awake by drunkards. Seems that whenever there are several Brits traveling together, they turn the place into a bar in which things get very sloppy, dirty, and loud. The communal bathroom was a prime example of the dirt .... it was fine, and then was disgusting.
April 23: THIS WAS THE BEST DAY. We booked an island hopping tour with Happy Bar. The five from my hostel happened to be the only ones who booked the tour, so it was private and we got to decide where we wanted to go. I have more burns but it was totally worth it.
We went to two reefs, stopped at Paradise Island for an AMAZING lunch and I had a nap while waiting for it to be ready (worth it). We ate to our heart's content, and hopped back on the boat. We saw two turtles together at the turtle stop! They had fish attached to their shells!!!
We stopped at two places within one reef to fish. Some of the guys made fishing rods and were able to catch little fish. Then they would use a small fish to catch a bigger fish. Our boat captain managed to catch a huge Red Panther for us! It was incredible, and also absolutely horrifying to watch it suffer and die.
When we got back to the beach, the bar and boat owner, Rizza, took a picture of us with the fish and said she would add it to the birthday feast that night. We were asked to return at 7 for a big fiesta. So, for the second time, I was invited to join a neighbourhood for an incredible meal and drinks and cake! We were celebrating Rizza and Tomas' birthdays, so there were lots of cheers and drinks. Rizza's bar closed at 10, so she invited us to her treehouse. I should have taken pictures. This woman legitimately lives IN A BAMBOO TREEHOUSE. She has a working shower and toilet, lights, a fan, and a mosquito net over her mattress. She wants to put a bar underneath her house for her friends to enjoy. Also, there's a goat outside her window haha What a cool woman. I LOVE hanging out with locals!
We wanted to continue celebrating Tomas' birthday, but Rizza needed to be awake at 5am to run her business, so we went to the reggae bar i.e. the only bar in Port Barton that is open after 10pm. When the lights went out at 1am, we kept drinking and playing guitar/singing songs. THEN, we noticed all of the incredible stars. AND THE BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON. HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL. I felt like a fairy and just kept dancing through the water: running, jumping, making them move. It was absolutely perfect and incredible and I am so, so grateful. Wow. Wow wow wow.
April 24: Despite staying up late, being hot, and drunk, I was awake at 7am due to the heat. Surprisingly, not hungover! Not really sure how I pulled that off. Had a quick breakfast and hopped on a van to Puerto Princesa to chill at the airport.
The not so fun side: took us 35 min to leave Port Barton because we were picking up as many people as could possibly fit into the van, including moving all of the stuff that was in the back onto the top so that more people could sit in the trunk. We made it to the bus station by noon, and were then told we needed a motorized tricycle to get to the airport.
Made it to the tiny airport, said goodbye to the guys who were flying to Cebu, and waited for 3 hours. Tried to check my bag, but apparently I was a day early for my flight. Womp womp. I could have spent the day on the beach again. Sigh. So, decided to go back to the hotel I stayed at the week before because I knew the internet was good and there would be a fan on me all night long, in a private room.
It was a good choice, in the end. I got to watch some movies on HBO, upload a bunch of photos to Facebook to make space on my phone, have a real shower (used a bucket in Port Barton), and sleep. I have heat rash all over my butt and lower back; looks like a lot of pimples and is a little painful. But mostly, my sunburns are uncomfortable. I am excited to sleep in Manila with air conditioning.
Glad that I was a part of this Palawan adventure with Julia.
ReplyDeleteHappy travels love!