The view from our room in Taytay
In the end it was good to leave the insanity that is Manila behind us and Monday 19th April we flew in the afternoon to Puerta Princesa in Palawan. This is the long strip of large islands that make the Philippine archipelago's western boundary. Cebu Pacific Air are decidedly unfriendly to small kids. We had a run-in with them while checking in our baggage which was 1.4 kg over the allowed 30 kg for 2 persons. Benedict actually pays a small fee to sit on our laps but is not entitled to any baggage allowance! So we had to lose 1 kg at check-in which we did by transferring some books to our hand baggage. Seemed a rather pointless and silly exercise and surely some one should have seen we had a small child, who inevitably requires additional items and really left the matter there.
I was down because an intended trip to Candaba Marsh to watch birds had fallen through first thing that morning and my planned trip the previous day to Mt Palay-Palay had also been cancelled.
Palawan comes with a growing reputation as a tourist destination: it is a beautiful, largely undeveloped, wilderness surrounded by beautiful turquoise water and white sand. Its main claim to fame, however, is the hostage crisis in 2001 when 20 tourists were taken hostage from a very fancy resort, five of whom and and about 20 Philippine soldiers were subsequently killed as the crisis spiralled out of control. Not exactly what successful tourism needs.
Well it was just fine and dandy to be out of Manila and to be away from its disappointments. We met up with Tonette at the airport and took a tricycle taxi from the airport to our lodgings, the rather disappointing and expensive One Rovers Place. Anyhow it was a pit stop for the night and it was opposite Kinabuch’s Bar & Grill which I highly recommend to you. Not only is the food, including crocodile steaks, excellent but the company also is fine; we bumped into Roy, an English expat, and his family who we subsequently met up with on a couple of occasions during our stay in Palawan.
Roy and many of the locals confirm that Puerto Princesa has grown out of all proportion over the last few years. I don’t know, it struck me as still a pleasant, laid back and relaxing place. Charming when compared with Manila. We also met up with a couple of fellow teachers from Ratchaburi, Gladys and Joseph. Gladys is a local. Always good to get local advice.
Tricycle taxis in Taytay
We headed north by shuttle bus the following morning to Taytay. Shuttle bus means an air conditioned minivan. It took about 6 hours with a lunch break. What a drive! The final third was over a road many parts of which were under construction or repair. It was very dusty. I can tell you however that Palawan is a spectacular scenic sort of place and Taytay is a dreamlike, restful place, surrounded by hills and facing a beautiful bay. It really is out of the way and it does not have an ATM nor an internet cafe. We are told this will change soon as massive development is about to begin.
We stayed for two nights at the Casa Rosa Resort, beautiful cottages, with great views over the bay. Some would be developpers were staying at the resort and I understand they were trying to buy a 500 hectare site. I don't know: I somehow think these types of developments are very perilous as I believe there is a limit to the number of tourists who will visit the Philippines and the basic problem is the tourist experience in this country still leaves much to be desired. I hope this changes because I reckon the Philippines has much to offer, probably even more so than Thailand.
A little boy gets ready in Taytay
I had a great day's birding on nearby Lake Danao, the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines.Read all about it at botab.blogspot.com. (Not yet published!).
This area has a real frontier feel to it and getting about is far from easy. However it really is worth the effort.
The non-A/C bus to El Nido
We then headed south to Puerto Princesa and took the 2:00 pm jeepney to Sabang which is the staging post for Palawan's most famous tourist attraction, the underground river at St Paul's National Park. We had the misfortune, however, to stay in the most awful accommodation. My advice is avoid Green Forest Resort in Sabang at all costs and avoid the people who work there: they will overcharge you for everything. Moreover the rooms are dreadful: electric outages and no running water. They do deliver very cold water from a spring to your room but they tell you this after you have paid your money and really the rooms are not worth 1,100 PHP per night. They attempted to charge us a further 300 PHP for overnight electricity! There is a lady working there who is the fixer - I ended up paying a 100 PHP per kilogramme for laundry when you can get it done in Puerto Princesa for 20 PHP and we were charged 1,000 PHP for an early boat to the park: I suspect 200 - 400 PHP would have been nearer the mark. I am still laughing at the memory of Luna asking her if she could do 1,000 PHP per night. We should have paid about 400 PHP maximum for the room. The resort may well be popular with bird watchers but let me assure you better value and quality is available elsewhere in town. Avoid like the plague!
In fact this resort is a perfect example of why tourist developments are so perilous in this country. This place really should be closed. It doesn't offer a service and exists simply to mug unsuspecting tourists. Unfortunately there are many places like this in the Philippines where it sadly appears that the only objective is to get as much money in as short a period of time as possible. Hopefully the growing volume of critical appraisal, opinion and comment afforded by the internet will expedite the closure of such places
Benedict all aboard for Sabang
Inside the Jeepney
Sabang itself is very beautiful opening out onto the South China Sea with a very pleasant beach which becomes progressively more deserted; beautiful turquoise sea. Highly recommended and there are some fancy hotels on the sea front no doubt with fancy prices but also there are cheap bungalows available too.The best thing here is the food, especially the fish. You can buy fresh whole fish cheaply and then have your hotel cook it for you.
A deserted beach at Sabang
I enjoyed my trip to the underground river but I must say it was nothing spectacular. It has a great billing but it is not The Grand Canyon or The Pyramids. Let me say it is all efficiently organised and safe. However I enjoyed the birds in the park more and I enjoyed the walk back to Sabang via the jungle. It was hard, hot graft but the reward was being able to strip off and jump into the sea above.
Entrance to underground river
Our trip to Sabang will for ever be associated with the trials and tribulations we endured at Green Forest Resort. I left feeling angry and resentful but as I write just over a week later I am laughing. The truth is I learn so much from these negative experiences so in some respects I must be grateful!
We headed back to Puerto by jeepney and met up with Roy and his family for a gentle evening of food and conversation. Very pleasant indeed with a night in Remari Pension which also houses a caged crested serpent eagle and a blue naped parrot. How sad! The problem is these birds are now consigned to a life in captivity: free them they will be killed by predators because caging them and feeding them means they lose their animal instinct.
Sunday I headed on my own to Narra, south of Puerto for some birding. I have to say this trip fully restored my faith in the Philippines. I was charged the going rate for everything including a 15 PHP tricycle taxi fare. I was forewarned about Abu Sayyef terrorists but all I encountered was happy fishing people and smiling kids. Most of the adults appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear due to the local gin! I stayed in AR Pension where I was charged 600 PHP for a room with uninterrupted electricity, a TV, aircon, a fridge and a hot shower. Wow!
local fishermen taking great interest in my telescope
Back to Puerto Monday and in the evening we met up once more with Roy and his family for dinner at Kinabuch's. Tuesday we flew in the morning to Cebu with Cebu Pacific Airways. Good bye Palawan but I will be back, I hope. This place has much to offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment