Mental Gymnastics

Going back to Palawan

It's really not about the trip, it's who you're with.

First stop, Palawan. The rainy season has officially started but that didn't stop us from getting around Puerto Princesa. We sampled the noodles at the Vietnamese Village Restaurant that afternoon to bring some warmth in a chilly environment. With a map on hand, we headed towards the port to see the lighthouse (wasn't what we expected). So we walked downtown, found an Internet shop where we ruffed up the attendant by making a CD copy of the wedding pics from our camera. That evening we had dinner at Ka Lui's, a very nice place for pictorials.

The adventure started early the next day aborad the Sweety bus bound for El Nido. The driver is quite excellent with his skills given the endless bumps and muddy slopes, with fully loaded passenger seats and a couple of sacks of rice in his load. I still remember this kid by the road who wanted to load 2 sacks of coffee. The conductor declined by saying "hindi pwede pag may walang asukal!" (not without coffee!).. haha!

We reached El Nido after 8 hours and checked in at Marina Resort, the best budget lodging so far along the beach. There wasn't much to see in town except for the towering limestone cliffs that hovers around the place. We've had meals at the Badjao Restaurant, the Seas Slug and another resto by the beach. I was eating too much seafood i think. It rained heavily the next morning bu eventually cleared that evening. The sun came out and we took the boat for an island hopping trip.

I married a fish! I married a kid! Alan loves the water and he enjoyed swimming and playing on the sand. I was so amused. We had lunch at this beautiful island which we had to ourselves.
We returned to the city the next day. That's where we met Glenn, the Innkeeper. He gave us a very useful tip, in whatever place that you visit, always go to the tourist info center as they usually have the best information available. Walk around the place first, look around. Then by end of day, decide on your itinerary. He arranged a half day island hopiing tour at Honda Bay just before catching our flight back to Manila.

Things to do upon return: climb the cliff that's overlooking El Nido, visit the hidden beach, climb the nearby mountains in puerto princesa

posted by kquill @ 11:05 AM