Jun 1 - Get more sleep than I thought possible, given that the door to the cabin won’t shut and people are wandering around in the hall all night. Fortunately, even the two-year-old in our cabin sleeps with hardly a complaint, and there is no loud snoring.
At about 7:30 things get active again, though it is clear that we aren’t getting to port by 8:00. Spend some more time on the observation deck, watching the long coast of Palawan go by. Again, no rain, hopefully, this weather will keep up.
The ‘express breakfast’ service comes and goes, but I can’t get the appetite to ask for our allotment. Sometime after 9:00 we do get into port, and the rush to exit the ferry begins. Only now I see a few other foreigners, I expected to see more considering how difficult transport to Palawan has become lately.
The usual scrum at the exit with every tuk-tuk driver shouting over the next. Have to make a quick decision about where to go: the regular bus station or the minivan station? The regular bus is apparently eight hours, minibus five. I don’t know what is the truth of the matter but am too tired to look for an independent information source. We choose the minivan station, which is less than a minute away from the airport terminal.
This particular minivan station (I do not know if there are others) is run by the company PalaJuanders Travel and Tours. Right away I can see the game here: the tuk-tuk drivers play it up as the fast way, get the people in, then sell them inflated tickets to El Nido for round trips. “It is difficult to get return rides from El Nido” warns the ticket lady. I think it is a lie but I cannot be sure of that. One way is 2,100 pesos, a mighty sum for a five-hour ride.
But a van shows up quickly and we are off, so at least I have the comfort of being on the move and losing the least amount of time. The way north is alternating across rice paddy flats and twisting road through the hills. Not much urbanization here outside of Puerto Princesa. The jungle stretches all around, nice to see it is not all inhabited.
Though Palawan is a very narrow island (no wider than about 40 km), there are some surprisingly large rivers flowing out of the highlands. A testament to the rainfall this place experiences. The road is under construction in places, reminding me of how Sarawak is undergoing a lot of modernization of the road system. The four lanes in some places shuts down to two quickly when passing over a river or through a village. One especially elevated pass has recently suffered a landslide, though much of it has already been cleaned up.
As soon as we get close to El Nido, the clear marks of heavy tourism are visible. Chic dive shops, restaurants, and hotel fronts hove into view along the narrow road. The minivan terminal is well outside of El Nido proper, so get a tuk-tuk the rest of the way.
Our hotel is simple and cheap, at the west edge of town and right on the water. We enter it through a tunnel of vegetation. We find a place to eat dinner nearby, as the evening deluge has begun. Wet and drippy everywhere, even in the restaurant. I go out to find an ATM, and choose sandals over shoes due to the deep water everywhere in the streets. The center of El Nido is big-time tourist haven, the main street has almost nothing that looks ‘local’. The first two ATM’s I try shut down in the middle of the transaction due to power failures.
Book a boat tour for tomorrow, though we are told the coast guard may not allow any (as happened today).
Philippines