Moving on to the Island of Palawan

On Thursday afternoon I took a PAL Express flight from Cebu to Puerto Princesa.  For some reason, you are suppose to checking 2 hours before domestic flights here.  Considering the degree of searching is much less intense than in US (for example, bottles of water are okay), this is another one of those things that don't make any sense.  BTW, PAL Express is the budget sub of Philippines Airlines and on certain flights like this one they code share.  I guess there must be some circumstances where it make sense to book under the Philippines Airline flight even though it cost more.  Anyway, the flight was over an hour late so I didn't arrive in Puerto Princesa until after 4 PM.  There I took a "trike" to my hotel, Voyager's Palace, which it turns out is about 6 km north of downtown.  A trike is a motorcycle with a fiberglass frame around it to incorporate a sidecar and third wheel.  It can accomodate up to 5 (small) people and or merchandise.

At the hotel, I signed up for the next day's group trip to the Underground River (UR) Park.  The UR is the Philippines most publicized sightseeing stops and is listed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  The tour itself started with about a two hour van ride to its first stop, Ugong Rock.  Here we had a chance to climb through part of the cave system that also incorporates the UR site.  The really notable aspect of the rocks in the cave here were the  haunting echoes some of them have when struck.  They actually give you gloves so you may play the rocks.  After the trip through the cave and a little climbing up the rocks, a zip line brings you back to ground level.  This is supposedly the longest zip line in the Philippines but seem a bit tame compared to Costa Rica.

After Ugong Rock, we stopped for lunch at one of those buffet places that seem to cater to bus tours. As I found to always be the case, this place proved to be an example of form over substance as the food wasn't very good but they had a nice atmosphere.  Right after lunch, we walked over to the boat dock to start our UR tour.  This first leg of this tour is to take a 8 man catamaran to a small island where you wait.  Then you get another boat (15 man canoe) that takes you into and around the UR.  The canoe has a guide who also acts are the paddler.  You then go in the cave for about 20 minutes and then then return the same way.  The cave is massive and goes on for miles but only a small part is accessible by the public.  Still, the portion we saw was very impressive as some of the room ceilings seem to go up to the heavens.  However I didn't find the formations themselves all that special - especially compared  to US caves such as Carlsbad or Luray. 

After the cave tour, we returned back to Puerto Princesa and our hotels.  That evening, I was hoping to get some more fresh tuna.  However I discovered that all the restaurants I checked out only serve frozen tuna - even though it is a local fish.  Why? I was told because the tuna is caught for export.  Huh?  This is another mystery to me.  Any way, I discovered a great Vietnamese restaurant nearby so I was happy with no fresh tuna.

On Saturday, I was planning to take a van or bus trip up to a small town, El Nido,  which is on the north part of the island of Palawan.  However the only way up there and return is via a 5-6 hour trip over a bad road.  While I might be up for one such trip, two such crammed trips like that over a couple days would be too much for me and my bad back.  So I decided to stay here in Puerto Princesa for the duration of my time in Palawan.  Thus with a shorten agenda, I was hoping to fly out on Monday morning but all those flights were sold out.  So I decided to stay until Tuesday.  I then made a reservation on the first flight Tuesday morning to Manila.  There I plane to get a taxi and go directly to the bus station.  I want to get a deluxe bus to Baguio where I have hotels reservations for Tuesday and Wednesday.

After making these plans, I spent the rest of Saturday looking around the town, such as it is.  Then on Sunday, I decided to sign up for the city tour.  It was scheduled to be 5 hours long but it was clear from the start that over an hour would be at shops!  Also, although there were 11 of us on this tour, I was the only one that didn't speak Tagalog.  So the rest of them and the Tour Guide, Choy, would be talking in Tagalog even though the tour was supposedly in English.  Any way, we did see a few interesting sights, such as the Plaza Cuartel where roughly 143 Americans prisoners lost their lives in WWII.  These men were burned to death or shot fleeting from the burning by the retreating Japenese forces in wake of McArthur's return.  Somehow 11 Americans managed to escape this massacre as they swam out in the ocean away from the machine guns.  This statute is decimated to those who lost their lives here.

The church across from the plaza was then destroyed by American troops as that is where the Japanese hid after they killed the American prisoners.  The Japanese reasoned that American would never bomb a church, only to be proven wrong in this case.  This church, Immaculate Conception Cathedal, was rebuilt in 1960.

Also these stops, we went to a crocodile farm which although in poor repair still had a good supply of crocodiles on hand - both kinds:  fresh and saltwater.

They also had a few Palawn Bearcats in residence.  They look a bit like a bearish raccoon - don't you think?

Next up was the Traditional Palawan Straw Weaver.  Believe it or not, their final product looks and feels a lot like the coarse nylon they use to make luggage.

Finally at the end of the tour, they dropped us off at the Bay Walk Park.   I didn't know existedabout this place before but it is a nice area by the bay that the government made into a park.  They have food booths set up here that sell seafood and other food to eat as you enjoy the evening after the sun goes down, Funny thing though, I discovered at this seafood was also frozen before it was put on ice.  Still, it is a nice idea that you can pick out what you want and they then grill it for you.  I guess they, as well as the restaurants here, are worried more about spoilage than the taste - as fresh fish always taste much better than frozen.

Since I really didn't have anything planned on Monday, I decided to use my time to get a few personal things done.  First up, I went to a tailor to see if I could get her to make me a couple of pillowcases for my travel pillow.  Through her broken English, she promised she would have the pillowcases completed by late afternoon.  So with that accomplished, I went and got a haircut as the weather here is just too hot.  I need shorter hair.  I discovered the price of haircuts here in Puerto Princesa may be some of the cheapest in the world.  Although it certainly wasn't the best cut I ever had, the haircut and shampoo together cost about 80 cents!  This was in a air conditioned shop that wouldn't look out of place in the US.

Any way, it was then time for a treat so I decided to get a massage. I never had a Thai massage before so this is the type I selected.  It was a good choice too.  I had a young Filipano guy who put me through the paces.  I don't really know if this was a traditional Thai massage or not as it seem to contain elements from both the Swedish (muscle rubbing) and Shiatsu massages (pressure points) as well as what I expected from a Thai massage (body stretching).  Whatever, I consider this massage was one of the best I ever had.  And to top it off, it cost about $5.50 for the hour.  A real bargain.

To conclude the pillowcase story, I returned in the afternoon and the pillowcases were done - but done weirdly.  One fits the pillow fine but the other is way too small.  I really don't know how she could made a mistake like that since she had the pillow to use as a guide.  Still since I got one that fits, I consider my $2.25 well spent.  That evening,  on my way back to the hotel  in a jeepsey, all of the sudden the clouds broke loose and it poured rain.  I guess the jeepsey wasn't up to this as it only went a few more blocks after the rain before it stalled out.  It just wouldn't start.  To me, it sounded out it was out of gas but I guess it is also possible that water got into the gas.  Whatever, all us passengers stayed on immobile jeepsey until the rain let up and another jeepsey picked us up.

On Tuesday morning the owner of the hotel, George, drove me to the airport.  My flight left on time and I arrived back in a Manila about 10:40 AM.  From there, I immediately got a taxi and went to the Victory Lines Bus Station for a deluxe bus to Baguio.  The bus left at 12:20 PM and it took about 5 1/2 hours.  Actually, it was a pleasant trip even though my 'deluxe seat' was more or less broken.  At the bus station in Baguio, I got a taxi to my hotel, High Point Boutique Inn.  The good news about Baguio is that it is in the mountains so it is cool here.  After the hot and humid days in Manila and the smaller islands, it seems even cooler than it is.  I plan to stay here tomorrow before heading further north to Vigan.

I have had an issue in publishing my blogs the last few days.  The owner of hotel in Puerto Princesa told me that his Internet supplier is having problems with the speed.  So although I had an Internet connection there, I couldn't upload any photos or publish my blog.  Then last night here in the hotel in Baguio, I seem to have gotten the only room without a decent wifi signal.  I had no wifi at all in my room.  Thus here I am doing the blog at the hotel coffee shop over breakfast.   I expect to have more Internet problems in most of my future travels here as I will be staying mainly in smaller towns that don't even have a bank or ATM.  I doubt if they will have high speed Internet.