After the long wait, Feb 2015 - during the travel exposition in SMX, where the planned become a reality. At first we planned to have a tour in Batanes, plane tix is quite expensive. Then came the idea with the Legazpi trip. In the end we decided to be in Palawan.
Thanks to my dear friend ate Julie who happened to be in the expo with her relatives, who have their booth in the expo (Trio Queen - http://www.trioqueentours.com/) for Palawan trip. There are many options to choose from, Puerto Prinsesa, El Nido and Coron. Having no experience in Palawan, they recommend us to avail the Puerto Prinsesa Tour. Quoted price is PhP 3200/pax (as of 2015) and they have added the Underground Subterranean River for the price of PhP 1200/pax. Payment can be installment, we paid 1000 each for the tour. Since we don't have an airfare yet, TrioQueen send us a sample Itinerary for the tour.
Then came the March piso fare seat sale of Cebu Pacific. Booking the plane tix was challenging. You have to ba patient to buy the tix, after 3 attempts, I have successfully booked for Puerto Prinsesa by September 2015. After the confirmation from Cebu Pacific we have emailed Trio Queen for them to prepare the tour for us. And the payment will goes from March to August, thru bank deposit, for the remaining balances.
After 5 months of waiting. The day of the travel . September 18, 2015 when we arrived in Puerto Prinsesa. Just outside the arrival area, there are many resorts and transportation that we're offering their accommodations and/or services. In our case, we have land transfer from/to the airport to the hotel (Angelic Mansion) that we are going to stay for our 3 days and 2 nights stay.
Day 1. Puerto Prinsesa City Tour.
The day we arrived in Puerto Prinsesa is the same day with the city tour. Since we are only 2 in the tour, we are joined by other tourists in the Van. I forgot the name of our kuya guide (forgive me). I also forgot the order of the destinations we visited. Below are places we visited in random order.
Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center
Formerly the crocodile farm. You can see crocodiles from babies to adults.
Babies are placed in tubs while adults have crocs pens. The tour lasted for an hour. After the tour you have a photo op with a tween croc (neither a baby nor an adult, lol). You have to hold him (or her) and the photographer tell us to open our mouth like we're going to eat the poor croc. The picture can be purchase but not mandatory.
Baywalk
It is the Bay area, we visited the place during lunch time. The stores and restaurants are still close. Our guide advise us to visit the place at night.
The Cathedral and Plaza Cuartel
Plaza cuartel is place where the American and Filipino soldiers were held by the Japanese during WWII. Our guide told us that there's a pit there were the soldiers were place and gasoline is being poured to them, to burn them. There are survivors who escape the tragedy.
Mitra Ranch and Mansion
It is house of the former politician and said to be the highest point in Puerto Prinsesa that can be visited by the tourist. You can see the Honda Bay from the house. If you want to enter there's certain fee.
Bakers Hill
Since Puerto Prinsesa doesn't have any amusement park, they have this place called Baker's Hill. This is a beautiful park landscape with life size statue of different Super Heroes, cartoon characters, etc. The park also have a playground with swings, slides, etc. This is also where we have our snacks because there's also a bakery in the place.
Binuatan Creations
Binuatan means weave. People here use the grass to create a weave mats that can be used to create bags, wallets, placemats etc. You can try to do the weaving and/or buy their finished products.
We also visited the tyangian where you can buy the pasalubongs. They have wide range selections for jewelries made from pearls. cashew nuts, t-shirts, key chains, fridge magnets and more.
By night, my former students who happened to work in Puerto Prinsesa treat us for dinner. We have our dinner in Nitchies and Kinabutch. Nitchies serve Vietnamese foods, we tried Chao Long and some spring rolls. And in Kinabutch we tried crocodile sisig and Tamilok (mangrove worms).
Day 2. Puerto Prinsesa Subterranean River + Ugong Rocks
After breakfast in Angelic Mansion. Our tour provider (Trio Queen) sent an SMS that we a van will will be arriving at our place for the tour. Just like the first day, we are joined by other tourist. Our ate guide (also forgot her name) told us that underground river is way to far from the city. We have the first stop over at a store along the road where there's a view deck to see the Tres Marias (a group of island). The store offer's foods/drinks and pasalubong. The second stopover is the Ugong rocks. It is a cave adventure and a zip line, though there's an option to go down by foot, where it is more convenient going down. Exploring the cave and the zipline is optional. There's a fee to experience these activities. All proceeds will go to the community. After the ugong rocks we headed to Sabang port where we'll have our lunch before going to the Underground river. Our guide booked a boat to take us to the Underground River. It's more or less 30 mins ride. The motorized boat is different from the boat that will be used to the underground river. The entry to the Underground river is a mini forest where monkeys, lizards and other animals can be seen. In our visit a bayawak cross our path to the underground river. We are 6 on the boat to the river, 3 college students, The foreign guy, me and lowla. The river divided into different sections. You can see lot's of bats inside. There's the cathedral where you can see a large candle, the holy family and even the last supper. There a section where they called the market place. The underground river tour lasted for an hour and half. Then we head back to the city.
Lowla's friends are in Palawan too on our second day and invited us to be with them during dinner in the Baywalk. We have grilled liempo and rice.
Day 3: Honda Bay (Isla Pandan+Cowrie)
Our last day in Puerto Prinsesa is the day for the beaches. After breakfast we, we also join other tourists for the Honda Bay tour. Our guide, Ranil (o yeah, i didn't remember his name but Lowla added him in facebook, lol). We have two options in Honda Bay, either visit Luli/Starfish and Cowrie Island or Isla Panda/Cowrie Island. Since we don't want more sea transfers the group decided to have the latter set of Islands. Isla Pandan is named after the name of the plant inhabited the island which is Pandan (hahaha). There are lots of activities you can do in the island, they have jet ski, snorkle, etc. But lowla and I opt to stay in the beach and enjoy the view since it was our last day and we don't want to get tired of any activities. I purchased a bread to be fed to the fingerlings by the shore.
I enjoyed staying in Palawan, they say that there's still more to see in El Nido and Coron. So I'm planning to go back to Palawan for the other two destinations.
Our Hotel: http://www.angelicmansion.com/
Our Tour Provider: http://www.trioqueentours.com/
