When you go to the Philippines, you want to experience it to the fullest – discover hidden beaches, negotiate like a local, and sometimes get sunburned (literally and figuratively). This time, we explored the island of Palawan, where we tried to avoid the crowds, found food that kept us (un)comfortably in the bathroom for a day, and discovered that rum is cheaper than Coca-Cola. And since this trip also had its surprises, here is the third batch of Philippine travel experiences – from a crocodile farm to negotiating with tuktuk drivers to the best (and worst) accommodations. Let’s go.
When you don’t want a tuktuk, but Grab fails you
From Bohol by boat to Cebu and from Cebu by plane to Puerto Princesa. Sunday on the road. We disembark at the airport, I open Grab and try to call for a ride. We refuse several taxi drivers, tuktuk… and then I find out that Grab doesn’t work here. Sh*t!
We go for a tuktuk. A guy who organizes them comes, asks where we want to go. I ask for the price, he says 400 PHP. I offer 300 PHP. Him: OK, but the suitcases are big. In the end, he sends us to a taxi anyway. Well, at least we won’t get wet.
Second degree burn, this time for real
Accommodation? I wanted to stay a bit more in the center – a mistake! But never mind. In the evening, we are looking for food and run into a guy with a scooter. From 700 PHP per day, I talked him down to 300 PHP. We’ll be here for 10 days, so it’s worth negotiating.
Plan for Monday: Honda Bay. But from here you can only get to the surrounding islands. So Nagtabon Beach – only 25 km. Let’s go! Arrival after 10 in the morning and the beach is empty. Beautiful! We take photos, chill, and catch up on sleep that we missed due to the whale sharks at 4 a.m. Oops. We got sunburned with Grab for the first time and on the sun for the second time. Even though we smeared on SPF 50, we got burned.
Lunch? Terka shrimp, I chicken and coconut. Then I had a call with Shoptet, Buzzoons, and the organization of the upcoming event Meet&Deal vol5!
Crocodiles and another slap from the sun
We want a break from the sun, so we’re heading to the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (crocodile farm). 100 PHP per person, maybe a photo with a crocodile, but… do they really have to keep them locked in a box with a strap across their snout? All day? I’d rather not ask. In the wild, there are only about 200 left, so hopefully they know what they’re doing. They have 50-100 crocodiles here, from the smallest to 7-meter monsters. Quite impressive! You’ll see it in the vlog.
Then we had an overlook and butterflies. But Terka is feeling sick, probably heat exhaustion. She was almost taken to the emergency room. In the end, she pulls herself together and we go to the butterfly jungle. In addition to the beautiful butterflies, we also got a lecture on how the local indigenous people lived, hunted, sang, and so on – again, you’ll see it all in the vlog, including the butterflies.
Finally, I taste civet coffee. And in the evening, we discover Bona’s Chaolong – a Vietnamese restaurant with soups and something like Banh mi. Really good!
For nails, to the barber, and… to the bathroom
On Wednesday, we want an even more relaxing day, we exchange money, stroll around the center… Terka wants to get her nails done and I try a barber shop – a decent haircut for 150 PHP, right? We’re also looking for transportation to El Nido, we have a scooter, but I really don’t want to ride 260 km on it. We have everything and found another Vietnamese place where they make soups and Banh mi again. Well, I won’t write the name here because I spent the whole Thursday “💩” in the bathroom.
It’s Friday, time for the beach – both of us are more or less well again and we’re running out of time. On Saturday, we’re going to El Nido for two days and on Wednesday we’re flying out. So we’re going to Tagkawayan Beach – it’s a bit over an hour away, but oh well! It’s recommended by locals (and AI), and just like Nagtabon Beach, it’s practically empty, beautiful. Around 1:30 pm, we pack up and head back to the hotel. I need to prepare the open call voting that is still running on Meet&Deal LinkedIn and Instagram. Then food, markets, shopping for Saturday, packing, and sleeping.
The price of accommodation reflects its level
Saturday 6:00 am alarm and we’re off to El Nido! After arrival, we walked to the accommodation. Since it was only for two nights, we went for the price – and the accommodation matched that, or rather the hostel. A rather strange place, with its own bathroom, but almost no water, horror. But what can you do, it’s enough for two nights just to sleep. We’re settled in and again with the runs, oh dear!
So we go to find a tour and hopefully it will work in this weather. And we also want a massage. For 500 PHP, it would be a sin not to go! And what else to do in this weather. We chose Tour C and thanks to that, we visited the islands of Hidden Beach, Secret Beach, Helicopter Island, Talisay Beach and Matinloc Island, where we had a great lunch, Hidden Beach and then snorkeling at Matinloc Island. The trip was absolutely great, compared to the one we were on at Ko Tao. We both enjoyed it very much and if we had more time, we would definitely try the other tours as well. You can choose from Tour A (Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Seven Commandos Beach), Tour B (Snake Island, Pinagbuyutan Island, Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral Cave and Entalula Beach), our C and Tour D (Nat Nat Beach, Paradise Beach, Small Lagoon, Cadlao Island and Bukal Island). They all cost the same, from 1,200 to 1,500 PHP, and don’t include the 400 PHP environmental fee per person and some have additional entrance fees for the islands.
When Coca-Cola is more expensive than rum
In the evening, we go to take photos, have a drink and eat. And above all, to buy tickets to the bus back to Puerto Princesa. We have everything and for our last money, we buy rum with cola and paradoxically, Coca-Cola is more expensive here than rum. With lime, it costs us 200 PHP and we have the whole evening to drink.
Tired, slightly tipsy, we go to sleep because we’re leaving at 9 in the morning. Upon arrival at the Bus Terminal, we find out that we have the wrong paper – great, how were we supposed to know that?! In the end, one car had to come back for us. At least that…
Never again the Palawan Pawnshop currency exchange
We’re in Puerto Princesa, we walked to the hotel, take the scooter, euros and go to exchange money and finally have lunch. We change again at Palawan Pawnshop, which I don’t recommend, because first of all it takes a long time because they want to fill out maybe even the maiden name of your mother and the place where your third pet died, and secondly I’ve already argued with them once because they had the exchange rate written down wrong. So never more.
We have the money, we’re fed too – finally I had Pork Adobo from the locals and it’s really a delicacy! We go for another massage, this time for 350 PHP and to have our laundry done. Except that the accommodation in El Nido has a problem not only with water but also with the smell.
The best beach?
We go to sleep, I get up early in the morning to snag Early Bird tickets for Meet&Deal vol10 all-inclusive EDITION, which we’re organizing together with OREA Hotels & Resorts. After that, we’re heading to what is said to be the most beautiful beach in Puerto Princesa – Sabang Beach. It’s over 70 km away. Great, 2 hours on a scooter. And to be honest? I like Tagkawayan beach better, the sea is much calmer there, fewer people and less of everything! Just a bit from Sabang Beach is the underground river – Subterranean River, which we skipped though. We’re going home, picking up the washed laundry (up to 7 kg for 180 PHP), returning the scooter and slowly packing.
On Wednesday, we’re flying back to Manila for one night, a quick Chicken House Express, and on Thursday we’re off to Dubai, where we’ll spend about 18 hours, and on Friday we’ll be flying back to Prague.
What are my overall impressions of the Philippines? Read the article “The Philippines: An Ideal Place in Asia for Czechs who Love Pastries and Cheap Alcohol”
